Grizzlies Hit The Oval For The First Time

The Grace Grizzlies track team saw their first action of the season last week when they took a small contingent of athletes to Preston to compete with some big schools.  The Grizzlies had to battle it out with the host school Preston as well as Century and Highland.  Low numbers made it virtually impossible for the Grizzlies to have any success in team scoring but individually several Grizzlies put up some impressive performances.

The Lady Grizzlies will be primarily led by two of their best athletes this season.  The Junior duo of Bella Eddins and Brooklyn Porter each got off to solid starts in their specialized events.  Eddins put up a respectable time in the 200 meter sprint but really shined in the 100m hurdles where she finished in fourth overall with a time of 18.25.  Mid distance specialist Porter was part of the Lady Grizzlies 4x400 relay team while finishing in fourth place in the 1600m race.  But where Porter really showed out was in the 800 meters where she ended with a second place finish.  While Porter and Eddins are the veterans on the team, a pair of newcomers also had some great performances.  Senior transplant Ashley King grabbed a sixth place finish in the 400 meter race and joined Porter on the 4x400 relay team.  Sophomore Haiden Osborn did very well in the throwing events.  While her shot put wasn’t her best event,in the discus Osborn came in fifth overall and then nabbed second place in the javelin with a throw of 81’.

While the Lady Grizzlies looked good the boys may have been even better.  Sophomore speedster Carter Mecham earned a personal best time in the 100 meter sprint with a blistering time of 11.64 and followed that up with another personal record in the 200 meter sprint finishing in third overall.  Senior hurdle specialist Jonah Wilkerson has put in a ton of off season work and it paid off with two personal best times.  Wilkerson grabbed third place in the 110m hurdles and ran his way to a second place finish in the 300m hurdles.  Wilkerson’s hurdle partner Parker Yost finished in the top ten of each of those races as well finishing in fifth and ninth places.  Perhaps the most impressive performance on the day came in the javelin.  Senior teammates Gavin Draper and Bryant Moss took the top two spots in the event.  Moss finished in second place with a throw of 126’6” and Draper earned the top spot with a personal best throw of 139’.

The Grizzlies are off to a good start on the season and will hopefully add to their numbers in the coming weeks.  This week the Grizzlies will travel to Malta to compete in the Cleta Whitaker Memorial at Raft River high school. 

Mens Results

100m sprint: Carter Mecham 11.64, Gavin Draper 12.19, Bryant Moss 12.43, Luke Moss 13.60

200m Sprint: Carter Mecham 23.38

110m Hurdles: Jonah Wilkerson 15.51, Parker Yost 16.97

300m Hurdles: Jonah Wilkerson 40.44, Parker Yost 45.97

4x400 Relay: Jonah Wilkerson, Gavin Draper, Carter Mecham, Bryant Moss 3:45.37

Shot Put: Luke Moss 29’3.5”

Discus: Luke Moss 75’7”

Javelin: Gavin Draper 139’, Bryant Moss 126’6”

Pole Vault: Bryant Moss 8’6”

Womens Results

100m Sprint: Jeanaelie Shaffer 14.18, Alayna Smith 14.98

200m Sprint: Bella Eddins 29.37, Callie Yost 30.02, Haiden Osborn 34.43

400m Sprint: Ashley King 1:07.89, Addison Wright 1:28.22

800m Race: Brooklyn Porter 2:40.23

1600m Run: Brooklyn Porter 5:53.12

100m Hurdles: Bella Eddins 18.25, Callie Yost 18.93

300m Hurdles: Alayna Smith 1:00.79

4x400 Relay: Ashley King, Brooklyn Porter, Callie Yost, Jeanaelie Shaffer 4:40.34

Shot Put: Brielle Yost 26’, Addison Wright 21’10.5, Haiden Osborn 21’ 2.75

Discus: Haiden Osborn 81’, Brielle Yost 52’11”

Javelin: Haiden Osborn 81’10”, Bella Eddins 73’9”

Long Jump: Jeanaelie Shaffer 14’1.5”, Addison Wright 10’4”