Talawanda track and field hosts Dale Plank Invitational
A warm and windy day at Talawanda High School gave way to senior day for the track and field teams. Senior posters and picture boards lined the entrance to the stadium with senior athletes receiving recognition prior to the start of the April 21 meet.
This story was produced by Miami University journalism student Zach Fremder in partnership with the Oxford Free Press.
A warm and windy day at Talawanda High School gave way to senior day for the track and field teams. Senior posters and picture boards lined the entrance to the stadium with senior athletes receiving recognition prior to the start of the April 21 meet.
The Dale Plank Invitational, which is Talawanda’s only home meet of the spring season, drew competition from 11 high schools. Talawanda finished the meet in fifth place, with the boys team earning 75 points and the girls team earning 69. Valley View High School took top honors at the meet with a total score of 335.5 points.
There were plenty of bright spots for the host Brave, including junior throwers Alex Marcum and Joe Kretschmer finishing third and sixth, respectively, in the discus.
“I wasn’t expecting much, I haven’t had too good of practice recently,” Marcum said. “I was determined, and I didn’t really expect much, but I did well.”
The boys also saw success in the 1600- and 800-meter run with seniors Jesse Troy and Garrison Franks placing third in both events. Senior Nolan Hodgson took second in the pole vault with a vault of 13 feet and fourth in the 400- meter run with a personal record of 52.62 seconds.
Freshman Miles Sutter finished in second place in the long jump with a personal record of 20 feet, 3 inches.
On the girls side, sophomore Samantha Warholak leaped her way to a third place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 53.15 seconds. She also took fourth place in the high jump with 4 feet, 9 inches.
Freshman Eliza Saul’s vault of 8 feet, 6 inches slotted her into third place in pole vault.
The girls 4x400- meter relay team, composed of four freshmen, Alexandria Luking, Charley Bidwell, Hannah Herbst and Claire Li, finished in third place.
The meet allowed Talawanda to showcase its depth by giving some of their younger athletes a chance to compete. It also gave other experienced athletes the chance to compete in a new event.
Seniors Abra Mills and Adriana Luking, who are typically distance runners, had the opportunity to run the 400-meter dash. The duo scored three points for Talawanda with seventh and eighth place finishes.
“To go to an event that’s not your specialty and run as hard as you can and represent your school,” head coach Brad Mills said. “I was really proud of how they competed and how they walked off the track with smiles on their faces.”
Talawanda returns to competition April 25 at the Eaton Invitational.
