Kat Keller shatters another record as Tiger girls stand out at Rice Lake
New Richmond’s senior Kat Keller added another jewel in her standout track career by rewriting another Tiger team record last Friday.
- Anna McShane
- Abby Blader
New Richmond’s senior Kat Keller added another jewel in her standout track career by rewriting another Tiger team record last Friday.
Keller broke one of the oldest Tiger girls track records when she ran a 57.32 time to win the 400 meters at the Rice Lake Invitational last Friday. The record of 57.82 seconds had stood since Karen Musch ran that time in 1984. The only girls record that has stood longer is in the high jump, where Lisa Drill and Eileen Early set the record of 5 feet, 4 inches in 1976.
Keller’s record-setting run was part of a strong showing by the Tigers at Rice Lake, where the girls took second place among 10 teams in the meet.
Keller now owns the Tiger record in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. She initially set the records in the 100 and 200 as a sophomore and she broke both of them again this year.
Judy Weiss, who has coached the girls team for much of the program’s existence, said Keller possesses the mental toughness and commitment level that she’s seen in the best athletes in the program.
“You have to have the courage to commit to a goal and then work hard enough to make it happen,” Weiss said. “At one time Karen Musch held all the best sprint times. Ayla Mitchell set the standards high in distance events. McKenzie Kelly took the challenge and set records. Holly Spoo left her mark in the hurdles. Missy and Monica Walz, Andrea Beuning, Denise Komula, Marita Olson, Mary Kay Zipperer, Missy Tarman, Steph Tarman all possessed the mental toughness that outstanding athletes have to have.”
Keller’s 57.32 time is the best 400 time recorded in the state this season. Keller was also the champion in the 100 meters at Rice Lake.
There were plenty of other highlights for the girls. The distance relays put in excellent times in earning wins. The 3200 meter relay team of Emily Bischof, Kennedy Kling, Hannah Swetlik and Maddie Kelly won in 10:04, with Kelly finishing with a 2:22 split to edge past Hudson’s anchor runner for the win.
The 1600 meter relay team of Peyton Olien, Bischof, Kelly and Keller won in 4:09.8, their best time of the season.
Junior Anna McShane moved to the top of the Tigers’ troupe of triple jumpers with a career best performance on Friday. McShane soared to a distance of 33 feet, 10 inches to earn the win. Weiss said McShane was also running one of the best 100 hurdle races of her career until another runner hit a hurdle, knocking it into McShane’s path.
Among the other highlights for the Tigers was a career best time of 5:34 by senior Morgan Kelly in the 1600 meters. Senior Amy Kukacka matched her career best by clearing 5-feet in the high jump. The Tiger 800 meter relay team of Carley Brotzler, Abby Blader, Erika Bohmke and Olien finished in second place.
The Tiger boys weren’t able to compete with the top teams in this meet, with five top three performances from the Tigers. Senior Eli Kelley and junior Alex Charbonneau each produced two of them.
Kelley continues to pare down his time in his running specialty, the 400 meters. He was the champion on Friday with a time of 50.58 seconds. Kelley also took second place in the discus throw, throwing beyond the 140-foot mark for the first time this season with a career-best throw of 141 feet, 2 inches.
Charbonneau continues to make big strides in the distance races. He was the champion in the 1600 with a 4:43 time and he ranked third in the 800 meters.
The Tiger 1600 meter relay team was also able to earn a third place finish.
Home meet
The Tigers got their first chance of the season to run in front of a home crowd last Tuesday and they got a rare day of nice weather to show off their facilities.
The quad meet provided plenty of entertainment. In addition to a number of excellent performances, the subplot was the battle between the Osceola and New Richmond girls, who are expected to battle for the top spot in the upcoming Middle Border Conference meet. New Richmond was able to eek past the Chieftains by a half-point to win the girls meet.
New Richmond’s coaches didn’t give their athletes a heavy schedule of events, knowing they would be getting a heavy workload at Rice Lake. So most of the Tigers got one or two events to concentrate on during Tuesday’s meet.
The Tiger girls were able to win 10 events on Tuesday. The team’s depth showed quite brightly in several events. The Tiger girls took the top spots in the 400 meters, with Morgan Kelly, Maddie Kelly, Bischof and Kling all posting strong times. The Tigers took four of the top five places in the high jump, led by senior Amy Kukacka who won with a 5-foot leap.
One of the featured races was the girls 100, where Keller battled Osceola’s Aimee Rice-Strand. These are two of the top sprinters in the state and they lived up to the billing. Keller ran a 12.25, the second best time posted in the state this season. Rice-Strand was close behind in 12.43 seconds.
The Tiger boys posted two wins. Kelley ran his best time of the season, a 50.38, to win the 400 meters. The Tiger 400 relay also ran its best time this year, a 46.51. That team included Tyler Cran, Aaron Daul, Travis Germain and Allan Wollenberg.
Boys coach Roger Reuvers said Cran is dealing with some painful scar tissue from a recent injury. He said Cran’s schedule the rest of the season will be based on how much pain he can withstand.
Cran was able to take second place in the 200 meters on Tuesday, with Gabe Harvieux in third. Colton Simpson and Tyler Durand finished second and third in the 300 hurdles. Alec Knox finished second and Jack Utzman ran fourth in the 800 meters, with both seeing substantial reductions in their times.
Tags: sports, tigers, track, prep
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