The boys and girls track team travelled to Nicolet High School to compete in the North Shore Conference Relays on Wednesday. However, the Highlanders experienced a small bump in the road when its departure was delayed due to the rigorous AP Physics exam that many of the runners were involved in.

“After the exam, I was mentally drained and I’m sure everyone else was too,” Serafino LaGalbo, junior, said. The three hour long endeavor that was the AP Physics exam consumed a lot of attention that could have been focused on the race. “With the circumstances we were given, it was hard to go straight into a race,” Patrick Minkin, junior, said.

Once the grind of the exam ended, the teams went to Nicolet with high hopes. The girls finished third behind first place finisher Germantown, and second place Whitefish Bay. The boys also finished third behind first place Whitefish Bay, and second place Germantown.

The 4×800 meter relay team of Maddie Powell, junior, Zanelle Willemse, freshman, and Allie Levin and Katie Wegmann, sophomores, placed second. The 3×100 meter shuttle hurdle team of Carolyn Rossman, junior, Alex Burns, junior, and Jadin Stoffel, senior, took first. The 4×1600 meter relay team of Anna Kreynin, junior, Willemse, Olivia Damron, junior, and Anna Keller, junior, placed second.

“It wasn’t our best day, but we are getting closer and closer to figuring out our races and seeing what this season has to offer,” Keller said. The girls are getting prepared for another postseason run with sectionals approaching in late May. “The conference relays is never a good race for us” Coach Victor Vilar, said.

The boys saw a lot of the same success that the girls had. Evan Routhier, junior, Thomas Miller, sophomore, Noah Cummisford, sophomore, and Ben Starsky, sophomore, finished third in the 4×1600 meter relay. The long jump relay of Matt Winters, Jake Bruner and Minkin, juniors, finished first. John Marita, senior, Chris Malicky, junior, and Zach Beale, junior, placed first in the shot put relay. The 4×400 meter relay team of Patrick Curran, senior, Minkin, Dominic Enea, senior, and Joe Wasserman, junior, finished fourth.

“The throwers and jumpers stepped up which is a good sign for future meets,” Minkin said. With the postseason approaching, the teams are looking for whole team contributions. “We acted and competed as a team despite the unfortunate timing of the exam, which I believe contributed to our success,” Wasserman said.

The boys look to build upon its success next Tuesday, May 12, at Menomonee Falls. The girls compete Saturday on the home turf of Homestead hoping to make a strong run towards the postseason.