Eagles Stay Close to Home for West Holt Invite
April 28, 2015
(photo by Mike Peterson)
Monique Schafer and Eagles Randi Pinkerman and Sam Eichelberger race down the lanes in the 100 at the West Holt Invite.The Eagles traveled to Atkinson to compete in the West Holt Invitational on Thursday, April 23rd to compete against eight other teams.
Despite missing one of their top point scorers the Lady Eagles still managed to finish in third place behind Ord and North Central.
O’Neill was again led my multi-talented freshman, Mikayla Marvin. Mikayla vaulted 8-10 to finish in 2nd place; ran a personal best 17.1 in the 100 high hurdles finishing in 4th and sprinted her way to a 3rd place finish in the 400 with her personal best time of 67.2.
Another freshman having a great day was Sam Eichelberger. She ran her personal best time of 17.3 in the 100 high hurdles in the prelims, but failed to match that time in the finals running a 17.7 to finish right behind teammate Marvin to finish in 5th. Sam’s best race of the day was in the 100 dash where she sprinted her way to a 1st place finish with a 13.5. The Lady Eagles looked to sweep the 100 dash with Randi Pinkerman, Briaunna Parks and Eichelberger all winning their heats, but Parks false-started to put her out of a medal. Randi did run her best time of the year, 13.8, to finish in 2nd.
Payton Birkel continued her great freshman season by placing 5th in the 800 with a time of 2:42.8. She also was a member of the 4th place 4 x 800 relay team with teammates, Kadra Sommersted-Simmons, Kaddee Harner and Abby Gillham. Kadra also placed 6th in the 400 with a time of 1:11.0.
The 4 x 100 relay team of Gabbie Scott, Briaunna Parks, Sam Eichelberger and Randi Pinkerman finished in 6th place. Allison Ludwig also finished in 6th place in the high jump clearing 4-6. Fellow jumper, McKenzie Adamson finished in 3rd in the triple jump going 31-8.
“I was very pleased with our efforts and results today," coach Peterson complimented. "Despite not having Aurora Gutshall due to illness, we had many athletes step up and score a lot of points for us. Even though not every athlete scored, we had many personal bests on the day and that is the beauty of track and field. I look forward to a very busy week next week with the Pierce 9/10 meet on Tuesday, the Norfolk Classic on Thursday and the Mid State Conference Meet on Saturday in Albion."
The O’Neill boys' team earned the runner-up trophy.
Earning a 1st place finish was Jon Marvin in the pole vault with an effort of fourteen feet and Kedron Koehler in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Koehler also placed 2nd in the 100-meter race.
Dylan Belik placed 5th in the 100-meter race and 3rd in the 200 meters. Belik ran his personal best with a 24.0 in the 200 meters and 11.9 in the 100 meters.
In the jumps Bailey Thompson placed 6th in the long with a personal best of 18 feet, 7.5 inches. Thompson also made finals in the triple jump and placed 8th. Corbin Dean placed 5th in the pole vault with 10 feet, 6 inches.
In the throws Walker Liewer placed 3rd in discus and 6th in the shot put. Chance Sholes placed 4th in the shot put.
The distance crew earned plenty of points for the team. Grant Johnston ran his career best in the 3200-meter run, 10:09.2 and placed 2nd. He also placed 5th in the 800 meter run. Blake Johnston placed 3rd with a time of 10:36.5 and was 3rd in the 1600 meter run with a career best of 4:53.2. Tyson Hostert placed 4th in the 1600 meter run with an effort of 4:54.2. Freshman Ehric Strope placed 6th in the 800 meters with 2:12.5.
In the relays, the 4x100 placed 2nd with Chance Sholes, Dylan Belik, Trevor Dempster, and Kedron Koehler. The 4x400 meter relay placed 5th. The relay members were Jon Gettert, Alex Thramer, Ehric Strope, and Kedron Koehler.
“Overall the thought we saw some good things. It’s a work in progress. Just keep doing the things we are doing, just better,” said Coach Hilker.
Next week the O’Neill Eagles have a full gamma of meets. They will participate in the Pierce Freshman/Sophomore Invitational Track Meet, which will start at 3:00 pm, April 28th. Then the Eagles will compete at the Norfolk Classic Invitational Track Meet, April 30th, which starts at 4:15 at Norfolk High School Track. Then on Saturday, May 4th the O’Neill Eagles will travel to Albion to the Mid-States Conference Track Meet, field events start at 10:00 am.
