Whitewater Holds Track and Field Invitational

The Whitewater Penguins track teams hosted the 2024 Whitewater High School Invitational last Friday, April 26.

Ten schools were present for the meet including all three Phillips County 3C schools; Dodson, Saco, and Whitewater.

Whitewater won the womens' meet with 113 points. Saco was second with 94 points, Turner was third with 85 points, Hinsdale was fourth with 65 points, Dodson was fifth with 37 points, Frazer was sixth with 31 points, Lustre Christian was seventh with 21 points, Nashua was eighth with 18 points, Hays Lodge Pole was ninth with 11 points, and Box Elder was tenth with two points.

The men's meet was won by Nashua, who had 105.33 points. Hinsdale was second with 65 points, Saco was third with 63 points, Dodson was fourth with 52 points, Lustre Christian was fifth with 48.33 points, Frazer was sixth with 38 points, Turner was seventh with 31.33 points, Box Elder was eighth with 31 points, Whitewater was ninth with 24 points, and Hays Lodge Pole was tenth with one point.

The PCN caught up with a few athletes in Whitewater during the event to get their take on how the season is going.

The first was Whitewater junior Shelby LaBrie, who won the 1600 with a season's best of 5:35.65.

"It's going pretty good, but we haven't had many meets yet, so it's going kind of slow," LaBrie said. "We are just working with what we have got."

LaBrie was the 2023 State Champion in the 1600 and will look to retain her title soon. She was asked about the atmosphere at the Whitewater meet.

"It's very relaxing," she said. "It's kind of nice not to have very many people so you can get the meet going a little faster and it's not so slow going."

Gracie Wasson, an eighth grader competed in her first home meet as a high school track member. She was sixth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 19:40 and sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 1:00.31. She also ran in the long relay with Ava Hanley, Sommer Green and Mylee Clark. The group was second with a time of 5:45.67 behind Whitewater's A team consisting of Kennedy Simonson, Paige Wasson, Kendall Scheffelmear, and LaBrie, who won the event with a time of 4:40.61.

When asked what her favorite event is, the younger Wasson said the 100 hurdles.

"It's not very long and I don't have to run that much," Gracie said.

Senior Ava Hanley ran the 100, 200,100 hurdles and 300 hurdles in her last Whitewater Invitational. She was asked how she felt about it being her last outing in Whitewater.

"I'm trying to enjoy all of it but it is kind of sad," Hanley said. "It is a really nice day, not as windy as I thought that it was going to be. I am enjoying it."

Hanley placed in all of her events. She was fourth in the 200 with a time of 32.92, fourth in the 100 with a time of 15.19, fifth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 19.30 and fifth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 59.22.

When asked about her team, Ava said that the team is pretty good.

"We all kind of do a lot of different things," Hanley said. "It's really nice, especially for track because it's just Whitewater, we don't co-op."

Saco junior Panther Carter Pippin was asked how the meet was going. He participated in shot put, discus and javelin.

"It's been going good," he said. "There are a lot less people here than at the Lambert meet which is nice because it is going by quicker."

Lady Panther Josie Brown won every event that she entered in Whitewater. She had a time of 13.39 in the 100, 28.73 in the 200, and 48.92 in the 300.

"It's going pretty good," Brown said. "I didn't get the times that I wanted but I had a good race and comeback. I was out for a couple of weeks but it's nice because I am finally getting back into the groove of things."

She was asked about the running surface at Whitewater and how it compares to the All-Weather Track that they typically see.

"You have to work twice as hard because it feels like every two steps you take, you slide one back," Brown said. "I don't know if I will PR today but it's definitely a good practice meet for your mental state. It makes you work harder and makes you mentally tough."

She pre-qualified for state in the 100 hurdles at the Lambert meet, a meet that the Lady Panthers tied for first place in with 69 points on Thursday.

PENGUIN INVITATIONAL

Mens Results

100 Meters Varsity - Finals: 2. Blaine Downing 12.18a SAC 4. Gunnar Cilz 13.60aPR DOD 13. Korbyn Skubinna 14.23a WW, Jacob Brown SCR SAC

200 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Tyler Scheffelmear 27.55aPR WW 4. Jacob Brown 28.78a SAC

400 Meters Varsity - Finals: 2. Jacob Brown 1:02.29a SAC 3. Korbyn Skubinna 1:08.28aSR WW, Tyler Scheffelmear SCR WW

800 Meters Varsity - Finals: 2. Donovan Posey 2:29.71a DOD 4. Lance KillEagle 2:41.61a DOD

1600 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Donovan Posey 5:21.44a DOD 3. Lance KillEagle 5:46.32a DOD 3200 Meters Varsity - Finals: 3. Lance KillEagle 13:05.74a DOD

4x100 Relay Varsity - Finals: 2. Gunnar Cilz, Forrest Bessman, Lance KillEagle, Donovan Posey 54.40a DOD - A

Shot Put Varsity - Finals: 3. Blaine Downing 37-01.00PR SAC 4. Tyler Scheffelmear 34-05.00 WW 10. Kenan LaBrie 31-03.50PR WW 12. Forrest Bessman 30-07.00 DOD 15. Laytin Erickson 29-01.50PR SAC 19. Carter Pippin 23-01.00 SAC

Discus Varsity - Finals: 11. Forrest Bessman 77-09 DOD 12. Kenan LaBrie 77-04 WW 21. Carter Pippin 46-07 SAC

Javelin Varsity - Finals: 3. Jacob Brown 122-09 SAC 8. Blaine Downing 109-09 SAC 17. Tyler Scheffelmear 89-10 WW 18. Kenan LaBrie 87-02 WW 19. Laytin Erickson 79-11PR SAC 21. Forrest Bessman 79-03PR DOD 26. Carter Pippin 48-03 SAC

High Jump Varsity - Finals: 2. Blaine Downing 5-10.00PR SAC 3. Laytin Erickson 5-06.00PR SAC

Pole Vault Varsity - Finals: 1. Blaine Downing 13-06.00 SAC 3. Laytin Erickson 10-00.00PR SAC 4. Korbyn Skubinna 8-06.00SR WW

Long Jump Varsity - Finals: 3. Gunnar Cilz 16-08.50PR DOD 11. Donovan Posey 14-10.00PR DOD 12. Forrest Bessman 14-05.50 DOD

Triple Jump Varsity - Finals: 6. Laytin Erickson 34-05.50 SAC

Womens Results

100 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Josie Brown 13.39a SAC 4. Ava Hanley 15.19a WW 5. Ireland Mears 15.28a SAC 11. Mylee Clark 16.80a WW

200 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Josie Brown 28.73a SAC 3. Ireland Mears 32.54a SAC 4. Ava Hanley 32.92a WW

400 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Baylee Johnson 1:22.40a DOD 2. 8 Bentlie Ereaux 1:33.74a DOD, Kennedy Simonson SCR WW

800 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Shelbi LaBrie 2:31.56aSR WW 3. Emerson Downing 2:59.59aPR SAC

1600 Meters Varsity - Finals: 1. Shelbi LaBrie 5:35.65aSR WW

3200 Meters Varsity - Finals: 3. Baylee Johnson 16:56.83a DOD

100m Hurdles Varsity - Finals: 2. Kendall Scheffelmear 18.30a WW 4. Emerson Downing 19.08a SAC 5. Ava Hanley 19.30a WW 6. 8 Gracie Wasson 19.40a WW

300m Hurdles Varsity - Finals: 1. Josie Brown 48.92a SAC 3. Kendall Scheffelmear 53.16a WW 5. Ava Hanley 59.22aSR WW 6. 8 Gracie Wasson 1:00.31a WW 7. Ireland Mears 1:00.89a SAC

4x100 Relay Varsity - Finals: 3. Bentlie Ereaux, Kashton Siers, Precious Stiffarm, and Baylee Johnson 1:05.02a DOD - A

4x400 Relay Varsity - Finals: 1. Kennedy Simonson, Paige Wasson, Kendall Scheffelmear, Shelbi LaBrie 4:40.61a Whitewater - A 2. Gracie Wasson, Ava Hanley, Sommer Green, Mylee Clark 5:45.67a Whitewater - B

Shot Put Varsity - Finals: 1. Teagan Erickson 34-03.00PR SAC 3. Amara Cochran 29-00.00 DOD 4. Sommer Green 28-05.00 WW 12. Mylee Clark 23-11.00PR WW 14. Precious Stiffarm 22-08.50 DOD 16. Kashton Siers 21-01.50 DOD

Discus Varsity - Finals: 3. Kennedy Simonson 86-09PR WW 4. Sommer Green 80-02PR WW 6. Amara Cochran 76-06 DOD 9. Precious Stiffarm 68-03PR DOD 14. Mylee Clark 55-07 WW 15. Kashton Siers 54-02PR DOD

Javelin Varsity - Finals: 1. Paige Wasson 129-05PR WW 2. Teagan Erickson 119-05 SAC 3. Kennedy Simonson 114-00PR WW 4. Emerson Downing 96-08 SAC 6. Sommer Green 84-07PR WW 12. Precious Stiffarm 57-10 DOD 16. Amara Cochran 55-10 DOD 17. Mylee Clark 54-04PR WW 19. Kashton Siers 37-06 DOD

Pole Vault Varsity - Finals: 1. Emerson Downing 8-00.00 SAC

Long Jump Varsity - Finals: 1. Teagan Erickson 15-03.50 SAC

Triple Jump Varsity - Finals: 1. Kendall Scheffelmear 31-11.00 WW 3. Kennedy Simonson 30-06.00 WW 4. Emerson Downing 29-11.25 SAC