Great afternoon for Shay Memorial track
Wolverine girls second in nine-school meet
"The best weather of the track season," said
Wood River High School girls’ track and field coach J.C. Nemecek about
last Thursday’s Shay Memorial meet in Hailey.
On a very warm day, with just a slight breeze, Wood River
hosted its only meet of the 2001 season at Phil Homer Athletic Field. And
there were some outstanding performances by athletes from the nine
schools.
Wood River’s girls, fighting through injuries and one
untimely relay disqualification, nevertheless placed second to the
defending Shay Memorial champion Declo Hornets.
Declo (40 points field, 32 hurdles) doesn’t have the
sprinters it had last spring, but the Hornets piled up 109 points to hold
off Wood River (85.5), Valley (74.5) and Gooding (70).
Wood River (28 relays, 21 sprints, 18.5 field, 17
distances) collected first places from Kristine Hilt in discus (95-8) and
Holly Hobson in the 800-meter run (2:26.9).
Disqualified for a lane violation despite winning the
medley relay by a big margin, Wood River bounced back to take the 800m
relay (1:51.6) and 1600m relay (season-best 4:22.8).
Caitlin Blanton, Rebecca Schwartzenberger, Kipp Mills and
Ashley Howe were the 800m relay winners over Gooding. Mile relayers on top
were Erin Elgee, Howe, Kelsea Ballantyne and Hobson.
"The 800m and 1600m relays were outstanding,"
said Nemecek, who added that Howe was battling shin splints and
Schwartzenberger was nursing a sore hamstring.
Buhl’s Annie McCauley and Valley’s Katie Brock were
the top female athletes Thursday. McCauley captured the 100m, 200m and
400m dashes, while Brock took the 1600m and 3200m distance runs and was
second to Hobson in the 800m run.
Once again, senior Andrew Slough led the Wolverine boys.
He placed second in the 800m run (2:03.3) and anchored the second-place
medley relay team (3:45.4).
Improving by three seconds were Wood River medley relay
runners Dylan Welcome, Matt Pruett, Cole Everman and Andrew Slough.
Boys’ coach Ron Martinez said, "Every day we’re
getting better."
The Wendell Trojans (123.5 points) took boys’ team
honors sparked by 46 points in the field, 32 relays and 24 in sprints.
Wendell’s Skylar Stevenson won the 100m and 200m dashes and Buhl’s
Kurt Harvey took both hurdles events.
Oakley’s reigning State A-4 1600m king Barry Jenks
captured the mile run with a strong homestretch and Kimberly’s Jene
Prudent won the 3200m run. Second place among the teams went to Buhl (85).
Wood River (48) ended up in sixth place.
Hailey girls with season bests included Whitney Richards
and Maddie Thies in 300m intermediate hurdles, and Howe in the 400m dash.
Nemecek said, "Whitney and Maddie made dramatic improvements, and
Kristine Hilt (first discus, third shotput) had a great day."
Next up is the SCIC conference meet Thursday, May 3 in
Gooding.
Other Shay Memorial placings:
· Second places—400m relay (Elgee,
Blanton, Robin Kearns, Mills) 52.6; Howe 400m dash (1:01.4).
· Third places—Cole Everman 300m hurdles
(43.4); Robert Slough 400m (54.4); Hilt shotput (27-8); Elgee 100m (13.4);
and Hobson 1600m (6:09).
· Fourth places—Jeremy Hayward long jump
(19-7 ¾); Chad Hayward 110m high hurdles; Andrew Slough 200m (23.7);
Tyler Metzel high jump (5-4); and Kearns 100m (13.6).
· Fifth places—Kearns 200m (28.8); Natalie
Safran high jump (4-6); Hilt high jump (4-6); Robert Slough 100m (12.0);
and boys’ 400m relay (Pruett, Tyler Brown, Welcome, Eric Jessa) 48.4.
· Sixth places—Mills 800m (2:42.3);
Blanton 200m (28.9); Richards 300m hurdles (57.1); boys’ 800m relay
(Pruett, Brown, Welcome, Jessa) 1:40.5; and boys’ 1600m relay (Andrew
Stark, Nick Wamsley, Robert Slough, Jessa) 4:01.
