Wood River Middle School athletes crossed the finish line both literally and figuratively at the Magic Valley Conference Track and Field Championships at Minico High School Tuesday.
The Wood River seventh and eighth grade girls' teams placed second in their respective divisions.
Coach Tom Goicoechea remarked, "They did a great job. I was really pleased with them. Our philosophy was to go down and place as a team and they did that. It was a whole team effort. We were tickled."
The eighth grade quartet of Samantha Johnson, Elsa Sweek, Bailey Ireland and Kylie Anderson ran to first place in the 4x100 relay in 56.8 seconds.
Lauren Elgee, Lexie Corobkin, Anderson and Sweek placed second in the 4x200 relay. Angela Coleman was runner-up in both the discus and shotput, and Julia Bowman was second in the triple jump and third in the long jump. Also collecting third place: Samantha Johnson in the 200 meters and Sloan Brandon in the triple jump.
Seventh grader Stephanie Sloan earned first place in the discus with a toss of 54-4. Kelly Chapman sprinted to second in the 100 meters and third in the 100m hurdles.
Ellen Johnson, Haley Lybbert, Alex Harrison and Grace Lagodich took the bronze medal in the medley relay.
"Grace ran an absolutely phenomenal 400 leg," coach Jim King remarked. "It was one of the great performances of the day."
Judging by King's remarks it seems the Wood River girls have been turning in a stellar effort all season long.
"Throughout the track season the seventh grade girls and eight grade girls have competed well and been at the top of their classification," he said.
Jerome claimed the team title in the eighth-grade girls' standings, amassing 122.5 points to Wood River's 102.
In the seventh-grade girls' team standings Wood River was second to West Minico by 22 points.
Robert Stuart Junior High won both boys' divisions. The Wolverine seventh grade boys finished fourth overall and the eighth grade boys placed sixth.
Andy Fields turned in one of the top individual performances on the eighth-grade squad, with a personal best time of 12.1 in the 100-meter dash. Robbie Paris finished third in the long jump.
Seventh-grader Tyler Peters claimed first place in the shotput (31-3) and second in the discus. The 4x100 relay team ran to second place.
Coach Goicoechea took 17 athletes to the Outback Invitational Track and Field Meet at Bronco Stadium, April 29-30.
Second-place performances were turned in by Robbie Paris with a leap of 16-7 in the long jump and Ellen Johnson in the discus with a toss of 79-0.
Magic Valley Championships
Eighth-grade girls, team: 1—Jerome 122.5. 2—Wood River 102. 3—Robert Stuart 83. 4—O'Leary 79. 5—East 75. 6—Burley 39. 7—West 13.5. WR first place: 4x100 relay (Johnson—Sweek—Ireland—Anderson) 56.8. Second place: 4x200 relay (Anderson—Elgee—Corobkin—Sweek). Coleman shotput & discus; Bowman triple jump. Third place: Johnson 200m; Bowman long jump, Sloan Brandon triple jump. Fourth place: Ireland shotput; Elgee high jump. Fifth place: Johnson 100m; Brandon 400m. Sixth place: Anderson 200m; Ireland discus; Allie Freund long jump. Seventh place: Bowman 1600m; Freund 100m hurdles; Ireland 100m; Sweek 200m; Freund triple jump. Eighth place: Brandon 100m hurdles; Bowman 800m.
Eighth-grade boys, team: 1—Robert Stuart 136. 2—East Minico 112. 3—O'Leary 81. 4—Burley 78. 5—Jerome 68. 6—Wood River 28. 7—West Minico 17. WR second place: Fields 100m (12.1). Third place: Robbie Paris long jump. Fifth place: Morgan Brashears 100m hurdles. Sixth place: 4x100 relay (Alex Jones—Morgan Brashears—Greg LaBlanc—Dale McLaughlin); Medley relay (McLaughlin—Jones—Brashears—Austin Moses); Kevin Isaacs long jump. Seventh place: Hayden Waller shotput. Eight place: Paris triple jump.
Seventh-grade girls, team: 1—West Minico 111. 2—Wood River 89. 3—Robert Stuart 86. 4—Jerome 85. 5—East Minico 67. 6—O'Leary 62. 7—Burley 23. WR first place: Stephanie Sloan discus (54-4). Second place: Kelly Chapman 100. Third place: Chapman 100 hurdles; Medley relay (Ellen Johnson—Haley Lybbert—Alex Harrison—Grace Lagodich); Monica Garceau long jump; 4x100 relay (Sarah Koonce—Chapman—Lagodich—Ashley Hesteness). Fourth place: Lagodich 100 hurdles; Garceau discus. Fifth place: 4x200 relay (Garceau—Lydia Gorham—Alex Haupt—Lybbert); Koonce 400m; Ellen Johnson discus & long jump; Erin Burbank triple jump. Sixth place: Anita Vorsteveld 1200m & 100m hurdles; Lagodich 100m; Hesteness 200m. Seventh place: Taylor Coiner 1200m; Lybbert 200m; Koonce shotput; Sierra Brand high jump. Eighth place: Lena Klump 1200m; Ivory Dilley 400m.
Seventh-grade boys, team: 1—Robert Stuart 126. 2—Jerome 116. 3—O'Leary 111. 4—Wood River 70. 5—East Minico 48. 6—West Minico 29. 7—Burley 7. WR first place: Tyler Peters shotput (31-3.75). Second place: 4x100 relay; Peter shotput. Third place: Gene Fairbrother long jump. Fourth place: Ben Broderick 100m; Fairbrother triple jump. Fifth place: Dan Wareham 100m & 200m; Broderick 200m; 4x200 relay; medley relay; Matt Farley discus. Sixth place: Peters 400m. Seventh place: Latner Straley 200m. Eight place: Wareham triple jump
