This past week on Wednesday, April 27 the boys’ track team won the Big 8 track meet, while the girls had come just short of first place against Bronson and Reading at their home track.

Before the meet Coach, Mike Jurasek explained, “Our goal is to always win the meet. We are strong in every event except the pole vault. Our relays, sprints, and distance carry the load.” Jur shares that “Reading will be the toughest competition tonight.”

Senior Jonathan Mikovits has been running track since the seventh grade. “We met our goal, which was to win. In conference meets, Jur tells us there is only one thing that matters and that is winning. However, some people did perform outstandingly, setting personal records,” he explains.

For the boys’ part of the meet, Tyler Carpenter came up in first place in the 100-meter dash with Connor Keefer not far behind in third. In the 200-meter dash, Malachi Boyd came up in first, while Javion Taylor was close behind in second. In the 800-meter run, Adair Artis placed second. For the boys, 1600-meter Mikovits placed second as well. For the 3200-meter race, Joe Bulko placed first with Nolan Korman not far behind in fourth. During the 110-meter hurdles, our boys took the top three spots: Omarion Culliver in first, Ashton Easterwood in second, and Tyreke Brown in third. Our team also did well in the 300-meter hurdles with Ashton Easterwood coming in first and Ethan Newman taking second.

Relays take both teamwork and grit. For the boys, the 4×100 relay team Carpenter, M.Wingfield, Boyd, and Taylor got first. For the 4×200 relay, the team of Carpenter, M.Wingfield, Boyd, and Taylor took first. During the 4×400 relay, Artis, Mark File, Mikovits, and Keefer worked hard and placed second. Running for the boys’ team in the 4×800 relay, Artis, Isaac Waldron, Bulko, and Mikovits came in first.

The boys’ team did great in our field events. For shot put, Culliver, came in second with a PR distance of 37-03.00, Phillip Horrell came in third with a PR distance of 36-07.00, Alex Winters, Timar Spratly, and Austin Bradly all had a PR distance of 31-11.00, 30-05.00, and 30-04.00 respectively. For the boy’s discus, Culliver came in first with Winters in second. M.Wingfield took first in both long jump and high jump.

Runner Savanna Payne, who competes in the high jump, 100-meter hurdles, and the 300-meter hurdles, anticipated the girl’s success: “I think the girl’s team will do pretty good tomorrow and it will definitely be a learning experience because some of the girls will be participating in some new events,” Savanna was right: the girls’ team did do well, especially for many athletes trying out new events.

For the girl’s 100-meter dash, Shianne Alejandro placed second and Lily McCabe placed fourth. While competing in the 200-meter dash, Kiara Ozuzu placed second and  Khaleah Wingfield took third. For the girls’ 400-meter dash, Savannah Smith placed second. For the 800-meter event, Rylee Weeks placed second and Caitlin Wright placed third. In the 1600-meter race, Weeks placed second, and Riley Adams placed third. Adams also placed second in the 3200-meter run. During the 300-meter hurdles Payne placed second and Paige Morris placed third.

The girls also did well in relays. Running for the girls in the 4×100 relay were K.Wingfield, Alejandro, McCabe, and Karlee Gamet. They took second. For the 4×200 relay, the team of K.Wingfield, Ozuzu, Gamet, and Wright placed second. Our 4×800 relay team consisting of Wright, Weeks, Morris, and Adams took first.

For the field events, the girls worked hard. Jillian Coville placed fourth, and McCabe placed fifth in shot put. For the girls’ discus Gamet placed first, Coville placed third, and Smith placed tenth. Lastly in the girl’s long jump Gamet placed first, K.Wingfield placed fourth, and McCabe placed fifth.

Each and every outstanding athlete mentioned in this article worked hard to be where they are today and will continue throughout the rest of the season.  Cheer on our track teams this Wednesday, May 4th at 4:30 pm as they take on Homer and Springport.