GROTON – The Milbank boys and the Groton girls squads took home the team championships from the Rob Luecke Invitational on an ideal track and field day on Tuesday.

The nice weather provided close to perfect conditions for Ana Ratigan from Northwestern who won the shot put with a throw of 35-feet 3-inches. She faced usual area competition and was able to come away with the win.

“We’re kind of used to throwing against them, but it’s a nice day out. Not much wind, suns out so I guess it was a pretty nice throw,” said Ratigan. “I personally would rather have no wind ‘cause it gets cold then, but I know some would like it. But I’m more of a no wind, just kind of settled day.”

Throwing an 8.8-pound metal ball is no easy task and requires a lot of strength, but Ratigan says that footwork is what makes or breaks a shot putter, having a complete mix of technique and strength.

“I feel like it’s a mixture of both. Typically, you see your stronger throwers throw farther because it is a lot more strength than discus,” Ratigan said. “But if you don’t have good footwork, you’re not going to throw the ball very far.”

Even though the senior knows the importance of footwork, it is an area where she still sees some improvement.

“I’m definitely trusting more of the strength. My footwork is kind of ugly, so I think that’s just one thing I’ve been working on,” said Ratigan. “It’s kind of helped me be a little more successful this year compared to in the past, but definitely my strength helps me out better than my footwork.”

In practice, she has been spending time trying to get her footwork down, even at the expense of the distance in her throws.

“It’s just a lot of reps. At practice, you just gotta focus on it. It doesn’t matter how far it goes at practice. You just kind of want to get your footwork down,” said Ratigan. “You just gotta be focused on yourself, not really see what everybody else is doing. You could be losing by like 30 feet, but as long as you’re doing good for yourself, you just gotta stay in that mindset.”

Meanwhile, Landon Larson of Potter County won the long jump in his first jump of the day in the prelims. The senior decided not to jump in the finals, but his leap of 20-feet 9.5-inches was enough to win the event.

“It’s good. I had a good first jump, but it wasn’t my best,” said Larson. “I ran the 100 right after that and tweaked my hammy, so I didn’t jump finals.”

Even though Larson was battling through a hamstring injury and back tightness, he knew there was a bigger mission at play in Groton.

“I’m just trying to get a higher jump into Howard Wood, get up there. Win this event, obviously help our team points,” said Larson. “I’m going for the school record right now, just four inches shy of that, so that’s just the goal right now.”

Larson took fifth in the 100, just .55 seconds behind the winner, Kyle Hettich of Ipswich who won in a time 11.45 seconds.

Hettich, a junior, has been growing as a sprinter, improving areas of his racing, which has helped him find more success this season.

“I’d say the end of the race is more important. Last year, I was more beginning. This year I’m more end and I’ve been PR-ing,” said Hettich. “Being in front, feeling the pressure from behind pushes you.”

Hettich hasn’t only found success in the 100, he’s a top sprinter in the 200-meter dash as well. He won that event in a time of 22.28 seconds and touched on the differences between the two races.

“200 is 20 million times more speed endurance,” said Hettich. “200 you have to think more tall and smooth, versus 100, it kind of goes by quick, so you don’t really think.”

On top of winning the dashes, Hettich helped the Tigers as the anchor in the 400-meter relay and the 800-meter relay. While Hettich prepares properly for his event, he said it helps when his teammates set him up with a healthy lead.

“It really takes the pressure off. Kind of makes it a more laid back race, but when it comes down to it, I guess the anchor takes most of the blame if we lose,” said Hettich. “Just kind of take it one race at a time. Good warm up, good warm down, and try your hardest.”

In the girls’ 800-meter relay, Zayda Townsend from Milbank was getting ready to run the second leg in relay, when her opponent from Ipswich was asking for tips because she had never run a relay before. Zayda helped her out despite being two lanes over.

“It’s fun to meet new people and it’s kind of part of the track experience,” said Townsend. “It’s just really fun for me.”

Although the Milbank squad didn’t win the relay, Townsend was able to secure first place in the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:00.38, which was a new personal record for the sophomore.

Townsend jumped out to an early lead, which was her gameplan.

“I usually try to get out hard, coast the back stretch and then finish hard,” said Townsend. “It was just finish no matter what. My dad was yelling at me, ‘Keep going, act like there’s somebody ahead of you,’ and that’s what I did.”

Aberdeen Roncalli also competed in the meet. Cavaliers coach Mark Stone also talked about the stellar conditions.

“Those days allow the athletes to compete and perform at their highest level without worrying about the weather and the conditions,” Stone said.

The Cavaliers received contributions from a variety of athletes.

“We had a lot of personal best performances today on the track and in field events,” Stone said. “As we approach the month of May, that’s all you can hope for as coaches. Keep working hard and set your goal to be a little better than the last time. Some strong competition today that also pushed us to be at our best.”

To see complete meet results, click on the following link:

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/595107/results