Scoring 88 points in a 14 team conference track meet is something to be very proud of and shows good team depth. However, despite the Lady Panthers efforts the real competition for them at the TRAC conference meet was for second-place. The Sherard Lady Tigers accumulated an unbelievable 178 points to better second-place Princeton by 86. The Panthers finished just 4 points behind Princeton for second-place at the Thursday meet hosted by Bureau Valley.
Sherrard garnered eight 1st place finishes and five 2nds to generate the 178 points, scoring in every one of the 18 events. “Kudos to Sherard. They have an outstanding team,” said EP coach Liz Green.
Green said she knew going into the event that the Tigers would dominate and concentrated more on setting a lineup to best benefit the athletes in each event instead of worrying about team points. “I thought the kids did very well in the events that we put them in,” said Green.
The Panthers earned first place finishes from Riley Packer in the 800m, Haley Wuebben in the Pole Vault and the 4x800m Relay team of Dylan Chandler, Jade Nickerson, Jillian Norman, and Packer. EP also collected 4 second-place medals, 2 by Kennedy Buck and one each from Olivia Purvis and the 4 x 400 Relay team.
Buck, a sophomore, was the top point earner for the Panthers posting 30 points for the Panthers competing in three individual events and a relay. She took 2nd in the 200m (27.73), 2nd in the 400m (1:02.85) and was a member of the 2nd place 4x400m Relay team. She added a 3rd place in the Shot Put with a throw of 10.16 m. The coach commented, “Kennedy had a really great night.”
Packer won the 800m holding off some tough competition. “I was super proud of Riley in the open 800. She was very nervous going in, worrying about her competition. We reminded her just to run her race and not worry about other runners and she did that.”
Green noted the Panthers dropped the baton in the 4 x 400m Relay and still managed to run a close second to Sherard. She also said she was very proud of her two Pole Vaulters, Hayley Wuebben and Olivia Purvis who had to deal with extremely poor conditions. The duo finished with the top two places both clearing the same height but Wuebben got the win with fewer misses. “They were smart, not wasting any jumps and kept their poles dry, which paid off.”
Other Top Panther Finishers
Riley Packer took first in the 800m in 2:30.16
Haley Wuebben and Olivia Purvis went 1-2 in the Pole Vault both clearing 2.74m.
The 4 x 800m Relay took 1st in a time of 10:35.94 with a team of Dylan Chandler, Jade Nickerson, Jillian Norman, and Packer.
The 4x400m Relay took 2nd in 4:29.49 with Buck, Chandler, Nickerson, and Packer.
Madyson Bushaw grabbed 4th in the Triple Jump with a leap of 9.80m.
Breanna Neumiller placed 5th in the Discus with a toss of 31.60m.
Dominique Robinson placed 6th in the Shot with a throw of 9.11m.
In the distance events Chandler took 6th in the 800m in 2:45.45 with sophomore Jillian Norman placing 7th in the 1600m in 6:23.13 and fellow sophomore Brooke Lalley taking seventh in the 3200m in 15:48.49.
The Panthers now look toward next Wednesday when they will return to Manlius for an IHSA Sectional meet.
Team Scores
| 1. | Sherrard | 178 |
| 2. | Princeton | 92 |
| 3. | Erie-Prophetstown | 88 |
| 4. | Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) | 65 |
| 5. | Monmouth (M.-Roseville) | 60 |
| 6. | Peru (St. Bede) | 46 |
| 7. | Kewanee (H.S.) | 39 |
| 8. | Orion | 35 |
| 9. | Manlius (Bureau Valley) | 30 |
| 10. | Port Byron (Riverdale) | 22 |
| 11. | Spring Valley (Hall) | 21 |
| 12. | Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) | 15 |
| 13. | Morrison | 5 |
