Lady Penguins take first at home meet

The Dodson, Saco, and Whitewater track teams met up in Whitewater last Friday, April 23, for the Penguin Track and Field Invitational.

Whitewater won the girl's meet with a total of 171 points. Malta was second with 139 points, Saco was third with 65, Hinsdale was fourth with 59 points, Lustre Christian was fifth with 33, Nashua was sixth with 21, Turner was seventh with nine points, and Hays Lodge Pole was eighth with six points.

Class B's Malta Mustangs won the boy's meet with a total of 176 points. Lustre Christian was second with 84 points. Hinsdale was third with a total of 75, Hay Lodge Pole was fourth with 35, Whitewater was fifth with 18 points, Dodson was sixth with 12, Nashua was seventh with 11, and Saco was eighth with four points.

WHITEWATER

The Lady Penguins were led by freshman Ava Hanley who won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.74. She also won the 300 hurdles with a new personal best of 57.04. Hanley also took second in long jump posting a new personal best of 13-2.5, and third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 15.04.

Senior Kia Wasson won both long-distance runs, posting a time of 6:06.2 in the 1600 and a time of 13:15.07 in the 3200. Despite her wins, Wasson wasn't too proud of her performance.

"Not very good, but that's okay," Wasson said.

Though the competition was fierce in other events, Wasson wasn't challenged by the distance running that day, as she typically is in bigger meets.

"That's kind of deflating, which is why my times were a little bit slower but I still had fun," Wasson said.

She said that her favorite event that day was the long relay. The long relay team consisting of Kora LaBrie, Kendall Scheffelmear, K. Wasson, and Paige Wasson took first place with a time of 4:57.50.

"It's a team thing," K. Wasson said. "I like team things."

Fellow senior Kelsee Cummings set a season's best of 34-11.25 in her shot put outing, winning the event. She also set a personal best of 91-7 in discus and took third in that event.

"It has been a good week of practice," Cummings said of her shot put outing. "I was getting it out there, but I still need to go further to PR."

She was asked about the competition at her home meet.

"The competition is pretty good at this meet," Cummings said. "Better than some competition at previous meets, so that makes me throw better."

She also said that it felt good to set season-high marks at her home meet.

Paige Wasson took second place in the 400 with a time of 1:13.04. She was fourth in javelin with a throw of 87-11, and sixth in triple jump by leaving a mark at 29-1.25.

Freshman Kendall Scheffelmear was third in triple jump by clearing 30-8.75. She was also third in the 400 with a time of 1:13.54 and fourth in high jump by clearing 4-4.

Sophomore Sammie Wisher was second in the 3200 with a time of 13:59.9, and third in the 1600 with a personal best of 6:38.6.

Sophomore Kora LaBrie set new bests in each of her events. She ran the 800 for the first time and took third with a time of 2:57.2. Labrie was seventh in javelin with a throw of 86-7, and eighth in long jump with a mark of 12-4.

LaBrie, P. Wasson, A. Hanley, and Scheffelmear took second place in the short relay with a time of 1:03.04.

Beau Simonson and Hunter Ellis were the only Penguin boys competing. Simonson won first place in shot put with a throw of 39-8.50. He was also second in discus with a throw of 111-06.

Ellis set a personal best in discus of 73-11 and posted a throw of 23-6.75.

SACO

The Lady Panthers were led by Jaycee Erickson who won the 800 and triple jump events. She was second in javelin and pole vault.

Erickson won triple jump with a mark left at 31-7.5. She won the 800 with a time of 2:46.1. Despite the win, she was not too happy with her time.

"Teagan (her sister) wasn't here today, so I didn't really have her to push me and that is what I was missing," Erickson said.

She had a throw of 99-10 in javelin and cleared 8-6 in pole vault.

"I want to get 9-0 but I got 8-6," Erickson said.

She mentioned that the judges moved the bar to 8-9, giving her a shot at a new personal best, but she missed the mark.

"It was close and I'm almost there," "I have to plant stronger and I have to run faster because I am really uneven when I run. Kirk Capdeville (Hinsdale legend) said that I have to row my boat."

Freshman Josie Brown won the 400 with a new personal best of 1:11.44. Brown was second in the 200 with a time of 30.84, third in pole vault after clearing 6-6, and fourth in triple jump after leaving a mark at 30-0.75.

Freshman Abby Yeska set personal bests in two of her three throwing events, posting a new best of 28-1.25 in shot put and a best of 76-09 in javelin.

"I don't know what I did differently," Yeska said when asked about her shot put performance. "It just went further than I thought it would. I haven't been doing well in shot put, but I had a throw of 28-1."

Yeska said that she likes track meets in Whitewater because she had done well in Whitewater during junior high meets in previous years.

"I wish we had more meets in Whitewater," Yeska said.

The Panthers were led by Marshall Caves, who get Saco on the board with a fourth-place finish in pole vault after clearing 8-6. Caves also set a personal best of 73-1 in discus.

Junior Dylan Brown was ninth in discus with a new best of 85-03 and finished tenth in javelin with a throw of 95-11. He also posted a throw of 28-8.25 in shot put.

DODSON

The Dodson teams were led by freshman Sebastian Best, the team's lone boy, who placed second in triple jump with a mark left at 28-9.75. Best also placed in the 200 with a time of 31 seconds. He was fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:09.03, and seventh in long jump with a leap of 14-0.

Lady Coyote freshman Imagin Fox took seventh in long jump, posting a personal best of 12-05.25.

"I have to get more speed," Fox said, when asked about improving her jump.

Fox also posted a time of 16.59 in the 100 and 36.59 in the 200. She posted a new best of 45-08 in discus.

Fox was asked what she thought of the meet in Whitewater.

"It's pretty cold but it's pretty nice here," Fox said.

She said that her favorite event is the 200 because of the sprint.

Sophomore Emma Cole had a personal best of 63-11 in discus and had a throw of 19-04.25 in shot put.

Freshman Kataya Killeagle left a mark at 24-4.40 in triple jump and posted a throw of 45-03 in Discus.