The Caledonia/Spring Grove 4×100-meter relay boys have won their first two races of 2022 while 2021 All-State high jumper Chris Pieper has won his signature event in his first two efforts of the season, matching his personal best 6-foot, 4-inches at Plainview-Elgin-Millville on April 22, where the versatile senior also placed third with a discus throw of 114 feet.
The boys 4×100 foursome – senior Reid Bjerke, juniors Hunter Holland and Eric Mauss plus sophomore Josh Beardmore – was timed at a winning 45.97 seconds at La Crosse Logan (April 19) and improved to a winning 45.84 at P-E-M.
At the season-opening indoor meet at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Beardmore was first, freshman Fischer Wait second and sophomore Gabe Curley fifth in the 55-meter dash. At 200 meters, Wait was first with Beardmore third and Bjerke fifth. At 400 meters, junior Lyle Myhre was first and junior Alec Weinbender second. In the 100-meter dash at Logan, Beardmore placed second (11.65). Garret Ness had a third-place shot put of 39 feet, 11 inches at P-E-M.
In addition to the 200M win at Luther, and including the runner-up there at 55M, Wait had five second-place finishes in five different events. At 100 meters, Wait was second at P-E-M (11.93). At 200 meters, Wait was second at P-E-M (24.06) and fifth at Logan (24.72). At 400 meters, Wait ran second at Logan (53.61 seconds) and placed second at Luther in long jump (17 feet, 8 inches).
Cal/SG ran third in the 4x200M relay at both meets. Mauss, freshman Eli Staggemeyer, freshman Owen Staggemeyer and freshman Tristan Meyer were timed at 1 minute, 41.62 seconds at Logan before Bjerke, Holland, Mauss and junior Bronson Knutson had a third-place time of 1:38.50 seconds at P-E-M.
In the 4x400M relay, the Warrior boys ran third at Logan (Myhre, Weinbender, sophomore Jason Schock, freshman Jacob Hernandez, 4:18.81) and with a better time fifth at P-E-M (Myhre, Weinbender, Bjerke, Pieper 3:54.39).
There were no team scores computed at Luther and Logan; the Warrior boys placed sixth among nine teams at P-E-M, where the Cal/SG girls were eighth among nine teams.
A relay team – consisting of juniors Ayshia Gay, Kloe Jore and Charlese Walk plus eighth grader Loisah Gay – placed fourth in both the 4x100M and 4x200M relays at Logan and then finished fifth at the same two distances at P-E-M. Ayshia Gay was seventh among 23 sprinters in the 200-meter dash at Logan (30.02), where Walk had a fifth-place long jump (13-09.5). She next finished eighth among 23 long jumpers at P-E-M (12-09).