Ozaukee girls get off to fast track start

Ozaukee High School’s Elise Large and Emma Richards began their senior track and field seasons with impressive performances last Friday.

The duo led the girls’ team to 44 points and a fourth-place finish in the Raider Invitational at Sheboygan North. Oak Creek won the 19-team meet with 98 points.

Ozaukee fared better than most of its competition from much larger schools. Ten of the teams participate in Division 1 or 2, while the Warriors are in Division 3.

Large, a cross-country standout, won the 1,600-meter race in 5 minutes, 33.73 seconds, and the 3,200 in 12:22.38.

Richards won the shot put with a throw of 43 feet, 3 inches, which broke her own school record.

“Our girls competed well against stiff competition, and I’m proud of their performances across the board,” coach Andrew Pfeuffer said.

“We had veterans help lead the way, but we also had many first-year athletes step up and perform well.”

Senior Caryn Hamm took third in shot put (35-11.5).

Freshman Kelley Large, Elise’s sister, finished sixth in the 3,200 run (a personal-best 6:05.56).

The 3,200 relay of Ashlee Mueller, Greta Klas, Jenna Schueller and Amy Hoffmann took sixth (11:52.7).

The 1,600 relay of Mueller, Allison Stahl, Brianna Bustamante and Becca Schauer placed eighth (4:50.8), as did the 640 relay of Mueller, Stahl, Bustamante and Schauer (1:38.48).

“We now have marks to work off of, and we look forward to seeing how much we can improve on them throughout the season,” Pfeuffer said.
In the boys’ portion of the invitational Saturday, Ozaukee scored 14 points and tied for 13th. Slinger won the 18-team meet with 127.25 points.

Senior Gavin Dorrler led the Warriors by taking second in the high jump (5-10), fifth in the long jump (19-3.5) and seventh in the 400 dash (58.99). Trent Simpson took sixth in the high jump (5-6).

“We brought a small team, and they all competed well on Saturday. I was excited by our performances for the first meet, and I’m looking forward to continuing to improve on those marks throughout the season,” Pfeuffer said.

This week, the Ozaukee boys participate in the Earl Herbert Invitational on Thursday and the girls take part in Pam Kjono Invitational  on Friday. Both meets are at Manitowoc Lutheran.