(May 9th, 2015) – MONTPELIER: With fourteen teams on hand for the Lamberson Invitational in Montpelier, the Lady Blackbirds claimed third place among elite company at the event. The avians from Fulton County came within twenty points of victory with a score of 77.333. Four other current Buckeye Border Conference squads, as well as one future member of the league competed as well, with Stryker totaling 57 points for a seventh place finish, host school Montpelier earning ninth place with 35.8333 points, North Central bringing in 27 points in tenth place, eleventh place Hilltop putting up 18 points, and the four girl team of Fayette gaining 9 points in thirteenth place.
In the 100 meter dash, Lady Panther Paige Speelman claimed third place with a time of 13.4. Giving North Central a fifth place finish in the event was senior runner Alaina Kemarly, who ran a 13.51 in the finals. Just missing the cut for the finals was Pettisville’s Kyra Behnfeldt, who finished her preliminary run in ninth place at 13.6, just a step behind Kemarly during the qualifying run.
Audra Rupp, another Stryker girl, placed third in the 400 meter dash, finishing the race at 1:03.52. Hilltop’s Kara Brown took fourth place, thanks to her time of 1:06.2. Representing the hometown girls of Montpelier, McKenna Quaderer laid claim to seventh place with a 1:08.34 showing.
Pettisville earned a victory in the one mile run, as sophomore Alexa Leppelmeier finished first at 5:20.48. Lady Cadet Madaleine Routhier took home fifth place with a time of 5:43.3. Right on her tail was Montpelier runner Jacqueline Carlson, who earned sixth place with a 5:46.04.
Claiming second place in the 300 meter hurdles was Stryker senior Gabrielle Paxton, who finished the race with a time of 52.04. Her teammate, Sierrah Whitman, finished in sixth place at 56.54. Loco junior Hope Scholma was close behind in seventh place, running a 57.31.
The Panther relay team of Speelman, Paxton, Brittany Breier, and Rupp earned first place finishes in both the 4X200 and 4X400 meter relays, with times of 1:51.13 and 4:22.29 respectively. Taking second in the 4X200 race was Pettisville, as the unit of Jordyn Pursel, Kendal Pursel, Sarah Herring, and Behnfeldt were mere seconds behind the Stryker girls at 1:53.47. The team of Morgan Eriksen, Hannah Blake, Scholma, and Quaderer gave Montpelier a seventh place finish, thanks to their collective time of 2:04.22.
Less than a foot in length separated Lady Locomotive thrower Baylee Hageman from first place in the shot put, as the senior tossed the metal orb 37’06” for a second place showing. Fourth place in the event was taken by Stryker’s Rupp, who recorded a throw of 32’02”. Fayette’s Michaela Bates finished in sixth place, registering a toss of 31’03”.
While Pettisville lost a few points on some of the sprint relays to their growing rivals in Stryker, those points would not have been enough to climb into second place, let alone first. Hilltop had a few strong performances in the distance events, while North Central held their own in the jumping events. On their own track, Montpelier had competitors place in a multitude of events, but couldn’t earn enough higher places to climb the scoreboard. Again, with so few girls, Fayette’s overall performance is much more impressive than it initially appears.