Facing by far their toughest competition of the young 2009 track & field season, Boone Central athletes stepped up with some of their best performances Friday in the Central City Invitational at Aurora.
Although efforts did not translate to high finishes in the team standings or a huge medal haul for the Cardinals, Boone Central Coach Kris Pestel and her assistants were very pleased.
“We had some great performances against some very stiff competition!” Pestel praised. “It was a nearly perfect day for a meet and we had some kids that really stepped up to the challenge.”
The Boone Central girls scored 58.5 points, placing sixth in the strong seven-team field. The competition helped spur the Cards to a number of personal and season best performances.
The Cardinal boys finished at the bottom of the team standings with just 11 points, but also produced a number of season best marks.
“Bobbi Beckwith probably had the best day of all among our athletes,” Pestel noted of the talented sophomore. “She set personal bests in winning the 200 meter dash, placing second in the 100 and anchoring the second-place 4×100 relay that improved its season best.
“Also among our girls, we had some terrific performances by Paige Kolm, Savannah Baker, Megan Bygland, Chancee Nolan and Breann Thorberg, who placed in events while setting season best marks.
“Among the top performances for us in this meet were the efforts by two of our boys relay teams,” Pestel added. “The 4×100 team placed fifth by taking two seconds off its best time of the season and the 4×400 team bettered its best time by 17 seconds!
“Kevin Carder also had a pair of season best marks, placing fourth in the 3200 meter run and sixth in the 1600.”
All in all, the BC coaches felt it was a very productive day.
“There were some additional season best performances, as well, but those were probably the highlights of the meet for us,” Pestel said. “Once again, our kids showed a great deal of heart and stepped it up against some good competition.
“Unfortunately, we also had a few injuries. Hopefully, none of them last long, as next week we have another tough meet at Grand Island Northwest.”
As mentioned by Pestel, Beckwith led the way for the Boone Central girls in the Central City meet. She captured the 200 meter dash in 26.7, placed second in the 100 with a time of 12.8 and brought the 4×100 relay team of Bygland, Baker and Jaime Kennedy home second in 53.6.
Bygland lowered her season best in the 100 meter high hurdles to 16.8, placing fourth, and took third in the 300 lows in 51.5. Emily Wells also scored a third-place finish in the discus with a throw of 102-8.
Savannah Baker placed in a pair of events, taking fourth in the long jump (15-½) and fifth in the 100 dash (13.5).
Others placing for the Cards were Halie Smith, fifth in the 3200 (13:24); Nolan, fifth in the 200 (28.2); Thorberg, sixth in the 200 (28.3) and Kolm, sixth in the pole vault (8-0). BC took fifth in the 1600 meter relay (4:33.7).
Boone Central placed fifth in all three boys relays Friday, including the big season best efforts in the 4×100 and 4×400.
The 4×100 team of Dustin Christo, Kevin Krohn, Nathan Olson and Kalvin Zoucha lowered its best time to 45.8 and the 4×400 squad of Olson, Krohn, Lane Anderson and Zoucha made a huge improvement to 3:45.8. The 4×800 team finished with a 9:34.6 clocking.
Carder turned in a season best 10:36.9 while placing fourth in the 3200 meters and ran 4:59.3 to finish sixth in the 1600.
Complete Results in Print Edition of Albion News.
