By Mike Moore
Sports Correspondent
Even before most theme parks open for the season, the Burlington track teams rode a roller coaster last week.
The peak came at the Bronco Invitational on Tuesday, April 22. The boys team won the nine-team event at Union Grove, while the girls team took second.
The valley came three days later at the Simpson Relays on Friday. Neither squad finished in the top half of that eight-team field in Monroe.
High point
Scoring points in a variety of events, the Burlington boys dominated the Bronco Invitational. Their 151 points left Greendale a distant second, with 88.
Success came even in unexpected places. Ben Lois won the two-mile run in 11:06.20 — the first time in his nine years as head coach that Trent Tonn can remember a Demons victory in that event.
Junior Miranda and Josh Insor finished 1-2 in the 100-meter dash, and Charlie Aguirre won the 300-meter hurdles. Burlington pole vaulters placed second, third, and fourth.
With 110 points, the girls team finished runner-up to surprise winner Shoreland Lutheran. Brittany Ehlen accounted for two of the Demons’ four event victories at Union Grove.
She topped the two-mile run and cleared 8 feet, 6 inches to lead a 1-2 sweep in the pole vault with teammate Bianca Clayton. Crediting assistant Adam Cook, Coach Dan Luneau said the pole vault has been the team’s most consistent event for years.
Burlington’s 1,600 meter relay team (Megan Wallace, Arden Peterson, Meta Ehlen, and Ellen Stang) won by nearly 15 seconds. If the runners continue to lower that relay time, Luneau said they’d pose one of the team’s best hopes at the conference meet.
Low point
The Demons found points more difficult to obtain at the Simpson Relays. The girls team tied for fifth in a meet won by Stoughton, while the boys took eighth as host school Monroe led the way.
The Burlington girls did earn second-place slots in two events at Monroe: the triple jump (Ashley Storck, Molly Benavides, and Holly Hines) and the pole vault (Brittany Ehlen, Clayton, and Hines). But Luneau said several athletes were away for club volleyball tournaments, leading to fatigue among the Demons who did compete in the team-scoring event.
The best finish for the Burlington boys was second in the 800 meter medley relay (Isaiah Brenner, Insor, Taylor Collins, and Matt Grandaw). Even considering the number of large, talent-laden schools competing, Tonn was disappointed in the last-place finish.
The roller-coaster ride abruptly stopped Tuesday, when weather forced the postponement of a boys invitational at Greendale.
Looking ahead
On the bright side, both coaches have seen encouraging signs from underclassmen. Insor, a freshman, had the top preliminary time in the 100 at Union Grove and has become a relay contributor on the boys side. Sophomores like Lois, long jumper Brandon Merten, and high/triple jumper Tyler Bopp also are pitching in.
“There’s a handful of sophomores that are scoring a good portion of our points,” Tonn said.
Both Burlington teams are scheduled to compete at Badger High School in Lake Geneva on Friday before hosting the Demon Invitational on May 9.
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