Source: North Baltimore Local School District facebook page
Thursday prelims got washed out, so all races and field events were moved to Saturday at Hardin-Northern for the NWCC Track Championship, which also included high school too. We knew going in that it might be a long day, and it was, but both the jr high girls and boys put forth their best effort in the final meet of the season.
The girls team finished 3rd of 10, just 1.5 points behind 2nd place Hardin-Northern and six points behind first place Cory-Rawson. We had aspirations of winning the title, falling six points short is nothing to be disappointed over. Having no competitors in the hurdle races or pole vault never helps, but despite this, the girls nearly won the conference.
The boys team finished 6th of 10. A top half finish in the league would have been great, but we’ll take 6th this year. Keep in mind 8th grader Rhys Williams did not compete (second leading point getter on the team prior to getting shut down for the season). There are a lot of positive takeaways in the 43 points scored.
Allison does Amazing
It’s no secret now, Lacie Allison is an amazing athlete. The proof might show up the most in the sport of track and field. Going into the NWCC Championships she was favored to win both high jump and the 400m race, which she did. She’s the type of competitor that doesn’t just want to win, she wants to set records. In high jump she was one inch short of tying Grace Hagemyer’s 4’11 mark in 2018 and in the 400 about 2 seconds short of Nora Hemmingers 2013 time of 1:03.2. No discredit to those two great athletes, but it would be interesting to know how far they could throw a shot put. Needing to maximize points for the team, Lacie was entered into shot put (she had only done this event five days prior). Not only did she place 1st with a throw of 35 feet 3.5 inches, she surpassed the meet record set in 2012. Pretty impressive for someone who just picked up a shot put this week. Meet MVP is only awarded at the high school level, but if there was one given out for jr high Lacie with her perfect 30 points would have been a strong candidate.
Boys 4×800 Cements the Time!
This time the record is cemented into the books (tv screen in athletic hallway). The team of Garrett Williams, Levi Vanlerberg, Cam McCartney, and Laurison Hixson finished in 11:20.54, 13 seconds better than the previous best. An outstanding time to finish the season and etch their names on the record board for years to come. Laurison Hixson stepped up huge with the three 8th graders to help make this possible. Still no picture at the moment (hard to find the entire group after the race), but we’ll get one at awards and make sure their accomplishment is finally seen!
Reynolds Records
Only in Ady Reynolds world could you maybe suggest not finishing 1st falls short of expectations. At NWCCs she won the 800m, finished 2nd in the mile, and ran on the 3rd place 4×800 team. Scoring a formidable 24 points; a big reason why the girls team placed 3rd overall in the conference. Thanks to Ady the new benchmark for girls distance times in Jr High are set. Before, if you ran a 3:00 800 or 6:30 mile it was impressive. Now, if someone were to go below those numbers they’ll be considered “Ady Good.” We’re excited to see how low those times can get in high school. She’ll always have a place in the NB Jr High Records though, owning three: 4×800, 1600, & 4×400. It’s unlikely any of those are beat for some time.
Phanthavong is Points
Trevey Phanthavong, came into the meet as the leading point earner for the boys team this season. If you saw his effort during the winter off-season and practices during the year it would make sense why he has the most points on the team. At NWCCs he placed 5th in the 800. He then helped the 4×100 team to a 4th place finish (plus the fastest time all season) and the4x400 team to a 3rd place finish (also the fastest time all season).
Speed and Distance Together Make a Deadly Combination
Sprinting events make up almost 70% of jr high track events (if you say the 400 is a sprint). When you have success in the sprints and the distance events is when a team is tough to beat, that’s the case with our girls team this year. It showed on Saturday. Mia Ostrander (5th) and Ava Delancy (7th) both scored in the 100m. Ady Reynolds (2nd) and Evelyn Thompson (6th) both scored in the 1600m. Then in the 800m Ady Reynolds won the race and Maddie Stufft (7th) scored too. The 4×200 team of Lyv Amburgey, Sienna Snyder, Sydney Meggitt, and Jayme Zeigler took 2nd out of 10. The 4×400 team was fourth of seven which featured Lyv Amburgey, Evelyn Thompson, Mia Ostrander, and Ava Delancy. Our 4×100 team of Jayme Zeigler, Sydney Meggitt, Ava Delancy, and Mia Ostrander won the conference crown. (need to improve on relay group photos). Jayme Zeigler (4th) and Sydney Meggitt (7th) scored in long jump and Maddie Stufft (7th) in high jump. (check out the photos link to see some of these athletes!)
Boyd-Reyes Looks to Future
Zech Boyd-Reyes, a 7th grader, had an impressively-modest conference championship meet. He was the anchor on the 4th place boys 4×200 team. He had a long jump of 14-9, finishing 7th overall. Arguably the most encouraging performance was his 110 Hurdles. His time of 19.56 was good enough for 5th overall, and he ran in the first (slow) heat. His 19.56 time is comparable to recent track standout Cooper Clark, however Cooper saw sub 19.5 times in the final two meets of his 8th grade season. Did I mention Zech is a 7th grader?
The Waiting Game
Special mention must be given to the jr high throwers, they had to wait multiple hours to compete on Saturday (due to the schedule). This group has been fabulous to work with all season and would do just about anything you ask of them. Trever Delacerda led the group, placing 6th in shot put, great for his first year throwing. Connor Coup threw the shot too on Saturday, earning a PR by almost 4 inches. Aiden Tatham, Gavyn South threw disc, and so did Bri Garcia and Trinity Kline. (check out the pictures link to see some of these athletes in action!)
Final PRs for the Season
Gabe Berger – 100 14.58
Konnor Mills – 100 13.23
Garrett Williams – 1600 5:59.94
Cam McCartney – 1600 (tied) 6:01.86
Sophia Hixson – 400 1:21.95 & 200 35:10
Levi Vanlerberg – 400 1:09.34
Latrayland Grier – 200 29.09
Logan Trout – 200 30.73
Gavyn South – Disc 81-4
Lacie Allison – Shot Put 35-3.5
Connor Coup – Shot Put 23-3.25
Meet Results:
https://www.baumspage.com/track/northwestcentralconf/2024/NWCC%20Final%20Results%202024.pdf
Meet Pictures:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VwYRygxStSr7xow58
