By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
The Williamsburg Wildcats track and field team paid a visit to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy last week for the CHCA Invitational and saw both the boys’ and girls’ teams post solid performances.
Competing at a meet that included a pair of Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference foes in Bethel-Tate and Goshen, the Wildcats got the scoring started when sophomore Brendan Madigan placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 19.23 seconds.
He placed behind a pair of Goshen Warriors, as junior Jacob Hopkins crossed the line fourth while senior Aaron Koch won the event with a time of 16.25 seconds.
Hopkins also won the 100-meter dash for the Warriors, with Koch coming in third. Kohl Miller paced the Wildcats, finishing eighth. Bethel-Tate sophomore Austin Carter placed 14th in the event with a time of 12.43 seconds.
Goshen also won the 4×200 meter relay event, edging Clark Montessori by less than .3 seconds. Williamsburg placed sixth, seven-tenths of a second ahead of Bethel-Tate.
The Tigers earned the victory in the 1600-meter run, as sophomore Jackson Coates edged Badin junior Josh Wolpert by .08 seconds. Grant Winterkorn placed sixth for Goshen.
Bethel-Tate also raced to a win in the 400-meter dash. Senior Evan Idling finished his race in 52.54 seconds, roughly three seconds faster than Goshen junior Jacob Meader.
In the 300-meter hurdles, the Warriors placed athletes in the top two positions. Koch won, finishing in 43 seconds while Hopkins was right behind him at 43.57 seconds. Madigan placed sixth for Williamsburg.
In the 800-meter run, Williamsburg junior KC Jones posted a mark of 2:03.47, good for second place. Bethel-Tate senior Brad Bruce finished sixth, just under 13 seconds behind Jones.
Most of Williamsburg’s point total came in the field events. Senior Bryson Vize won the shot put, besting Goshen sophomore Andrew Arnold by seven inches. Kurt Meisberger placed third for the Wildcats.
Arnold won the discus with a throw of 134 feet, six inches, four-feet, five-inches better than Vize. Meisberger placed third in that event as well.
Evan idling led all locals in the long jump. The Bethel-Tate senior placed third with a mark of 18 feet, 11 inches, while Goshen freshman Michael Figgs placed fifth.
Fellow Warrior Jacob Meader won the high jump, as he was the only competitor successfully able to clear the six-foot mark.
Finally, Williamsburg’s Wyatt Lefker won the pole vault for the Tigers to complete the scoring. Goshen won the boys’ title, tallying 148 points. Williamsburg placed fourth with 72 while Bethel-Tate totaled 51 points and finished sixth.
On the girls’ side, sophomore Laura Cadwallader won the 100-meter hurdles for the Lady Wildcats, finishing in 17.74 seconds. Goshen’s Haley Carrier was second to Cadwallader, while freshman Laurin Ellis placed third for Williamsburg.
Ellis and Cadwallader teamed up again in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing first and second, respectively. Ellis posted a time of 54.62 seconds, less than two seconds faster than Cadwallader.
Hope Schaljo won the 800-meter run, posting a time of 2:32.71 to edge CHCA’s Laura Dykstra by less than two seconds. Bethel-Tate junior Lucia Lopez was third.
Lopez also placed fourth in the 1600 meter run, clocking a 6:13.62 that was 20 seconds behind Badin’s Lexi Berkely for first place.
Kiersten Guess and Aubrey Siekbert both placed in the top five for the shot put for Williamsburg. Siekbert also won the discus with a 97-foot, seven-inch throw.
Bethel-Tate freshman Desiree Pendland placed second in the long jump, while teammate Reagan Leanord won the high jump by clearing the four-foot, 10-inch mark.
CHCA won the team title with 117 points while Williamsburg totaled 101 points en route to a third-place finish. Bethel-Tate placed fifth while Goshen finished eighth.