TRACK AND FIELD: Robinson MVP in Waterloo

By Travis Houslet

It's a rare feat for a freshman to be named the MVP of a track invite, but that was exactly what Portage rookie J.J. Robinson did on Thursday. Robinson won both the 200 meters and long jump and was a member of two winning relay teams, earning him MVP honors at the Pirate Invite in Waterloo, helping the Warrior boys finish second with 138 points.

Robinson won the 200 meters with a time of 23.97 seconds while also leaping 20-feet, 2 1/4-inches in the long jump to win that event by 3 1/2 inches.

Robinson has also been a key member of Portage's success in the 400 and 800 meter relays, where Portage has finished in first place in almost every meet this spring. Robinson joined teammates Ben Hartman, Alex Thomas and Tony Ryan to again win both relay events on Thursday. The foursome took the 400 relay with a time of 44.23 seconds, while taking the 800 relay in 1:32.79.

Hartman said he and his relay teammates have clicked ever since the first practice.

"We just work really well together. Me and Tony have been together since freshmen year and we've been with Alex for a couple years. We just took J.J. in no problem. We clicked automatically," said Hartman.

Hartman, Ryan and Thomas have always been strong sprinters, but the addition of Robinson this season has given the Portage boys the fourth and final piece of one of the area's top sprint relay teams. Once Hartman and his teammates got a look at Robinson's speed, they immediately started to think about a trip to La Crosse in the end of May.

"We were thinking state right away," Hartman said of Robinson's addition to the team this spring.

While Robinson has been having an impressive freshman campaign, Ryan has been having an equally impressive senior season. Ryan currently has the second best 100 meter time in the state according to the Wisconsin Track and Field Honor Roll — a 10.7 second time at the Portage triple dual on April 22. Ryan continued his 100 meter success on Thursday, winning the event with a time of 10.89 seconds. Hartman finished second in the 100 meters at 11.29 seconds.

Other Portage boys to place among the top three on Thursday included Jake Hohlstein in the shot put (3rd, 44-feet, 4-inches), Tyler Bednarek in the 110 meter hurdles (3rd, 17.17 seconds) and Kyle Roche in the high jump (3rd, 6-feet). Portage also finished third in the 3200 meter relay with a time of 9:48.50, which was a personal record for the team of Luke Treutel, Alex Schumann, Derrick Zamzow and Danny Doepke.

On the girls side, Portage sophomore Kassie Vaness won a pair of individual events, taking the 1600 and 3200 meters, helping the Warriors finish in fourth place. Vaness's winning time of 5:38.90 in the 1600 meters beat out Mayville's Carissa Schneiter by just 6 one-hundredths of a second.

Portage senior Alex Schwalbe continued to drop her 400 meter time on Thursday, finishing second in the event with a time of 1:05.88, while Portage's Leah Smith was third in the shot put with a toss of 31-8.

THOMAS, NEEB LEAD

WESTFIELD-MONTELLO

Westfield-Montello's Meghan Thomas and Zack Neeb both returned home with individual titles at Thursday's Pirate Invite. Thomas won the girls high jump by clearing 5-feet, 2-inches, while Neeb was victorious in the pole vault with a height of 12-6. Westfield-Montello's Andy Brandt finished second in the discus with a distance of 119-feet, 4 1/2-inches.

WATERLOO PIRATE INVITE

Thursday, May 1

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: 1, Monroe 164; 2, Mayville 142; 3, Columbus 117; 4, Portage 76.75; 5, Horicon 57.25; 6, Wisconsin Heights 42.25; 7, Waterloo 39.75; 8, Westfield-Montello 33.

GIRLS RESULTS: High jump — 1, Thomas (WM) 5-2; 2, Tomasiewicz (Mo) 5-0; 3, Champ (Ma) 5-0. Pole vault — 1, Tomasiewicz (Mo) 10-0; 2, Knutson (Mo) 9-6; 3, Stout (Wa) 8-6. Long jump — 1, Wyss (Mo) 15-1; 2, Champ (Ma) 15-1; 3, Paul (C) 14-11 3/4. Triple jump — 1, Price (C) 32-10 1/2; 2, Miles (C) 32-10; 3, Bazley (Mo) 32-0. Discus — 1, Eidem (H) 106-1; 2, Lueck (C) 9-6 1/2; 3, Metcalf (Mo) 93-10. Shot put — 1, Loew (H) 35-6; 2, Tourdot (M) 33-0 1/4; 3, Smith (P) 31-8. 3200 meter relay — 1, Mayville 10:40.91; 2, Columbus 10:47.99; Waterloo 1:59.08. 100 meter hurdles — 1, Van Krey (Ma) 16.96; 2, Birt (Mo) 17.54; 3, Hoesly (Mo) 17.60. 100 meters — 1, Balderas (Ma) 13.22; 2, Hughes (WH) 13.32; 3, Gibson (Mo) 13.40. 1600 meters — 1, Vaness (P) 5:38.90; 2, Schneiter (Ma) 5:38.96; 3, Eidem (H) 5:47.83. 800 meter relay — Mayville 1:52.75; 2, Monroe 1:53.10; 3, Columbus 2:01.55. 400 meters — 1, Balderas (Ma) 1:00.43; 2, Schwalbe (P) 1:05.88; 3, Bidlingmaier (Mo) 1:07.82. 400 meter relay — 1, Monroe 56.37; 2, Columbus 56.84; 3, Mayville 57.45. 300 meter hurdles — 1, Van Krey (Ma) 50.37; 2, Tomasiewicz (Mo) 51.43; 3, Lueck (C) 51.50. 800 meters — 1, Schaefer (Ma) 2:38.26; 2, Caminiti (WH) 2:38.95; 3, Bomkamp (WH) 2:42.35. 200 meters — 1, Price (C) 27.99; 2, Hughes (WH) 28.30; 3, Bednar (Ma) 28.49. 3200 meters — 1, Vaness (P) 12:40; 2, Forman (Wa) 12:49; 3, Eidem (H) 13:04. 1600 meter relay — 1, Mayville 4:14.56; 2, Monroe 4:22.96; 3, Waterloo 4:36.90.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: 1, Monroe 164, 2, Portage 138; 3, Mayville 130; 4, Wisconsin Heights 55; 5, Waterloo 52.50; 6, Westfield-Montello 49; 7, Columbus 41.50; 8, Horicon 24.

BOYS RESULTS: High jump — 1, Schraufnagel (Ma) 6-2; 2, Gage (Wa) 6-0; 3, Roche (P) 6-0. Pole vault — 1, Neeb (WM) 12-6; 2, Geiger (Ma) 12-0; 3, Hill (Mo) 11-6. Long jump — 1, Robinson (P) 20-2 1/4; 2, Leigl (Ma) 19-9 3/4; 3, Stangler (Wa) 19-7. Triple jump — 1, Christen (Mo) 41-7; 2, Hayes (C) 39-5; 3, Stangler (Wa) 38-0. Discus — 1, Leu (Mo) 138-1; 2, Brandt (WM) 119-4 1/2; 3, Voegeli (Mo) 119-4 1/2. Shot put — 1, Voegeli (Mo) 45-5 3/4; 2, Leu (Mo) 44-11; 3, Hohlstein (P) 44-4. 3200 meter relay — 1, Monroe 8:37.20; 2, Mayville 9:14.70; 3, Portage 9:48.50. 100 meter hurdles — 1, Reigleman (Ma) 15.55; 2, Geiger (Ma) 16.08; 3, Bednarek (P) 17.27. 100 meters — 1, Ryan (P) 10.89; 2, Hartman (P) 11.29; 3, Sennhenn (C) 11.50. 1600 meters — 1, Parrell (WH) 4:45.60; 2, Swartz (Mo) 4:50.00; 3, Pecora (M0) 4:52.00. 800 meter relay — 1, Portage 1:32.79; 2, Mayville 1:35.26; 3, Monroe 1:40.56. 400 meters — 1, Denure (Mo) 51.51; 2, Little (H) 52.44; 3, Nienow (WM) 54.09. 400 meter relay — 1, Portage 44.23; 2, Columbus 45.49; 3, Monroe 46.58. 300 meter hurdles — 1, Reigleman (Ma) 40.81; 2, Geiger (Ma) 43.60; 3, Frigge (Wa) 44.63. 800 meters — 1, Denure (Mo) 2:06.17; 2, Retzlaff (Ma) 2:07.47; 3, Klein (Mo) 2:08.03. 200 meters — 1, Robinson (P) 23.97; 2, Leigl (Ma) 24.13; 3, Stangler (Wa) 24.51. 3200 meters — 1, Swartz (Mo) 10:34.03; 2, Pecora (Mo) 10:50.96; 3, Starck (Mo) 10:51.39. 1600 meter relay — 1, Mayville 3:33.35; 2, Monroe 3:33.85; 3, Wisconsin Heights 3:40.21.