(May 9th, 2015) – MONTPELIER: The Locomotives were less than gracious hosts at the Lamberson Invitational, refusing to allow their guests to win. Montpelier edged out Patrick Henry to claim victory at the fourteen-team event, as the Loco boys scored 119.5 points. Amongst the field were five of the home team’s future league opponents with the Buckeye Border Conference was well represented at the meet.
Pettisville earned a fourth place finish, totaling 59 points, while fellow Fulton County school Fayette came in tenth place at 21.5. The numbers game worked against Hilltop, Stryker, and North Central, who scored 4, 3, and 3 points respectively.
For the Blackbirds, Jakob Waidelich claimed second place in the pole vault, clearing a height of 12’. Montpelier snagged third and fourth places due to the efforts of Zac Mason and Logan Hutchinson, who vaulted 11’6” and 11’ respectively. Also getting over 11’ was Michael Brubaker, who brought home sixth place to Fayette.
Alex Matzinger finished in fourth place at the high jump, working his way over the bar at 5’8”. Right behind him were Pettisville’s Andrew Sauder and Fayette’s Kamrin Hunter, who each completed a leap of 5’4” for fifth and sixth place. Ninth place went to fellow Blackbird Jaret Rychener at 5’2”.
In the 4X400 meter relay, Montpelier took first place with the team of Dallas Royer, Austin Miller, Blake Michael, and Hunter Shaull, as the group finished the race with a combined time of 3:36.7. Pettisville earned third place, as Kyle Lantz, Aaron Bontrager, Levi Nofziger, and Dustin Lucas ran a 3:47.65. Hunter, Alex Jaramillo, Skylar Lantz, and Dylan Stannard gave Fayette a ninth place showing, thanks to a time of 4:02.86.
The Locos took fifth place in the 4X100 meter relay, as Royer, Matzinger, Simon Wang, and Mason ran a collective time of 47.04. Sixth place went to Pettisville, due to the 47.8 run by Levi Nofziger, Caleb Rychener, Waidelich, and Nick Brink. The team of Kaid Woolace, Alex Bost, Isreal Aguiar, and Brannon Woolace gave Stryker seventh place at 48.16.
The 300 meter hurdles were taken by Montpelier’s Shaull, as the senior completed the race in 40.48 for a first place showing. Sam Shilling brought home a fifth place finish for Hilltop with a time of 45.72. Another Montpelier boy, Alex Abrams, earned eighth place at 49.73. Just missing the cut in the preliminaries was North Central hurdler Caleb Faler with a ninth place effort in the qualifying run, thanks to his 47.86 time.
Perhaps the most valuable athlete for Montpelier was Zach Snyder. The junior earned first place finishes in the long jump and 110 meter high hurdles with a length of 21’11.75” and a time of 15.09, a second place showing in the 200 meter dash at 23.35, and joined forces with teammates Royer, Wang, and Shaull to win the 4X200 meter relay by completing the race in 1:33.52. While several Loco competitors performed exceptionally well, one would be hard pressed to find one who had a better day than Snyder.
Montpelier showed that they have the athletes and the depth to compete with most teams in the area with this victory. No less impressive was Pettisville’s fourth place effort, as the Blackbirds competed against and more than held their own against larger schools to accomplish such a feat. Fayette, Hilltop, Stryker, and North Central all lacked the depth to seriously compete in such a boisterous event, yet still had a few individual performers excel on the bigger stage.