Knights host Distance Carnival, send 15 to Top Times Championships
By Ray Popkess
Triad Track and Field hosted its annual Distance Carnival on Friday, March 27 before heading north to Bloomington on Saturday for the Top Times Indoor Championships at Illinois Wesleyan.
Distance Carnival
Beginning with the girls’ 600m, Triad placed two runners in the top-five out of 20 competitors. Kacey Ruger came in second place with a personal best time of 1:48.14s and Brynn Carey finished fifth with a time of 1:55.71s.
In the 1000m, Abigail James took the top spot by a wide margin with a time of 3:32.33s. Adelaide Cook, a freshman from Highland, took second place with a time of 3:49.02s.
Brooklyn Giffhorn of Highland claimed first place in the 1500m with a time of 5:24.47s.
Abby James turns the corner during her three-lap leg of the girls’ 4000m DMR. (Ray Popkess photo)
Morgan Mason of Triad was the fastest senior in the event, claiming fifth place overall with a time of 5:44.71s. Her teammate Alivia Phillips finished just behind with a time of 5:47.80s, a personal best for the senior. Cameron Powers rounded out the 1500m times for the Knights, finishing eighth with a time of 5:58.41s, another personal best.
Rowan Passmore of Highland was the fastest girl in the 3000m, crossing the finish with a time of 12:46.32s.
The Lady Bulldogs also took the top spot in the 4000m Distance Medley Relay (DMR), a combination of a 1200m, 400m, 800m and 1600m race from four relay members. Their relay team of Morgan Greenwald, Josie Kircher, Laila Staley and Katie Fenton finished with a combined time of 13:54.86s. Triad’s best time in the event was 15:13.47s, finishing third overall by the team of James, Carey, Wren Ilvarsonn and Mason.
On the boys’ side, Ben Neuner and Samuel Skirball finished second and third in the 600m with times of 1:33.18s and 1:33.52s, respectively, with Neuner setting his new personal best.
Beau Kitzmiller finished 10th out of 19 competitors in the 1000m with a time of 3:13.29s.
Adin Roach was the fastest in the 1500m with a time of 4:24.27s for the Bulldogs, while Skirball was the fastest Knight, finishing in fourth place with a personal best time of 4:33.22s.
Caleb and Joshua Knobloch finished first and second in the boys’ 3000m, with Caleb just barely taking the top spot over his brother by 0.34s with a time of 9:31.37s. Caden Meier finished fifth in the same event with a time of 9:41.71s.
In the 4000m DMR, Triad finished fifth with a time of 12:21.40s by the team of Carter Rich, Kitzmiller, Neuner and Meier. Two relay teams from O’Fallon claimed the top two spots, followed by two Highland teams in third and fourth.
Caden Meier rides a heavy tailwind as he approaches the finish in the 3000m race. (Ray Popkess photo)
Top Times Championships
The Top Times Indoor Championships hosted at Illinois Wesleyan invites the top 24 sprinters in the state to compete against one another, and even fewer competitors in the distance and field events. The top-16 4x200m relay teams also received an invite, while the top-12 4x400m and 4x800m relay teams received an invitation.
Triad Track and Field took seven sprinters and one distance runner on the girls’ side with them while the boys took two field athletes, their 4x200m relay team and another mid-distance runner as well.
On the girls’ side, Addie Field and Izzy Stein both qualified for the 60m finals’ heats after making it through the prelims. Field finished with a personal best time of 7.78s in the finals, placing her fourth overall at the event and 30th among all sprinters in the state. Stein finished in sixth place with a personal best time of 7.83s, notching her at 41st in the state among all class divisions.
Field set another personal best in the 200m with a time of 25.76s, finishing fifth overall in the event. Stein finished 11th out of the 22 competitors with a time of 26.44s.
Field set her third personal best of the day in the 400m when she finished second overall with a time of 59.75s.
The girls’ 4x200m relay team of Ava Gallia, Stein, Addison Williams and Reyna Rehg finished second overall with a time of 1:47.29s.
The 4x400m relay team of Gallia, Mady Norder, Maddie Schram, and Rehg finished in 12th with a time of 4:24.78s.
On the boys’ side, Silas Thomason took home 10th place in the 400m with a time of 52.01s.
Triad’s 4x200m relay team of Jayden Howell, Jacob Odle, Brody Mriscin and Brock O’Toole finished in ninth place and ran the fastest indoor time in school history with a time of 1:33.99s.
Zane Meier finished sixth overall in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.30m (14’ 1.25”) on his first attempt.
Mac Musgrave claimed eighth in the high jump, clearing 1.91m (6’ 3.25”) along with three other athletes that did not clear the next rung of 1.94m (6’ 4.25”).
