(May 16th, 2015) – WEST UNITY: It was Pettisville who edged out Stryker to earn their second Buckeye Border Conference championship in a row, outscoring the Lady Panthers 166-136. Edon and North Central battled for third place, with the Bomber girls inching past the talented Lady Eagles 74-72. Host school Hilltop put up 46 points,while the undermanned Fayette Eagles still managed to score 27 points.
Michaela Bates earned more than a third of those points for Fayette, taking first place in the discus with a throw of 103’11”. The Edon duo of Autumn Joice and Kaitlyn Sonneberger claimed second and third places with tosses of 80’10” and 75’10”, respectively. Pettisville’s Katie Hauter and Fernanda Hernandez also grouped their placing, using throws of 72′ and 69′ to round out the top five performers.
North Central’s Brooke Schofield finished in first place in the high jump, clearing a height of 4’10”. Sarah Lemmon of Edon and Paige Keefer of Fayette each surpassed 4’6” to take home second and third places, in that order. Lady Blackbird Rebekah Steele tied with Stryker freshman Kira Pettit for fourth place, with each girl jumping over the bar at 4’4”.
In the one mile run, Pettisville controlled the top two places, thanks to the efforts of Alexa Leppelmeier and Nichole Foor, who turned in times of 5:38.92 and 5:43.79. Edon junior Kaitlyn Sonneberger took third place with a time of 5:58.64, with Hilltop’s Landrey Brown earning fourth place at 6:00.18. Karissa Sonneberger, of Edon, completed the race in fifth place, running a 6:02.61, while Megan Graber rounded out the top six, finishing at 6:15.36 for Stryker.
In the 4X200 meter relay, it was Stryker who came out on top, as the team of Paige Speelman, Gabrielle Paxton, Brittany Breier, and Audra Rupp crossed the finish line at 1:50.93, surpassing the former meet record of 1:52.29, set by last year’s Lady Panther relay team. Pettisville’s Jordyn and Kendal Pursel, Sarah Beck, and Sarah Herring laid claim to second place, thanks to their time of 1:55.71. Represented by Paige Schaffter, Katie Ewers, Murphy Smith, and Olivia Radabaugh, Edon finished third at 2:09.06. North Central’s offering by Jenna Keesecker, Allyson Fenicle, Brooklyn Brown, and Tiffany Echler came in fourth place, running a collective time of 2:18.3. Hilltop rounded out the race, with Macey Kunkle, Shanti Wyse, Larissa Merilat, and Veronica Nichols running a 2:22.62.
Paxton also gave the Panthers a first place showing in the 300 meter hurdles, finishing in 54.00. Edon’s Ewers was close behind, running a 55.2. Sierrah Whitman earned third place for Stryker as well, turning in a 55.4. Beck, of Pettisville, finished fourth at 57.6, while Schaffter rounded out the top five less than a step behind her at 57.6 as well.
Pettisville was able to earn more places overall than Stryker, pulling ahead of the Lady Panthers by just enough to secure the meet. Edon and North Central each had the talent to stay with the two top teams in the league, but not quite enough depth. Numbers, as always, severely limited the impact of Hilltop and Fayette, though they did have some excellent individual performers.
