The Boys’ Varsity Track Team took first place in the Mississippi 8 Conference Track meet for the 8th year in a row. A couple conference records were broken, and performances were at their best. The weather was sunny and warm, in comparison to the rain and cold the track team has dealt with earlier in the season. It was a perfect day for track.
The 4×800 relay team of Sophomore Joe O’Flanagen, Sophomore Michael Swearingen, Senior Blake Solberg, and Senior Josh Wedemeier, took third place.
All three 110 meter hurdlers, Senior Jerome Begin, Junior Eric Selchow, and Senior Ethan Kalinowski, made it to the finals; Begin taking first, and Selchow coming in at a close second. Similarily, all three 100 meter runners made it to the finals, and placed in the top 3: Sophomore Tyler Olson, Junior Rollie Miller, and Senior Dillon Miller.
“I was very excited to make it to the finals in the last conference meet I will ever participate in. It was a beautiful day and I definitely wanted to run faster. I was happy to take first the last time I will run at conference,” said Begin.
The boys 4×200 relay took a solid first place. The team consisted of Junior Blake Schmidt, Sophomore Austin Youngs, Junior Spencer Chenoweth, and Junior Andrew Gutknecht. Sophomore Dan Petit and Senior Jon Wedemeier placed first and second in the mile, also. The boys 4×100 relay shattered the conference record by 1 second with a time of 44.50. The team is fairly young, so they will have a solid team in the years to come. The team consisted of Sophomore Joey Merz, Schmidt, Junior Jake Rohlin, and Rollie Miller.
The boys also had strong performances in the 400 meter dash. Olson and Dillon Miller came in third and fourth, and Josh Wedemeier placed sixth. Gutknecht and Youngs placed a solid second and fourth, and Begin also took first in the 300 hurdles, breaking the previous conference record he set last year.
“It’s cool that I could set back to back records. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t run better than I did though,” said Begin.
Petit also took second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:01.92. Begin and Dillon Miller took second and third in the 200 meter dash, after competing in many races, it was no surprise they continued to excel. Jon Wedemeier also took third in the 2 mile run with a time of 10:05.84.
Off the track in the field, the Bison continued to give strong performances. Sophomore Jackson Schepp placed fourth in the high jump, and Sophomore Eddie Clifton placed second in the pole vault. Lastly, Kalinowski placed fourth in the long jump with a jump of 20-06.50, and Selchow placed third in the triple jump with a jump of 41-06.50.
“I was really pleased. They came ready to compete and they performed well. It’s nice they were able to keep the winning streak for 8 years in a row,” said Bison Head Track Coach Scott Palmer.
