By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The Whippets faced off against a very solid Jefferson squad in a dual track meet last week. The girls squad was unable to overcome their guests but the boys earned a close victory.
“Overall it was a good night for (us with) many people having season or lifetime bests,” head coach John Houwers said.
“The throwers have been steadily improving under new throws coach, Jill Hernke,” Houwers added.
His words rang true as the throwers have improved drastically. Landon Walker, Jameson DuClos, Jamie Millian, Debra Krebs and Anna Luchy all had lifetime bests against Jefferson. Anna Lucht also had a lifetime best with a 25-11 in the shotput.
But other facets of the team also had notable performances.
Sarah Ziolkowski ran a 5:22.4 in the 1600, a new best time for her in that event while Roland Luckett went 16.5 in the 110 hurdles, good enough for second place.
Mark Cuevas, Connor Rupke and Leif Sahyun all had personal bests in the long jump. Ashton Caputo ran his fastest 100- and 200-meter dashes, respectively.
“Overall, the team performed very well and tonight they were able to see the rewards of their hard work with many very good performances,” Houwers said.
Putting all of their hard work to a challenge, the Whippets went on to participate in the 67th annual Fort Invitational and finished third overall on the boys side.
Keagen Stonewerth and Cuevas finished 1-2 in the long jump – the final event of the night to seal the deal. Cuevas had a 20-7 jump, but he was outdone moments later by Stonewerth with a 20-8 showing. Cuevas then had three attempts to take back the lead, but was unable to do so.
“(Mark) had only five minutes after his anchor leg of the 4×400 relay to recover and take his jumps,” Houwers said. “He was a little too tired to make it happen, but was happy nonetheless to go over 20 feet for the first time.”
The 18 points Stonewerth and Cuevas scored in the event took the team from fifth to third place overall. Stonewerth also won the pole vault while narrowly missing a school record.
Ziolkowski dominated the 3200-meter race while the 4×100 relay, being run with Shannon Kehoe as a last-minute replacement, came together for a second place finish in the event.
Reynolds, also a member of the 4×100 team, ran her own 100-meter dash with a time of 12.85, good enough for second.
