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Coldwater's Jack Riethman (center) crosses the line ahead of St. Henry's Harrison Wendel (second from left) in the 100-meter dash at Cavalier Stadium on Thursday. Riethman and Wendel are among the stars of a crowded field of boys sprinters at the Midwest Athletic Conference championships this week.
As the Midwest Athletic Conference runs its track and field championships this week, few events are likely to be as hotly contested as the boys sprints.
St. Henry senior Harrison Wendel is a veteran who runs four events and has thwarted Marion Local in the sprint relays time and again. Marion seniors Nate Buschur and Owen Rindler have more recently taken up the sprints and are already running with the leaders. Coldwater junior Jack Riethman twice beat all challengers in the 100-meter dash and stands .04 seconds away from the school record.
Behind those four, St. Henry's Ryan Wehrley, Parkway's Trevor Stearns, Marion's Carter Jones and New Bremen's Hunter Schaefer lurk in potentially the deepest field in the conference.
"For St. Henry, Harrison Wendel, he's been their top sprinter for a couple years now, whereas Nate is newer to being the sprint guy," Marion Local coach Kyle Grabowski said after the Minster Memorial. "But he's going to get there, and I can't wait to see how it plays out, because I think Nate has a lot more to tap into."
Wendel took second in the 100 behind since-graduated Jack Osborne of Versailles and Riethman ran fourth at last year's MAC championships, but this year, the 100 has been Riethman's to lose. At the Flyer Spectacular, he blazed to a time of 10.94 with Rindler runner-up at 11.17, Wendel third at 11.25 and Schaefer fifth at 11.56.
After missing the Cardinal Invitational in New Bremen, Riethman claimed the title again at Thursday's Mercer County Knights of Columbus Invitational, dropping back to an 11.3 but comfortably ahead of Wendel and four others who came in under 12 seconds.
"He kind of raises himself to the competition," Bruns said Thursday. "With him coming back to track last year, being the first year back, that kind of jumpstarted him, and he's loving it."
"I feel like I had to take a giant step from the people I had last year," Riethman said. "I had to step up, and I really feel like I was doing a lot more lifting, putting on some more muscle. Just trying to take that step from the last guys."
Riethman named Buschur and Wendel as the two competitors pushing him the most, rating them about equal. Wendel pointed to Buschur as his biggest challenger.
"Definitely the toughest I've been up against," he said.
In the Minster Memorial, with Coldwater absent due to prom, Buschur and Wendel went head-to-head in the 100 and Wendel came out on top, running an 11.19 to beat Buschur by .04 seconds with Rindler in third. At the Cardinal Invitational, with a pair of Anna runners taking the top two spots, Buschur and Rindler took third and fourth with Wendel in fifth.
Marion Local's Nate Buschur (left) and Owen Rindler run the 100-meter dash in the Cardinal Invitational on April 28.
Buschur claimed first in the 200 on Thursday, tying his PR and cruising to a win over Wendel, who was in his fourth race. Riethman scratched with a tight hamstring.
Buschur has run the 200 going back to last season and only added the 100 this year.
"Feeling far more comfortable than I was in the beginning of the year," Buschur said at the Cardinal Invitational. "Getting more reps, getting better blocks and stuff."
Rindler added the 100 this season after focusing on hurdling for most of his career.
"I always knew I could sprint, I just needed the full chance to put it into use," Rindler said at his signing day on May 1. "I was always stuck in hurdles trying to get points for my team, but I knew I could score points in sprints as well."
Rindler didn't run the open sprints in the Cardinal or Mercer County Invitationals, but at the latter, he took his first turn in the 4x100 and gave Marion a coveted win, pulling away from Wendel in the final leg.
Otherwise, Wendel and the Redskins have dominated the sprint relays this season, placing ahead of Marion and the rest of the MAC teams in the 4x100 and 4x200 at the Minster Memorial, the Flyer Spectacular and the Cardinal Invitational.
The Flyers nearly overtook them in the 4x200 on Thursday as well, but Wendel surged past Jones in the homestretch to snatch away the victory.
"In the 100, he struggles at the start, and that's something we've been working on," St. Henry coach Matt Thobe said, "but if you watch him in the open 100, he tends to close late in the races. Then 4x100, you can see that closing speed, 4x200, you can definitely see that closing speed. Once he comes off the turn, he turns on the burners."
Riethman, Wendel and Buschur all cited better starts as the area they could most improve, while Rindler is working on explosiveness.
"Just (focusing on) my block starts, make sure I get them down clean," Riethman said. "For me, it's the most important part of the race, because I know I have pretty good acceleration. … It's really improved from last year. That's how I've been able to drop half a second on my time."
As the most experienced runner of the group, Wendel has seen the benefits of piling up varsity races.
"Knowing how to start, how to pace yourself, for sure makes a difference," he said. "I definitely noticed a jump last year, because the year before that I only ran 400. Last year was more of a sprinter year."
The Cavalier boys are in Division II, so this will be the last time Riethman competes against the other MAC sprinters. Heading down the stretch of their senior season, Wendel, Buschur and Rindler will have to keep battling all the way through the tournament.
"The next couple weeks could be really fun," Thobe said of the rivalry with Marion. "We're going to be seeing each other, hopefully, for the next four weeks."
