By RYAN WALKER
BERNE — The bus ride back to Ossian had two new passengers.
Norwell’s boys’ and girls’ track teams swept the annual South Adams Invitational on a chilly and, at times, rainy Friday night. Norwell’s boys’ team had a team score of 158, while the girls had 116. Both were the only schools to have over 100 points.
In the end, it was all worth it for both head coaches.
“First, congrats to the girls and their win tonight,” Norwell boys head coach Adam Prater said. “Much deserved. To have both teams win tonight is a great thing for our program. Winning tonight was great to see how we stack up when each event has the best guys in it. We held our own and improved in places. Performances tonight were great but still can improve.”
“Winning always feels amazing,” Norwell girls’ head coach Deidre Stoppenhagen said. “This team has worked hard at every practice and has been competitive at every meet. They are making others sit up and take notice. They are gaining confidence with each meet, and things are starting to click.
Both teams last year finished third in the same event, but the Knights on both sides proved that they could shoot for the stars in post-season competition.
The boys’ team won nine of the 15 events out of eight competing schools. The girls struggled in some of the field events but made up for it by picking up some in the running events.
Next week, the teams will gear up at New Haven for the Northeast 8 Conference crown.
“We need to make sure we spend the next week getting ready for the conference meet,” Prater said. “We have a team that can compete for that title, and it shows tonight.”
Bluffton also competed at the event, as the boys placed third with a team score of 64 and the girls fourth with a score of 47.
The team overall, after the meet was over, had a mood of disappointment, and head coach Brent Kunkel confirmed it wasn’t the best night and theam will be motivated to improve.
“We had some good things happen tonight, but I would agree, for the most part, our teams were disappointed with their performance tonight,” he said. “At this point in the season, we are expecting to be running/performing close to our best, and I don’t think we did that tonight. Hopefully, we learn from it, I think we will, and we are better prepared for the conference meet next week.”
Next week, Bluffton hosts the ACAC meet, which Kunkel says the team understands it’s the most important one on the calendar.
The boys won the conference last year and will have the pressure to do so again this year. So far, the distance team has proven to be able to carry the team, but will it be enough to do it again?
The girls are looking to break through for first this season in the ACAC, as the Tigers have gone back-to-back years runners up.
Norwell will first host Huntington North at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 2.
Bluffton will host South Adams with Heritage at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 2.
Top performers for the Norwell boys were:
• Jake Parker first in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.18, and Hayden Bennett third with a time of 17.18.
• Trevon Stoppenhagen first in the 100m with a time of 11.07.
• Zack Waldman second in the 1600m with a time of 4:36.61.
• The 4x100m relay team of Timothy Bonjour, Noah Fromm, Stoppenhagern, and Ryan Smith first with a time of 45.01.
• Cohen Bailey second in the 400m with a time of 52.93, and Kline Neuenschwander third with a time of 54.32.
• Parker first in the 300m hurdles with a time of 42.09 and Bennett second with a time of 43.56.
• Stoppenhagen first in the 200m with a time of 23.05.
• The 4x400m relay team of Bailey, Parker, Neuenschwander, and Kyler Morris first with a time of 3:39.11.
• Kyle Zeddie first in the discus with a throw of 133-9.
• Bailey first in the long jump with a jump of 19-9.25, and Jase Harmon third with a jump of 18-8.50.
• Winston Frauhiger first in the high jump with a jump of 6-4.
• Zeddis third in the shot put with a throw of 43-1.
Top performers for the Norwell girls were:
• The 4x800m relay team of Ali Riley, Haleigh Reinhard, Maddy Reinhard, and Brooklyn Meyer got second with a time of 10:49.61.
• Jada Dale second in the 200m with a time of 27.50.
• Claire Bailey first in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.15.
• Dale third in the 100m with a time of 13.14.
• Ashley Waldman third in the 1600m with a time of 5:49.93.
• The 4x100m relay team of Bailey, Dale, Dale, and Makenzie Fuess first with a time of 52.85.
• Meyer second in the 400m with a time of 1:06.04.
• Bailey first in the 300m hurdles with a time of 49.53.
• Riley first in the 800m with a time of 2:37.19.
• Jada Dale second in the 200m with a time of 27.50.
• Waldman second in the 3200m with a time of 12:47.13.
• The 4x400m relay team of Bailey, Dale, Dale, and Fuess first with a time of 4:24.55.
Top performers for the Bluffton boys were:
• Tyler Godwin third in the 1600m with a time of 4:45.27.
• Godwin first in the 800m with a time of 2:06.22
• Tavin Frees second in the discus with a throw of 126-4.
• Johnny Cruz first in the shot put with a throw of 49-7.
Top performers for the Bluffton girls were:
• Bluffton’s 4x100m relay team of Haley Gibson, Lauren Reiff, Rylynn Penick, and Ava Troxel second with a time of 54.19.
• Reiff first in the shot put with a throw of 34-11.
• Reiff first in the discus with a throw of 128-5.
• Troxel first in the long jump with a jump of 15-7.50.
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