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Coldwater's Izzy Zahn crosses the finish line ahead of Alex Kessen of Delphos St. John's to win the 100-meter dash at the Cardinal Invitational on Friday. Zahn also won the long jump, the 200 and the 400 as the Cavalier girls took the team title.
NEW BREMEN - Coldwater came close to sweeping the New Bremen Invitational amid a downpour on Friday, and the girls came away with a team win.
The Cavalier boys nearly took down favorite Marion Local, but the Flyers turned a 1/2-point lead heading into the 4x400-meter relay into a 105 1/2-97 win, with the 4x400 team winning and setting a new meet record to finish in style.
"I was really impressed with how our A team, our varsity lineup, was able to respond," Marion coach Kyle Grabowski said. "Pole vault being canceled is a huge loss for us, we were seeded 1-2 in that. Our 4x2 got disqualified based on a false start, a huge loss for us. But they were able to keep their composure and do some really good things."
The most impressive individual performance of the day, boys or girls, belonged to Coldwater's Izzy Zahn. Zahn won four events and reset two meet records, in the 100 and 200 dashes.
She won the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 11 1/4 inches - more than a foot ahead of Alex Kessen of Delphos St. John's and six inches short of tying the meet record - and earned similarly comfortable wins in the 400, where she was more than two seconds ahead of teammate Audrey Alig with a time of 58.99 seconds, and the 200, where she broke the meet record by almost 1 1/2 seconds and beat Kessen by about the same amount.
The 100 was the closest of her races. Kessen led until the final 15 meters or so, when Zahn put on the jets and pulled ahead for a 0.14-second win, with both runners coming in ahead of the old meet record.
"She's been getting better, and she's been running in that time range the last two weeks," Coldwater coach Mark Bruns said. "That's been good. She's been working on her starts - she just works really hard, puts in a lot of time, that makes a difference.
"The MAC's just tough," he added. "That girl (Kessen) is going D-I (Ohio University), Anna Roessner's really good. It's going to be a heck of a final for the MAC."
The Cavalier girls also got wins from Ava Schmitmeyer, who cleared 11-0 in the pole vault, and Paige Ontrop, who threw 106-1 in the discus, and they piled up points up and down the board.
"We have so many people that fill in, that are great relay people," Bruns said. "Our depth is really helping us."
New Bremen's Pierce Whitlatch runs the second leg of the 4x800 relay as a rainbow appears over Cardinal Stadium.
The Flyer boys got individual wins from Victor Hoelscher, who beat Anna's Dustin Vasko with a time of 23.21 in the 200; Andrew Pohlman, who won by 0.35 seconds over Wapakoneta's Noah Schlosser in the 300 hurdles; and senior Aiden Grieshop, who was 0.84 seconds ahead of Wapak's Crew Allen in the 400.
Grieshop also ran the first leg of the 4x400 to close the night, and took first in the 400 for the Flyers on a night when their top 400 runner, Wesley Schoen, wasn't in the event.
"He said today, with Wes and Vic running different stuff, 'I want to win the 400,' " Grabowski said. "I said, 'Well, you're seeded third, but you definitely can.' And he went out and he did the best he could, and he won."
Coldwater beat the Flyer boys directly in three events. In the 100, Jack Riethman beat Marion's Justin Knouff by 0.2 seconds, and Bruns said he hasn't lost yet this season. In the long jump, Gavin Zibrida went 20-8 to best Marion's Kyle Otte by nearly a foot.
Coldwater's Jack Riethman wins the 100 over Marion Local's Justin Knouff, running a time of 11.14 seconds and remaining undefeated on the season.
The two 4x100 teams were separated by 0.84 seconds, with Riethman running the anchor leg to secure the win.
"I know our guys want to beat them so very badly," Grabowski said. "That football rivalry, I think, is showing up here. I know our kids know their names and their kids know our names. That rivalry is definitely afoot for us."
Bruns said the 4x100 team is gunning for the school record this season and is now within 0.3 seconds of breaking it.
"We get some handoffs, we'll be all right," he added.
Freshman Aiden Rose nearly added another win for the Cavaliers, as his race with Jackson Center's Lucas Hartle in the 110 hurdles came down to the finish line. Hartle prevailed by the narrowest of margins, 15.77-15.78.
The host Cardinals narrowly missed a win in the first boys race of the day, as Anna's Blake Bixler and Zach Wiedeman battled in the last leg of the 4x800. Wiedeman tried to pass Bixler heading into the third turn of the final lap, but the two of them reached a lapped runner and Wiedeman couldn't get around both. Bixler pulled away on the final turn and the homestretch for a two-second victory.
Wiedeman got New Bremen an individual win in the 1,600, though, pulling out first in a late duel with Anna's John Young where the margin came down to 0.04 seconds.
"Zach, I give all the credit in the world, because he just fought," New Bremen coach Mark Sharp said. "He fought, fought, fought. I always enjoy watching the kids that fight and don't give up. … Zach's just a different world."
On the girls side, Annie Lefeld gave the Cardinals' B team a win in the shot put, throwing 33-11.
Mia Hirschfeld took first in the 800, with a healthy lead after the first lap that she expanded into a 1 1/2-second margin over St. Henry's Rileigh Baumer.
"Mia's just Mia," Sharp said with a laugh. "She puts all the work and then some in, that's why she's as good as she is."
Sharp also highlighted junior Logan Krieg, who had to step in for the Cardinals on short notice with freshman Rogan Muether sick.
Krieg's top individual finish came in the 400, where he placed eighth. He also helped the 4x200 relay take sixth.
Marion Local's Grace Moeller won the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.57 seconds.
Grace Moeller won the 100 hurdles by more than a second for Marion Local. St. Henry's girls won the 4x400 and the 4x200, where Baumer passed Anna's Jenna Wolters in the homestretch.
Minster's Charlie Schmiesing won the shot put, throwing 53-8 3/4 to win by nearly two inches, and the discus, where he hit 172-11 to win by more than 12 feet.
Jack Grieshop gave Minster a win in the 800, and Charlie Schmiesing swept the throws, hitting 172-11 in the discus and reaching 53-8 3/4 in the shot put.
Coldwater, St. Henry and Marion will meet again next week at Cavalier Stadium for the Mercer County Knights of Columbus meet, starting on Tuesday.
