Whitnall Girls Track Team Ties for Conference Title

Just weeks after settling for second place in the Woodland Conference Relays, the Whitnall girls track team climbed the ladder to the top spot at the Woodland Conference Outdoor Meet at Wauwatosa West on Tuesday.

The Falcons did, however, have to share that position.

Whitnall, led by the one-two punch of senior Mary Erickson and sophomore Rachel Stave, tied South Milwaukee for first with 111 points each.

The Greenfield girls were eighth with 35 points.

In the boys race, which was dominated by the host school, Greenfield turned in one of its best performances in years and took fourth (68 points) while Whitnall placed 10th (37.5).

(To view a slide show of the meet, ).

In her final Woodland meet, Erickson won both the 800-meter run (2 minutes, 22.48 seconds) and the 1,600 (5:15.61), and Stave, an emerging star, won both the 400 (1:01.54) and triple jump (35 feet-2 inches).

Stave also placed second in the 200 in 27.06.

Other top-five Whitnall performances included: sophomore Jenny Lawton, third, 100 hurdles (16.45) and fourth, 300 hurdles (48.27); junior Danika Johnson, fourth in both the 1,600 (5:34.82) and the 800 (2:27.92); sophomore Meredith Heller, third, 300 hurdles (48.08); and sophomore Olivia Fallon, fifth, 100 dash (13.53).

The Greenfield boys landed two top spots, one of them coming from senior Matt Brendemihl, who was first in the triple jump with a 42-0. The Hustlin’ Hawks also won the 800 relay in 1:33.10.

Greenfield sophomore Reggie Blakely was the runner-up in the long jump (20-6 ½) and was fourth in the 200 (23.20), just behind senior teammate Arnell Howard’s third-place effort of 22.78.

Greenfield’s Ryan Manzuk ran third in the 110 hurdles (16.17) and followed that up with a fourth in the 300 hurdles (41.23). Greenfield freshman Casey Sabinash added a fourth in the 1,600 in 4:38.92.

Defending state hurdle champion Michelle Garner, a Greenfield junior, claimed first in the 300 hurdles (45.58) and was second in the 100 hurdles (16.27).

The Greenfield girls also got top-five efforts from juniors Ella Skillings, who placed fourth in the long jump (16-8) and Tania Alvarez, who ran fifth in the 200 (27.84).

The Whitnall boys, who won the outdoor conference meet last spring, earned one event win as senior Eric Windt claimed the 3,200 in 9:56.77, edging Shorewood junior Peter Morris by less than a second.

Also for the Falcons, senior Ben Schaefer was third in the 400 (53.64); junior Mitch Olson ran fourth in the 800 (2:01.88); and senior Jake Streim was fifth in the long jump (20-2 ½).