(April 14th, 2015) – PIONEER: In a five way track meet held at North Central, the Pettisville Blackbirds emerged victorious over a field including the hosting Eagles, Hilltop, Fayette, and Monclova. The Blackbirds finished the meet with 136 points, with Monclova coming in second with 72. North Central put up 56 points, edging out Fayette and Hilltop, who had 39 and 36 points, respectively.
The hurdling events were both taken by Pettisville’s Ethan Brakefield. The Blackbird ran a 16.1 time in the 110 high hurdles, and a 41.9 in the 300 meter hurdles. North Central’s Kaleb Faler took second in the highs with 16.5, and third in the 300s with 47.5. Sam Shilling took second in the 300s with a 46.2, and third in the highs with 17.2. Michael Brubaker, a senior for Fayette, finished in fifth for both events, running an 18.9 in the highs and a 49.5 in the 300s.
The discus was also claimed by Pettisville. Blackbird Kregg York won the event with a toss of 120’10”. Ryan Gilmore, of Fayette, nearly came within a foot of matching that feat, throwing a 119’9” himself. For North Central, Alex Munger earned a third place finish, launching the disc 103’5”.
Skylar Lantz won the 200 meter dash for Fayette with a time of 25.0. Hilltop’s Joe Shilling and Pettisville’s Levi Nofziger were part of a three way tie with a Monclova runner for second place at 25.3, with Schilling being awarded second place and Nofziger fourth. North Central’s Kodi Bently was right behind them at 25.4, good enough for fifth place in one of the tightest races in recent memory.
Lantz also took first place in the two mile run, finishing with a time of 11:14. Trenton Sakos, of North Central finished in second place, running an 11:22. Jacob Hauter gave the Blackbirds a third place finish at 11:37.
In the one mile run, it was Kyle Lantz, from Pettisville, who took home first place at 4:49. Sakos gave North Central second with a time of 5:05. Hauter earned third place for Pettisville at 5:11.
Pettisville controlled this meet from beginning to end. Though Monclova probably damaged North Central’s chances of keeping up, they also took some places away from Pettisville as well. It will be interesting to see how the two teams match up when they are the top two teams on the track.