PHS Track
Pierce Kicks Out Competition at Classic
by Autumn Lambrecht
On Thursday, April 28, the select members of the Pierce track team took on the Norfolk Track Classic meet held at Norfolk High School, and even though the Classic was canceled due to weather, Pierce still competed well and brought home gold.
In girls shot put, Elly Piper took first place overall, with her throw of 42-08. Jozy Piper took second with a throw of 42-0.
Senior J. Piper comments, “Shot put went well. It’s always a good day to get first and second for your team, even if the points did not count at the Classic. The girls 4x800 did amazing! It was fun to watch them compete before the meet got rained out. Although the most memorable part of the day was taking pictures on the podium with everyone on the team during the storm. Even though some did not have the chance to compete, we all wanted to remember that day!”
In the girls 4x800, the Pierce girls team consisting of Callie Arnold, Payten Simmons, Alexus Sindelar, and Morgan Moeller brought home the gold with a time of 10:00.00.
In the only other event that finished, boys long jump, Kaden Johnson got third place with a jump of 21-00.5.
Head coach Tim Waldner adds,”It was too bad that we couldn’t finish the meet. I think our kids were ready to show well and were disappointed that they were unable to compete. Now we’ll move on to conference and see how we match up with some of the best in the area.”
The next Pierce meet for the Bluejays will be districts on May 10 in Columbus.
Freshmen/Sophomores Compete at Home Track Meet
by Addison Sporleder
The Pierce Bluejay freshman/sophomore team competed at their home meet on Tuesday, April 26, where both teams finished sixth overall.
Sophomore Maggie Painter stated, “Going into the day I didn’t feel great, but as the day progressed I felt my performance got better. I thought the team did alright, but there are obviously many things we can all improve on and get better at for either the next track meet or next year.”
Starting off in the girls 200-meter dash, Abby Watts placed fifth with a time of 29.55.
In the girls 1600-meter run, Zoey Ebmeier earned third with a time of 6:41.36.
Moving on to the girls 300-meter hurdles, Hadleigh Collison took first place with a time of 51.22. Painter earned fourth with a time of 54.15, and fellow teammate Skylar Scholting was right behind her in fifth with a time of 54.16.
For the relays, the girls 4x800 relay, consisting of Hadley Wragge, Scholting, Ebmeier, and Collison, won with a time of 11:19.71.
In the girls jumping events, Claudia Riggert placed sixth in high jump with a jump of 4-04. Scholting earned third in long jump with a jump of 15-04.25.
For throwing events, Aubrey Hanson placed sixth in shot put with a throw 29-02.50.
On the boys side, starting off in the 100-meter dash, Benjamin Bolling placed fourth with a time of 12.05.
In the boys 400-meter dash, Bolling took first with a time of 55.66. Bolling commented, “I could work harder on my blocks because I can gain back distance, but my starts are not the best. I don't think we did our best. We have a lot to work on but people still performed great.”
In the boys relays, the 4x400 relay consisting of Elijah Streff, Kaden Mosel, Nickolas Efta, and Anthony Leise placed fifth with a time of 4:31.23. The 4x800 meter relay consisting of Leise, Efta, Streff, and Zakary Abler finished in fourth with a time of 10:42.05.
Heading into the jumping events, Isaiah Yarde earned third in boys high jump with a jump of 5-06. Yarde also placed sixth in triple jump with a jump of 37-07.
The freshmen and sophomores not competing on the varsity level concluded their season at this meet.
