LINDEN — The night started with mild weather and ended cold, but local track and field teams had a chance to mix things up and show off their strengths at the 49th Annual Charger Relays at North Montgomery on Friday.
“These meets are fun meets and you get a chance to compete against schools that you don’t typically compete against,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “You see good competition, and really kind of figure out what relays you want to load. We tried out some things that we hadn’t in the previous couple of meets.”
No team scores were kept, but there were many top-three placements for Montgomery County teams in the 12-team invite that included boys’ only squads from Lawrence North and McCutcheon.
North Montgomery’s foursome of Grace McClaskey, Caitlin Burns, Rylie Gayler, and Madi Welch won the girls sprint medley (200, 100, 100, 400) with a time of 2:02.8. In the boys’ sprint medley, Southmont’s Dillan Lauy, Riley Mitton, Joey Riggen, and Trent Jones won in 1:39.9.
Crawfordsville’s group of Aaliya Strawser, Emily Powell, Shea Williamson, and Parker Hartman were second in the 4X100 meter relay on the girls’ side in 55.4 seconds, while the Athenians squad of Mikale Willis, Ziair Morgan, Tyson Fuller, and Ty Lynas won the boys’ with a time of 45.4 seconds.
North Montgomery’s McClaskey, Burns, Gayler, and Welch were second in the girls’ 4X200 meter relay with a time of 1:57.5, while North Montgomery’s boys team of Jacob Rice, Ben Cody, Gabe Laws, and Treyce Pittman were second in 1:39.7 and Crawfordsville’s Jordan Shrout, Morgan, Andrew Griggs, and Ezekiel Cardenas were third in 1:40.4.
“I think the biggest thing was getting people in different events and different mixes of kids together,” Crawfordsville coach Sean Gerold said. “Our first two meets so far we’ve tried to shift around our order of events just to see how kids work together. A relay meet, obviously we don’t run 4X200 on a daily basis, so it’s good to see those handoffs and kids work together.”
Crawfordsville’s boys’ distance medley (1200, 400, 800, 1600) group of Ryan Miller, Athur Ruano, Ian Hensley, and Hunter Hutchison were third.
Fountain Central’s boys’ squad of Luke and Dan Adams, Ethan Mellady, and Justin Butts won the boys shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 56.5 seconds, while North Montgomery was second and Southmont third. Southmont’s girls’ team was third.
North Montgomery’s 4X400 relay team of Gayler, Welch, Grace McClaskey and Annabel Anderson placed third in 4:42.6 on the girls’ side, while Southmont’s Dillan Lauy, Logan Oppy, Sam Line, and Trent Hones won the boys race with a time of 3:36.3, while Crawfordsville’s team of Tyeson Fuller, Kellerman, Lynas, and Willis were third in 3:42.9.
“I thought our kids competed well,” North Montgomery coch Josh Thompson said. “We keep talking about hitting our best at the end of the season with county, conference, and sectionals. We want to peak at the end of the year and I think our kids are moving in the right direction.”
In the field, Southmont’s DeLorean Mason and Faith Allen placed third in the girls’ high jump with a combined leap of 8-feet-8-inches. Crawfordsville’s Ty Lynas and Alex Kellerman won the boys’ with a combined height of 11-feet-8-inches. Southmont’s Avery Saunders and Gabe Androusky were third.
North Montgomery’s Joel Clouser and James McClerkin won the boys’ pole vault with a combined height of 20 feet.
Jones and Lauy won the boys’ long jump for the Mounties with a combined leap of 39-feet-5 1/2-inches.
Crawfordsville’s Nate Schroeter and Kyle Fruits were second in the shot put with combined throws of 77-feet-7 1.5-inches. The duo won the discus throw with a combined distance of 228-feet-6-inches.
Welch and Burns won the long jump on the girls’ side for the Chargers with a distance of 27-feet-4-inches.
On the girls’ side Addison Charles and Jordan Stanley teamed up for the Mounties to place third in the shot put with a combined distance of 51-feet-5.5-inches.
North Montgomery’s pair of Lydia Dugard and Katie Rice won the discus with a combined effort of 179-feet-5-inches, while Crawfordsville’s Cassie Baon and Marian Esquivel were third with a distance of 147-feet-6-inches.
