By Kristi Leonard
The Surveyor

The 3,200-meter run, also known as the metric two-mile, is not usually the event the majority of track fans consider the most exciting race of a meet. However, on April 24, Berthoud’s Luke Spitz drew the attention of the grandstands and athletes on the field as he raced to a Welco Invitational meet record, lapping some of the runners in the race two and three times. Spitz won the eight-lap race with a time of 9 minutes, 53 seconds, improving on his school record by 18 seconds. The time moves Spitz into ninth place in the 4A standings and most likely will earn him a trip to the state meet on May 14-16. The top 18 times will qualify to the state meet.

The boys 4 x 400 relay team of Alex Paradise, Michael Woodiel, Steele Castles and Chad Ellis also had people on their feet as they moved up to 21st in the state rankings with a very exciting fight to the finish with Erie High School. Berthoud and Erie went back and forth trading places with each handoff of the baton. Paradise started the relay. When he handed off to Woodiel, the Spartans were in sixth place. Woodiel caught Erie and University to move into fourth place. But a bad handoff to Castles lost three places. Castles passed two of the teams but was still behind Erie when he handed the baton to Ellis. Ellis got one stride on Taylor Johnson of Erie and forced him to run on the outside of the lane around the final curve. Johnson gained half of a stride on Ellis as they turned the corner to home. The Berthoud High School (BHS) junior reached deep within and blasted to the finish line with one of the fastest 400s he’s ever run. This group of boys ran 10 seconds faster than any other BHS team this season to finish in fourth place with a time of 3:32.22.

Max Bump and Karsten Bump placed third and sixth in the discus respectively. Max’s throw of 140’ 9” moves him into 14th place in 4A. Karsten threw a personal best of 133’ 6”. Wyatt Woodrick placed third in the long jump with 19’ 7”. Woodiel placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a season best time of 11.41.

In the 100-meter dash, Lydia Lind placed second with a time of 13.03 and Sophia Visger came from the slower heat and placed third overall with a time of 13.11.

Alyssa Strong placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.46 and Emily Voll placed fifth in the same race in 16.84. Strong and Voll are both in the top 25 in the 4A standings. Strong also placed second in the triple jump with 36’ 0”. Samantha Mulder started her high school career with a time of 55.76 in the 300-meter hurdles. She has steadily improved in the event and this week placed sixth with a time of 50.42. The freshman is now ranked in the top 50 in 4A.

Kiah Leonard won the 1,600 meters, lowering her season best by 11 seconds, finishing with a time of 5:19 and move up to 12^th in the 4A rankings. Leonard also raced the 800 meters and placed third with a time of 2:31. She paired up with Catherine Meeker, Annika Jessen and Emily Voll in the 4 x 400 meter relay to finish in eighth place with a time of 4 minutes, 23 seconds.

Most of the track events had concluded by the time Josie Spitz and Kelly Chamberlain entered the pole vault. Chamberlain struggled a bit in the event this week but still came away with a third-place finish of 8’ 8”. Spitz vaulted to 10’ 2” for the win.

The girls team placed second in the meet with 87 points. Eaton won with a score of 127 points. The boys team trophy was won by Windsor with 129 points. Platte Valley was second with 94 points, Roosevelt was third with 83.33, Greeley Central had 80 points to finish fourth, and Erie beat Berthoud by two points with their 48 points. Berthoud was sixth with 46 points.

The next meet for the Spartans is the Tri-Valley League meet, of which the Lady Spartans are the defending champions, on May 1 – 2 at Longmont High School.