Wilkerson and Mecham Lead Grizzlies To A Fourth Place Finish

The Grace Grizzlies took a small contingency of athletes to the state championship track meet in Middleton last weekend. The Grizzlies sent just two girls to the meet and six boys.  Despite their low number the athletes represented Grace very well.  The six boys were able to bring home a fourth place trophy proving they were able to compete at the highest level.

The two Lady Grizzlies that qualified for the state meet were Bella Eddins and Brooklyn Porter.  Eddins competed in just one event, the 100 meter hurdles.  Bella was able to make the finals and finished in fifth place overall.  Porter participated in two events, the 800 and 1600 meter races.  Brooklyn earned a seventh place finish in the 800 and moved up a spot to sixth place in the 1600.  Both girls were able to run personal best times at state and are just juniors with a chance to return next season.

As just a sophomore Carter Mecham blazed to a first place finishe and state championship in the 400 meter dash.

 The Grizzly men had two relay teams make it to state.  Both their sprint medley team and their 4x400 placed third in the finals.  Gavin Draper, Adrian Mejia, and Carter Mecham were members of both teams, with Bryant Moss joining them on the medley and Jonah Wilkerson running in the 4x400.  The only Grizzly to make it to state and not be part of one of the relay teams was Parker Yost who competed in the 110 meter hurdles.  Yost placed third in the prelims and then moved up to second place in the finals where he posted a new PR.  In addition to the two relays Mejia raced in the 800 meters and finished with a season best time in fifth place.  Jonah Wilkerson made the decision to specialize in the hurdles this season and did very well.  Throughout the year Wilkerson was able to set new school records in both hurdle distances.  In the state meet Wilkerson was considered to be among the favorites to win both races but an unfortunate fall in the 110 meter race left Wilkerson off of the podium and opened the door for his teammate Yost.  However Wilkerson was able to run clean in the 300 meter distance and earned a gold medal finishing on top of the podium.  Lastly the sophomore speedster Carter Mecham ran in two individual events along with the two relay races.  In the 200 meter sprint Mecham made finals and finished in sixth place.  Mecham is much better in the 400 meter distance and earlier this season set a new school record.  At the state meet he would not be denied as he blazed to a first place finish running the race in a blistering 49.85 seconds.  Mecham is the only non-senior that competed for the boys team.  All five of the other competitors will be graduating later this month.  It will be hard for the Grizzlies to replace such a solid group.