By Kristi Leonard
The Surveyor

Michael Woodiel had a big day at the Golden Spike No. 3 meet, the final in the series, held in Ft. Collins on Thursday, April 3. Woodiel and Avery Martin of Rocky Mountain High finished the 100-meter dash in 11.73 seconds. The race was a true photo finish with both athletes sharing the same time. Officials had to study the picture taken by the finish camera for a few extra moments to determine Woodiel’s chest had hit the finish line first. Steele Castles crossed the finish line just 1/10th back in 11.83 for third place.

Woodiel and Castles both had strong showings in the 4 x 100 relay with freshmen Jake Rafferty and Wyatt Woodrick placing third in 45.86 seconds. Woodiel and Castles combined forces with Logan Johnson and Chad Ellis in the 4 x 200 relay in 1 minute, 35.07 seconds for another third-place finish. Woodiel, Ellis, Maikcol Beltran and Castles ran the fastest time of the season in the 4 x 400 relay, posting 3:42.33 for third place.

The boys’ 4 x 800-meter relay team of Tyler Markell, Triple Wadsworth, Ty Williams and Murphy Vogele Zimmerling placed second in 9:46.50. The sprint medley relay team of Levi Decker, Blake Corbett, Ryan Schmad, and Alexander Paradise placed fourth in 1:49.63.

Tucker Skoric was the only other individual runner to score points with a sixth-place finish in the 200 meters in 24.95 seconds. Skoric’s time is the second fastest of a Spartans’ runner this season, behind Alex Paradise’s 24.52 from last Saturday’s meet at University.

Berthoud High School (BHS) had some strong finishes in the field events. Max Bump was second in the shot put with a toss of 44 feet, 1 inch and fifth in the discus with a distance of 122’5”. Lucas Czainecki placed fifth with a season best in the shot put with a distance of 41’4”. Jamie Grey was sixth in the shot put with a distance of 40’10”.

Three freshmen added 17 points to the team score with Wyatt Woodrick’s 19’7” third place in the long jump, while Cally Castles finished third in the high jump, jumping 5’6”. Cally Castles’s fourth-place triple jump distance of 38’2” was the furthest jump by a Spartans’ jumper this season. Connor Siruta was sixth in the high jump in 5’4”.

Sophia Visger ran the fastest time for a Lady Spartan so far this season in the 200-meter dash. The freshman placed second, running 27.57 seconds. That time places Visger as the 15th fastest freshman girl in the event in the state.

Alyssa Strong placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 35’10”. Lydia Lind was fourth in the long jump with a distance of 15’4”. Kristina Cavey placed second in the high jump, leaping 5’0” and Whitley Porter added one point for sixth place in the high jump with a leap of 4’6”.

The sprint medley team of Lydia Lind, Whitley Porter, Sophia Visger and Catherine Meeker placed fifth with a season best time of 1:55.41. Lind, Meeker, Fahrenbruch and Porter placed second in the 4 x 100 meter relay in 52.65 seconds and fourth for the 4 x 200 meter relay in 1:51.87.

The javelin throw is a new event being introduced this spring. It is a non-scoring exhibition event that Kiah Leonard (53’09”) and Emily Voll (48’6”) tried at the Golden Spike No. 2 meet on March 25. BHS does not have javelins for the athletes to use, so Leonard and Voll studied YouTube videos and used an old broom handle to prepare for the first competition. Coaches from Loveland High and Fossil Ridge offered to share their javelins and teach any athlete interested in the event at the Golden Spike meets.

This week, Voll (51’3”), Morgan Hughes (64’4”), Haydin Warehime (47’8”), Lucas Czainecki (91’0”), Karsten Bump (88’7”), Jamie Grey (88’6”), Peter Scheller (88’1”), Levi Decker (81’2”), and Tory Johnson (61’5”) tried out the event. Most of these athletes are underclassmen and will be able to continue to learn and refine their skills to be ready to compete when the javelin throw becomes an official event next year. Hopefully the school can purchase some javelins or the custodial staff will need to buy more brooms.

Part of the team will compete at the Tiger Invitational on Thursday, April 9, due to limited entries allowed. Berthoud will have an opportunity to see the full team compete at the Max Marr Invitational on Saturday, April 11. Stop by the high school track and cheer on your favorite events. Twenty-six teams are scheduled to participate in the meet.