(April 25th, 2015) – AYERSVILLE: Among the sixteen teams present at the prestigious Diller Invitational, the girls of Stryker and Pettisville stood out. Tying for sixth place, each team totaled 42 points. Montpelier was also present for the event, scoring 14 points.
The 4X400 meter relay served as a battleground between the two Buckeye Border Conference teams. Stryker, through the team of Paige Speelman, Gabrielle Paxton, Brittany Breier, and Audra Rupp, finished second overall with a time of 4:24.7. Pettisville was less than a second behind them, as Kyra Behnfeldt, Elizabeth Sauder, Mikala Avina, and Alexa Leppelmeier took third place at 4:25.6. For Montpelier, Jacqueline Carlson, Aubree Moss, Megan Steele, and McKenna Quaderer came in tenth place, running a 4:54.2.
Pettisville had even more success in the 4X800 meter relay, an event in which the team of Leppelmeier, Nichole Foor, Avina, and Sauder won. The Blackbird squad finished with a time of 10:15. Quaderer, Savannah Graham, Moss, and Carlson ran an 11:23 for the Locos, good for seventh place.
In the shot put, Montpelier senior Baylee Hageman brought home second place with a throw of 36’09.5”. Rupp gave the Lady Panthers an eleventh place finish, thanks to a toss of 30’02”.
Stryker’s Speelman took second place in the 100 meter dash at 12.81, and third in the 200 meter at 26.8. Teammate Breier finished in eighth place in the 100 meter, running a 13.6. Ashley Tingley, of Montpelier, turned in a 14.9, which earned her twenty-fourth place, while Pettisville’s Hannah Steele took home twenty-sixth place at 15 flat.
Finishing behind Speelman in the 200 meter was Quaderer, who gave the Locomotive girls a ninth place showing at 28.9. Morgan Eriksen, another Loco, claimed sixteenth place with a time of 29.9. Pettisville’s Sarah Herring and Stryker’s Jayden Shy tied for twentieth, with each girl completing the race at 30.6.
Stryker and Pettisville both showed that they have the talent to compete at a high level, though it lies in different places for each team. The Blackbirds excels in the mid-to-long distances, while the Panthers rely on their quickness and agility to get them through meets. Montpelier displayed a bit of balance as well, though they couldn’t place on a consistent basis.