Knights see several first place finishes at home invitational

Cornell-Lake Holcombe senior Marcella Boehm (left) was neck-and-neck with her opponent April 5, in a home meet, but put on a burst of speed to claim first place in the 100-meter hurdles. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

In their first home meet of the year, the Cornell-Lake Holcombe track team had good performances from their athletes April 14, facing off with a few area programs.

“Aside from some tech and logistics hiccups, the meet went very well,” said coach Sean Schmidt, “coaches and athletes alike were very happy with the meet.”

The two Knights relay teams were formed “on the spot,” with the 4x100-meter girls squad taking first place in a time of 57.78, consisting of senior runner Marcella Boehm, sophomores Hannah Kinard and Megan Paff, and freshman Brooklyn Anders. Taking second place (2:04.85), was the 4x200-meter relay team of senior Lauren Samardzich, Kinard, sophomore Emma Wright and freshman Katya Kuc.

Individually, Boehm placed first in the 100-meter hurdles (17.92), while Kuc was fifth in the pole vault (6-00) and eighth in the shot put event (29-02), while Paff ended in sixth in discus (81-10), a personal best.

“…Which continues the excellent progress she’s been showing all season,” said Schmidt.

On the boys side, senior Trent Nitek claimed first place in the 100-meter dash (10.81) and the 200-meter dash (22.78). Junior Chase Burgess placed fifth in the 100 (12.13), while senior Zach Schurtz was fifth in the 200 (26.78), ninth in the 100 (13.13) and 12th in long jump (707.5). Sophomore Alex Dixon also placed high, coming in fifth in the 800-meter run (2:23.9) and fifth in the triple jump (31-08.5).

Also placing fifth, was senior Will Peterson in discus (110-03), while sophomore Logan Jaedike finished in seventh in the pole vault event (8-06). Sophomore Ronin Minnick also competed, taking 11th in the 800 run (2:59.1) and 14th in the shot put (28-08.5).

“Our upcoming week will be very busy…we’re really looking forward to continuing to improve the growing talent we’ve got as a team,” said Schmidt.