The track and field team won the Bishop Miege Invitational April 5 to start the varsity meet season. The team took the overall first place standing for all runners and throwers out of the 11 other teams that attended. Since it was the first meet, the team was very happy with their performances, according to junior captain Lily Henkle.

“I thought the first meet went great even though we aren’t in the best shape yet,” Henkle said. “I am so proud that we won.”

The team started practicing Feb. 25. They have been working to get the stamina and strength to be able to perform the events successfully. They have especially been focused on doing a lot of strength work with the throwers who participate in the javelin, shot put, and discus events, according to head coach Cody Buhrmeister.

“We have been having workouts since beginning of the season to get them conditioned for track and field,” Buhrmeister said. “It takes time to get the girls to a point that they can be competitive.”

The hard work resulted in success as the throwers scored well at the Invitational. In the shot put, junior Avanni Martin, senior Kendall Rogers and junior Kamryn Rogers took a clean sweep to the podium. Martin threw for 33 feet with Rogers and Kamryn behind with 31 feet 6 inches and 31 feet 2 inches, respectively. Junior Munachi Okuagu placed 5th with a throw for  29 feet 7 inches. The throwers were also successful in the javelin and discus events.

“I think it went really well; it was my first meet of the season so I was very happy,” Rogers said. “I’m hoping to not only reach my personal goals but reach my coach’s goal for me as well.”

The runners were also successful in their races and events. Henkle won first in the 800 meter with a time of 2:34.25. The team ran a relay four by eight for the first time in many years. The relay consisted of, seniors Brenna Richart and Mia McLey, sophomore Abby DeLong and Henkle. Their time was 10:57.07. Individually, sophomore Olivia Shively placed second in the high jump, jumping four feet, 10 inches. In the 400 meter race, sophomore Olivia Overlease placed second with a time of 1:04.78. Senior Ava Rawson also came in second in the 300 meter hurdle.

“I think we were able to get the victory because we have a lot of depth on the team, and we were able to score points in some events that we haven’t in the past,” Buhrmeister said. “In addition to that we competed really well for this early in the season.”

The team will participate in seven more meets before starting the postseason meets. The team is hoping for success in the postseason at districts and hopefully the State Championships, according to Henkle.

“We are hoping to improve as the season progresses. We tell the girls we are training to be our best come districts, sectional and the State Championship,”  Buhrmeister said. “Now that we have times for the girls and events, we can start to train a little more specific for what we want to do at the end of the season.”