RANDY HISNER & DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
The Bellmont girls’ track team finished eighth in the NE8 meet at Columbia City Friday night, but 12 of their 21 points came from freshmen, brightening the future of veteran coach Carl Risch’s squad.
The Braves got sixth-place finishes from rookies Ashley Bleke (400 meters), Kaitlyn Barton (1600 meters), and Braelyn Radecki (discus). Bleke and Barton also made up half of the fourth-place 4X400 relay (4:22.07), along with senior Khia Cannon and junior Quinn Buchan. Barton and classmate Grace Ruble each ran a leg on the seventh-place 4X800 relay (11:15.69) with Buchan and sophomore Lilly Franz.
The East Noble Knights edged Columbia City for the team title, 141.5 to 136. Norwell was third with 101. Bellmont was just one point away from seventh-place New Haven.
East Noble had only one individual champion—Lillian Crow in the long jump—but won the 4X100 relay and had seven runner-up finishes.
Bleke earned her 400 placing the hard way, winning the slow heat with a time (a personal best 1:03.22) faster than those of two runners in the fast heat. Bleke, who did not run track in middle school, was not fazed by the high-pressure atmosphere of her first conference meet. “It’s honestly pretty cool,” she said. “It makes the competition harder, which I like.”
Barton ran 5:36.12 in the 1600 meters, slicing a big six seconds from her previous best. “I kind of mapped out what lap times I needed to run, and I just focused on that during the race,” she said. Like Bleke, Barton had never run track before this season, though she did run cross country in middle school.
Radecki threw 90-5 in the preliminaries to qualify for the finals, where she came through with a big 96-0 on her first throw. The road to the NE8 placing has not been easy for her. She injured her knee during basketball and underwent surgery in the winter. “It was rough,” she said. “During basketball season when I first did it, I was worried about not being able to play, but once my doctor told me he could get it back by May, he was really excited, and I was too. I ended up getting back earlier, throwing in April.”
In the 800 meters, Buchan took seventh with a new personal best of 2:31.33. Like all half-milers, she experienced oxygen debt and lots of discomfort in the last 300 meters. “It’s really just mind over matter once you hit that point,” she said. “It’s tough to keep a good mindset, but it’s what you have to do.”
The Braves also got a point from sophomore Ava Billman, who placed eighth in the high jump at 4-8.
The 4X100 relay team of Lanie French, Madyson Snyder, Khia Cannon, and Adi Knipstein placed sixth in a season-best 52.61.
Other Notes & Times:
Quinn Buchan continued to lower her area-leading time with a 2:31.33 (best in Z-Land this year) getting her seventh place in the 800 for Bellmont.
Kenya Leitch broke her own meet record with a sub-five mile, winning in 4:58.01 for Columbia City. Her teammates also broke the conference 4×400 record, winning in 4:03.46 and breaking a time that dated back to the Addy Wiley era at Huntington North. .
The Bellmont 4×100 team of Khia Cannon, Lanie French, Madison Snyder and Adi Knipstein ran a BHS best this season and finished 6th.
The standing NE8 record in the pole vault of 10-08 was broken by Alexandra Gates, but Norwell’s Emerson Meredith had the last laugh, matching Gates at 10-09, then clearing 11-0 and again 11-1 to set a new conference mark.
Team Scores: East Noble 141.5, Columbia City 136, Norwell 101, Leo 88, Huntington North 70, DeKalb 44.5, New Haven 22, Bellmont 21
100 M Finals
1. Ava Troxel-N 12.86
6. Ryland Graft-N 13.24
Prelim Times
Khia Cannon-B 13.63
Lanie French-B 13.73
200 M Finals
1. Jada Dale-N 26.46
Prelim Times
Lanie French-B 28.35
400 M
1. Jada Dale-N 58.62
6. Ashley Bleke-B 1:03.22
10. Lilly Franz-B 1:06.63
800 M
1. Riley Myers-CC 2:16.44
7. Quinn Buchan-B 2:31.33
1600 M
1. Kenya Leitch-CC 4:58.01
6. Kaitlyn Barton-B 5:36.12
13. Sydney Angel-B 6:17.06
3200 M
1. Kenya Leitch-CC 11:37.44
4. Ashley Tucker-N 12:20.38
6. Ashley Waldman-N 12:35.73
13. Bre Feasel-B 14:30.36
16. Sophia Silva-B 16:42.60
4×100 Relay
1. East Noble 50.58
4. Norwell 51.80
Graft-Grzych-Troxel-Nern
6. Bellmont 52.61
French-Snyder-Cannon-Knipstein
4×400 Relay
1. Columbia City 4:03.46
4. Norwell 4:15.44
Dale-Dale-Troxel-Nern
5. Bellmont 4:22.07
ABleke-Buchan-KBarton-Cannon
4×800 Relay
1. Columbia City 9:38.23
3. Norwell 10:32.17
Meyer-Tucker-Oatess-Smith
7. Bellmont 11:15.69
Franz-Ruble-Buchan-KBarton
100 M Hurdles
1. Madelyn Bradberry-CC 15.94
4. Jaycie Grych-N 16.73
Prelim Times
Emily Barton-B 19.69
300 Hurdles
1. Madelyn Bradberry-CC 46.89
5. Eden Nash-N 51.35
15. Mackenzie Selzer-B 1:06.80
High Jump
1. Allison Mullet-CC 5-01
6. Haley Williamson-N 4-10
8. Ava Billman-B 4-08
Emerson Meredith-N 4-08
Maya Schlemmer-B 4-06
Long Jump
1. Lillian Crow-EN 17-01
4. Ava Troxel-N 16-06.25
Shae Brooks-N 15-02.5
Maya Schlemmer-B 13-07.25
Ava Billman-B 13-00
Pole Vault
1. Emerson Meredith-N 11-01
2. Alexandra Gates-L 10-09
7. Kendall Dunwiddie-N 8-06
11. Chloe Post-B 6-06
Shot Put
1. Breann Fordyce-D 35-01.25
7. Evelyn Davis-N 28-10.75
Alayna Baker-B 28-01.5
Elizabeth Selzer-B 26-06.5
Discus
1. Breann Fordyce-D 108-05
4. Kaylee Eicher-N 99-00
6. Braelyn Radecki-B 96-00
10. Kinleigh Coffey-B 84-11
About the Author
