Both the girls’ and boys’ track teams had their NIC meet between May 10th through May 12th. It consisted of qualifying athletes from Marian, Penn, Riley, Glenn, Bremen, Elkhart Central, Jimtown, St. Joe, Clay, Adams, Mishawaka, and New Prairie. Elkhart Central hosted the NIC this year.
The teams competed in field events on May 10th. The boys put their best out there, making it clear what a serious competitor they are. At the very least, one team member was qualified and scored in each event. In pole vault, senior, Jacob MacDonald did exceptionally, placing second with a height of 12’06.00”. Junior Devin Wakes was the star of high jump, placing first with 6’01.00”. In long jump, Washington student, Tony Brazier took first, but Tyler Reppert helped place Mishawaka with a jump of 18’04.75”. In shotput, Peter Wiegand from St. Joe took first with a throw of 50’07.50”, but Derrick Siade (senior) took third throwing 45’06.00”. Austin Kisrow also placed, getting seventh with a throw of 43’06.5”. In addition, Derrick Siade got first in discus, throwing 134-10 feet.
The second wave of events were on May 12th, which mainly consisted of running events. Unlike day one, the boys did not score in every event, however, the team still did very well. From Adams, Brandon Wadley placed first in both the 100 and 200 meter dash, with times of 11.23 seconds and 22.67 seconds, respectively. Also from Adams, Cambrin Dixon got first in the 400 meter dash, running it in 51.31 seconds. This did not bring the boys down, within the next events Jacob MacDonald would score third in the 800 meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 3 seconds. Senior Jonathan Groom would run a vigorous 1600 and 3200 meter run. He came in fourth for the 1600 meter, getting a time of 4 minutes, 36 seconds. As for the 3200 meter, he ran in 10 minutes and 8 seconds, placing him in second. Seth Mackowicz tied for first with Jimtown runner Ken Kern in the 110 meter hurdles, getting a time of 15.50 seconds. Tim Calderone got third in the 300 meter hurdles. In the 4x100 meter relay, the boys placed sixth and, in the 4x400 meter relay, they placed seventh. Overall, the boys took second place in the NIC with of a total of 82 points. Penn would score 172 points, taking first.
The boys really did an amazing job. The team had to overcome a few obstacles, the biggest one being injuries. Jacob MacDonald explains, “It was frustrating this season, as soon as we got to the important meets the injuries started to happen.” However, the team stayed positive and rightfully confident. The results of the NIC really showed the effort the whole team put in. Senior Kyle Edwards sums up the team’s overall principle, saying that, “No matter how much it sucks sometimes, if you just keep at it you won’t regret it.”
Good job boys! The team’s upcoming meet is their sectionals at St. Joe on May 19th. We wish you the best of luck!
