The MFL MarMac boys track and field team tested itself in two meets last week.
At the April 13 Decorah Boys Relays, some of the top moments were in the sprints, where junior Kashton Decker raced to third place in the 200 meter dash and fourth in the 100. Teammate Anthony Bunting crossed the finish line sixth in the 200.
Freshman Tyce Wikner also continued to run well in the 400 meter dash, earning fifth on a time of 55.05 seconds.
Trace Moser and Jude Onken represented the team in the distance races, with Moser taking 11th and Onken 12th in the 800, then Moser 10th and Onken 13th in the 1600.
Archie Carlson vaulted to ninth place in the 110 meter hurdles, completing the race in 21.61 seconds.
The Bulldogs competed in three relays, their best result coming in the sprint medley, where they were fourth with a time of 1:45.14. Runners included Rylan Schroeder, Bunting, Decker and Wikner. Moser, Blake Schutte, Adian Reynolds and Onken combined for fifth in the 4x800, after turning in a time of 10:54.62. Tyler Pecinovsky, Gage Paulus, Carlson and Marcus Stoddard earned sixth in the 4x100 throwers relay.
In the field events, Moser reached a height of 5-02 to tie for seventh in the high jump. Carlson threw his way to 11th in the discus, his top distance coming in at 89-09, then Stoddard and Pecinovsky were a respective 10th and 11th in the shot put with throws of 34-03 and 31-02.5.
The Bulldogs racked up a dozen top-five finishes in their home coed invite on April 16.
Three came in the field events, where Moser was third in the high jump and Carlson third in the discus. Pecinovsky placed fifth in the shot put, two spots ahead of teammate Stoddard.
MFL MarMac found more success in the relays, including second place in the 4x800, third in both the sprint medley and shuttle hurdle, fourth in the distance medley and fifth in the 4x100.
In the individual running events, Wikner was the runner-up in the 400 meter dash and also notched respective fourth and sixth place runs in the 100 and 200. Decker raced to second in the 100 meter dash, while Carlson claimed seventh in the 110 hurdles.
The distance races saw Onken fifth and Reynolds ninth in the 800 meter run, then Moser eighth and Reynolds 12th in the 1600. Moser was the team’s lone competitor in the 3200, where he finished sixth.
Head coach Tracy Decker said it’s been nice to finally get some meets in, as weather has proved a major challenge so far this season.
“We had the first two outdoor meets canceled. We have also had to have indoor practices, as the outdoor conditions have not been good at all for sprinters,” he said. “Hallways and gyms are not enough room for that, so we have had to make due with plyometrics and other strengthening exercises.”
Once out on the track for competition, he said the team has shown solid improvement since the indoor meet a month ago.
MFL MarMac’s schedule this week included a meet at Decorah on April 20, then the NFV Invitational on April 24.
MFL MarMac senior Brent Roe contributed to reporting for this article.
