The Fayette girls track & field team continues to dominate. On Friday, the Falcons racked up seven first-place finishes, a runner-up medal, and four third-place postings to win by double-digits the Lowell Eaton Relays hosted by Harrisburg High School. Fayette finished first among 21 teams with 121 points, far outpacing second-place Marceline with 98.50 points.

The Harrisburg girls finished third with 69 points, just outpointing fourth-place Glasgow with 65 points. New Franklin finished 15th overall with 13.

Fayette again was the top point-earner in the sprints, led by Rylan Roberts with top marks in the 100- (12.90), 200- (26.39), and 400-meter (1:00.31) dashes. The freshman also placed first in the triple jump (10.6m).

Junior Browyn Eubanks had another spectacular day, winning the 100-meter hurdles (16.32) and 300-meter hurdles (50.57) and high jump (1.52m). She set a new meet record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.32 seconds. She also finished half a second behind Roberts in the 200-meter dash (26.89) for the team’s only silver medal.

Fayette had an all-around strong team performance. Senior Hayden Sage is encroaching on the school record in the pole vault. She finished third overall on Friday with a score of 2.73 meters.

Sophomore Paige Vroman picked up the bronze in the 400-meter dash (1:03.46) and placed fifth in the 100 meters (13.81), giving Fayette three point-earners in the 100-meter sprint.

Senior Payton Kindle added another top-three finish, placing third overall in the 300-meter hurdles (54.97).

Falcon senior Lasaydra Jackman scored a sixth-place finish in the long jump (4.37m).

Freshman Eastin Hill rounded out individual point-scorers with a seventh-place posting in the 800 meters (2:40.76).

All three of Fayette’s relay teams finished in the points. Sage, Chloe Bier, Jackman, and Kindle finished third in the 4x100-meter relay (54.73). Vroman, Sage, Bier, and Kindle placed fourth in the 4x200-meter relay (1:55.16). Rounding out the day was the 4x400-meter relay team (4:34.04). Paige Vroman, Kennady Vroman, Sage, and Hill placed fourth overall.

The Harrisburg girls finished with five top-three scores but posted 16 finishes in the points to place third as a team overall. The Lady Bulldogs were well-represented among the top finishers in field events. Bradey Simpson led the way by winning the discus competition with a top mark of 33.24 meters. Kenlee Oglesby placed second in the shot put (9.44m), and Poppy Spry won the silver in the pole vault (2.88m).

Addison Nichols finished in the points in the long and triple jump events, posting a fifth-place (4.4m) and a fourth-place (9.52m) finish, respectively. She also added an eighth-place time in the 200 meters with a time of 29.59 seconds.

Harrisburg also picked up points in the distance races. Marie Bergfield placed second in the two-mile (13:43.79) and sixth in the 800 meters (2:39.68).

Elsewhere in the sprints, Kori Crane placed seventh overall in the 400 meters (1:05.98), and Darian Gilpin just finished in the points with an eighth-place time of 19.80 in the 100 meters.

In distance races, Josey Whitaker placed fourth overall in the two-mile (14:12.41), and Avelina McKinzie finished eighth in the 1,600 meters (6:39.81).

Two of Harrisburg’s relay teams brought in team points. The 4x800-meter team of Cayle Doss, Whitaker, McKinzie, and Bergfield had the high finish with a third-place time of 11:37.70. The 4x100-meter relay team beat the cutoff in eighth place. Spry, Gilpin, Gwyneth Benton, and Kaylsta O’Haver finished with a time of 56.48 seconds.

The Glasgow girls had a strong overall showing for fourth place. Leading the way for the Lady Yellowjackets was senior Addison Barringhaus in the distance races. She won both the 1,600 meters (5:57.29) and the two-mile (12:45.11), scoring both of the team’s two first-place finishes.

Hailey Monnig had a big day in the girls’ javelin event, setting a new school record with a second-place distance of 30.4 meters. She also placed third in the long jump with a leap of 4.44 meters.

Elsewhere in the field, Riley Olendorff placed third overall in the high jump (1.47m), and Kaitlyn Monnig finished fifth in the pole vault (2.58m). Taylor Olendorff added an eighth-place finish in the shot put (8.28m). Jaclyn Johnson finished with two eight-place postings in the throwing events. She threw the discus 24.3 meters and sent the javelin 26.33 meters to round out point finishes in the field.

On the track, Aly Prentzler picked up points in the hurdle events. She placed third overall in the 100-meter hurdles (18.05) and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles (58.99).

Maylen Parks posted a fifth-place finish in the two-mile run (14:18.32) and just missed out on the points in the 1,600 meters with a ninth-place finish.

The New Franklin girls struggled among the field of mostly larger teams, with the Lady Bulldogs picking up five finishes in the points.

“The Harrisburg Eaton Relays were another tough test for us. There were a lot of big schools at the meet, and we certainly had our work cut out for us,” said coach Adam Quest. “The kids don’t always like to compete against bigger schools, but I think it makes us better in the end. Despite the school size differences, we were still able to put together some great performances.”

Leading the New Franklin girls was Lily Chitwood with a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters (2:36.20).

“Lily Chitwood was definitely one who benefited from the strong competition at the meet. She was able to hang with the lead pack, and finished with a new personal record,” Coach Quest said.

Kinsley Keeton earned a medal in the triple jump for the second meet in a row. Her leap of 9.4 meters earned her fifth place.

Also earning points in the high jump was Belle Chitwood with a seventh-place finish (1.37m) and Lilly Kaullen in eighth place (1.37m).

Rounding out point finishers was the 4x200-meter relay team. Kinsley Keeton, Lilly Kaullen, Isabelle Chitwood, and Lily Chitwood posted an eight-place time of 1:59.90.

Boys

The Harrisburg boys finished runner-up in their own Lowell Eaton Relays on Friday with 103 points behind a well-rounded win by New Bloomfield with 117.50 points out of 22 teams.

The Fayette boys finished sixth (39.25), and Glasgow was eighth (36.75). Rounding out area teams was New Franklin, which scored 25 points for 11th place.

The Bulldogs racked up most of their points in the field, winning the pole vault, shot put, and high jump events, while with second and third-place postings in the long and triple jump and the javelin throw.

Junior Rylee Robinson had a strong day in the field. He won the pole vault competition with a score of 3.78 meters and placed second overall in the javelin with a distance of 44.21 meters.

Trace Combs further cemented his dominance in the high jump, winning with a height of 1.87 meters. He also placed fourth overall in the 400-meter dash (53.89).

Jonathan Darwent finished well in the throwing events. He won the shot put by nearly a full meter with a top throw of 14.81 meters and placed fourth in the discus event with a distance of 41.7 meters.

Senior Isaac DeMuth added a pair of top-three finishes in the jumps. He placed second in the long jump with a distance of 5.85 meters and third overall in the triple jump (12.13m). Classmate Sam Katsaros finished second in the triple jump with a runner-up distance of 12.31, a half-meter behind the winner from New Bloomfield.

Katsaros also performed well on the track, placing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (16.97).

Freshman Nash Sublett picked up points in two events. He placed sixth in the high jump (1.72m) before placing third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.96.

Rounding out points in the field were Quincy Timbrook and Bender Wardrip. Timbrook placed fifth in the pole vault with a height of 3.18 meters. Wardrip had an off day in the shot put but still managed a fourth-place finish on his third throw with a distance of 13.43 meters.

Two of Harrisburg’s four relays finished in the points, with the 4x100-meter and 4x800-meter teams both finishing just short of the cutoff in ninth place.

Combs, DeMuth, Ramsey Miller, and Katsaros placed third in the 4x400-meter relay race with a time of 3:50.64. Aden Stone, Victor Shouse, DeMuth, and Combs ran the 4x200-meter race in 1:41.23 for fifth place overall.

The Fayette boys completed the day with eight finishes in the points, led by junior Carter Vroman in the throwing events. He won the javelin competition with a throw of 48.7 meters, more than four meters past second-place finisher Rylee Robinson from Harrisburg.

Vroman also took top honors in the discus event with a winning toss of 46.97 meters, more than two-and-a-half meters ahead of the runner-up thrower from Salisbury.

Vroman went on to finish third overall in the shot put competition with a heave of 13.52 meters.

Also earning points in the field was Zane Spaeder. The junior posted a fourth-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.7 meters, only a third of a meter behind the winner from New Bloomfield.

Sophomore Adam Hayes rounded out the point scorers in the field events with an eighth-place posting in the high jump (1.62m).

On the track, Landon Cunningham led the Falcon runners with a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16.49.

Ben Oeth added a sixth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.41 seconds.

Glasow senior Zach Saylor led the Yellowjackets two and eighth place overall finish, winning the 800-meter run (2:09.44) and finishing fourth in the mile (4:59.50). He also ran the first leg of the 4 x 800-meter relay team with Joshua Sayler, Wesley Norris, and Kyler Kottman that finished for us with a time of 9:24.54.

Joshua Ayler would go on to finish seventh overall in the two-mile run with a time of 11:18.48.

The Jackets also picked up strong finishes in the pole vault and throwing events. Finn Johnson posted a third-place vault of 3.63 meters. Jackson Meyer finished fourth overall in the javelin competition with a distance of 43.10 meters and fifth in the discus at 38.35 meters.

Rounding out the point finishes in the field was Kyler Kottman with a score of 1.62 meters for eighth place in the high jump.

New Franklin was rounding out teams in the Advertiser’s coverage area, with six finishes in the points.

A highlight of the meet for the Bulldogs was the strong performance of freshman Quincy Dorson in the 1,600 meters. He came behind in the final 200 meters to finish third overall with a personal record of 4:57.93, edging out Glasgow’s Zach Sayer by less than two seconds. It was Dorson’s first time completing the mile in less than five minutes.

“Quincy is an outstanding distance runner, and I suspect we will see even better times from him in the future,” said New Franklin coach Adam Quest.

Senior thrower Maddox Thornton also had a strong meet, finishing in the points in both the discus and shot put competitions. He placed third in the discus with a new personal-best distance of 43.25 meters and sixth in the shot put with a toss of 12.76 meters.

The Bulldogs’ final medal went to junior Landon Shaw. He placed fifth overall in the triple jump with a distance of 11.87 meters, barely behind the fourth-place finisher from California.

Shaw also placed seventh overall in the 400-meter dash (57.05).

The Bulldogs’ 4x800-meter relay team rounded out the day with a fifth-place finish. Dorson, Noah Hackman, Alexander McGruder, and Mason McGruder finished with a time of 9:28.76.