Jr High Track – Three Invites

Written By Coach Davis

This past week the Jr High Track Team competed in three invites against some new and stout competition. The girls best finish was 7th at Leipsic (12 teams) and the boys 9th at Leipsic. We’re playing the long game in the second half of the season. With three meets this past week and three more scheduled for the upcoming week there’s no reason to overrun and enter the NWCC Championship on 5/15 with tired or sore legs. It’s also very clear the boys team needs the baseball guys down the stretch in order to be at full strength.

Behind the Lens

The picture of the year so far might belong to Avery Benedict [seen above]. She has been routinely starting our 4×100, which finished 3rd on Saturday at Leipsic. At the Van Buren Invite the majority of the pictures were taken by the kids, and those have been the best pictures in the past two seasons! Check out the links below for those and the other invites!

DeLancy Domination

In the three invites this past week Ava DeLancy has scored 48 points, either by herself or on a relay team, and that’s running in just two events in the last two invites. At Swanton [seen above] she PRd in Long Jump 13ft even, to get 3rd place. Then at Van Buren and Leipsic she ran the 200 Hurdles [seen below], winning both invites!

Brynn Getting Better

7th Grader, Brynn Clark, just continues to improve as the season goes on. She’s seen below starting the 4×200 at Leipsic. Again, another athlete that’s been in just two events typically to keep her fresh. In rainy and cold conditions, she long jumped over 12 ft to claim 3rd place yesterday. As she continues to put things together she’s going to be a scary competitor to face. Two years ago, Jayme Zeigler as a 7th grader long jumped consistently over 12ft, last year in 8th grade she placed 4th in the league meet. If Brynn continues this she should be in similar standing as Jayme.

Ramos Not for Faint of Heart

It’s been a few years since the team has competed on a Saturday invite, and Swanton and Leipsic reminded us why. Saturday meets are drawn out, and unfortunately this year, cold and wet too. It was pretty neat to take over field event athletes at 8am, and then have the rest of the team show up at 11am, reinforcements walking in was a neat feeling to experience, especially when other teams realized they just sat in the cold for the last three hours with nothing to do. Linkin Ramos, 7th Grader, is out for track and we’re glad he is. Although he didn’t individually place at any of the invites, he, without hesitation, will literally jump in any event that is asked of him: long jump, 200m, 4×200, 4×800, etc. It should be noted that he was at both invites the entire day, and that’s a long, cold day for jr high kids; 7am bus departure, returning at 3pm, like I said, not for the faint of heart. By running track this spring Linkin will be a FORCE on the football field this fall, just look at him below.

Quietly Going About Business

First year track athlete, 8th Grader, Aaron Keeran, just quietly goes about his business. He shows up to practice and meets consistently doing his best. Take for example his shot put performance this season, 14ft in his first meet to 19ft to 20ft to 22ft, and yesterday 25-2.25ft, a Personal Record. If this kid stays in the weight room over the next four years I’m really excited to see how high this number gets to. Oh, and he just started playing football this past fall also.