Robert Hanke leads Spartan tracksters to second place at Young Invite

A pair of hurdles victories for Robert Hanke, another long jump win for Kale Schmidt and several other high placings for Alex Hatley, Trevor Fekkes and Schmidt assured the Spartan boys’ track and field team a second-place finish (87.5 points) behind Auburn-Riverside (104) at Saturday’s Arnie Young Invitational at Renton Memorial Stadium.

Sixteen teams competed during the meet.

Hanke, who was State 4A runner-up in the 300 hurdles last season, easily grabbed wins in the 110-meter hurdles with a mark of 15.03 and the 300 with a time of 40.6.

Schmidt’s triumph was in the long jump with a leap of 22-02. He also took second in the 400 (52.03) and the high jump (6-02).

Hatley had a fine toss of 48-03 in the shot put for second overall, while Fekkes scored points for the Sparts with a 5-10 high jump clearance (third place).

“We did a good job competing in the wind, rain, and cold,” commented head coach Jordan Sneva.

“Overall the team did well for it being the last weekend of spring break. We have a home meet to prepare for now and we want to protect our home track!”