The recipients of the first 2026 Most Competitive and Best Teammate Awards for USC/AC track were, left to right, Joe Ridler, Sydney Sauke, Bella Guenther and Max Schull.

The United South Central/Alden Conger track teams competed in their second indoor meet of the season on March 23 when they were one of five schools competing in Mankato at Minnesota State University.

In addition to USC/AC, the other four schools participating at the meet were Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Minnesota Valley Lutheran, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central.

Boys Results

Minnesota Valley Lutheran placed first with 98 points with runner-up NRHEG tallying 64 points. In third place was GFW with 56 points, USC/AC was fourth with 51 and WWG/RRC was fifth with 46.

Jace Ignaszewski captured first place in the 55-meter high hurdles for the second time in as many meets with a personal-record time of 8.17.

Ignaszewski was second in the 55-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 8:27.

The 4×200-meter relay team of Maxwell Schull, Garrett Lau, Dylan Bakkedahl and Alexis Arguijo finished third in 1:47.41.

Aiden Edwards ran to a fifth-place finish in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:42.19.

Joseph Ridler, Ignaszewski, Arguijo and Schull combined their talents to finish first in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:01.77.

Maddex Niebuhr’s throw of 42-11.5 was good for first place in the shot put. Teammate Henry Beaver finished fifth with a toss of 37-5.5.

Jayden Barnick was second in the high jump. He cleared the bar at 5-8 while teammate Parker Lau was fourth at a height of 5-6.

Pole vaulter Joseph Ridler finished in third place with a mark of 8-0. Noah Hartman was fourth at 7-6 and Garrett Lau was fifth at 7-0.

Girls Results

The MVL girls made it a clean sweep at the meet by outdistancing the other teams with a total of 130 points.

Finishing in a distant second place was GFW with 64 points, NRHEG was third with 46.5, WWG/RRC was fourth with 36 and USC/AC was fifth with 30.5.

The Rebels’ Sydney Sauke clocked a time of 9.89 in the 55-meter intermediate hurdles to capture first place.

Sauke finished in third place in the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 9.87.

Eleanor Satre, Becca Kruse, Madison Meyer and Danyelle Dickson joined forces to run to a third-place finish in the 4×200-meter dash with a time of 2:08.34.

Alexis Guenther was fifth in the 1600-meter run in 6:29.61 which was a personal record for her.

Guenther also finished fifth in the 800-meter event with a time of 3:02.

Madison Meyer crossed the finish line in 31.68 in the 200-meter dash to finish in fifth place.

In the field events, Kruse had a throw of 27-4 to finish fourth in the shot put.

Tatum Stangler was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 12-5.

Sauke soared her way to a third-place finish in the triple jump with a personal-record leap of 29-11.5.

Tatum Stangler cleared the high jump bar at a height of 4-4 to take fourth place.

Elise Hanson finished fourth in the pole vault making it over the bar at a height of 5-6.

Gopher Conference Meet

The United South Central/Alden Conger track season got underway with an indoor track meet on the campus of Minnesota State University – Mankato on Saturday, March 21.

The Gopher Indoor Conference Meet featured teams from Hayfield, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton/Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Kenyon-Wanamingo-Goodhue, Medford, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and Triton in addition to USC/AC.

Boys Results

The Rebel boys finished in the middle of the pack in fourth place with a total of 68 points. Triton won the early-season competition with 114 points, JWP/WEM was second with 77 and NRHEG was third with 70, just two points ahead of USC/AC.

Finishing first in the 55-meter high hurdles was Jace Ignaszeweski with a time of 8.60. Teammate Jayden Barnick was third in 10.95.

The Rebels also had a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash where Max Schull had the fastest time at 55.41. Joseph Ridler also got on the medal stand with a sixth-place time of 1:03.73.

Schull also placed in the 200-meter dash where his time of 25.53 was good for second place.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Joseph Ridler, Ignaszewski, Caleb Satre and Aiden Edwards ran to a first-place finish with a time of 4:09.31.

In the shot put, Maddex Niebuhr’s throw of 39-10 gave him fifth place while Ezra Edwards came in sixth at 39-4.5.

Barnick was second in the high jump, clearing the bar at a height of 6-0. Parker Lau was sixth at a height of 5-4.

Garrett Lau cleared the bar at a height of 8-0 in the pole vault to finish in fourth place. Ridler finished fifth at 7-6.

Girls Results

The USC/AC girls finished in third place at the meet. JWP/WEM placed first with 136.5 points and NRHEG was second with 101 points.

The Rebels’ third place total of 43 points narrowly edged Triton who was fourth with 42 points. Hayfield was close behind with 40 points, Medford had 26.5 and KWG finished with 30.

The Rebels’ top finish came in the 55-meter high hurdles where Sydney Sauke finished second with a time of 10.67. Elise Hanson was fifth in 11.33.

Madison Meyer was sixth in the 55-meter dash in 8.69.

In the 1600-meter run, Alexis Guenther turned in a time of 6:42.66 to finish in fifth place.

The Rebels had two athletes place in the 400-meter dash. Eleanor Satre was fifth in 1:19.12 and Sauke was sixth in 1:19.50.

Guenther’s time of 2:58.76 was good for third place in the 800-meter run.

Danyelle Dickson covered 200 meters in 29.52 to finish in third place while Madison Meyer was seventh in 31.56.

Sauke also placed in the triple jump with a mark of 27-11.5 which put her in fourth place.

Tatum Stangler had a leap of 12-7 in the long jump to finish in seventh place.

Stangler also placed in the high jump. She cleared the bar at a height of 4-4 to finish in fourth place.