By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

HALSTEAD – At Halstead on Friday, participating in the 16-team Conrad Nightingale Track/Field Invitational, the Smoky Valley girls took the team championship by four points while the boys landed in a tie for third with Berean Academy.

For the Lady Vikings, the team rolled up 112 points to finish four points ahead of second place Cheney who had 108, while Berean Academy, Hesston, and Concordia rounded out the top five of the 16 team field.

Breanne Peters once again dominated her individual events by winning three gold medals for finishing first in the 100- and 200-meters as well as the long jump.

Gracie Lambert brought home an individual gold medal for winning the 800 meters while also running the final leg on both the first-place finishing 4×400 and 4×800 meter relay teams. Joining Lambert on the 4×400 team was Keira Mullen, Katja Blanchat, and Nevaeh Spitler, while Mullen, Sophia Fruits, and Blanchat were the other three legs for the 4×800 relay champions.

The Lady Vikings also had one or two top five finishes in seven other events as well.

In the boys meet, the Vikings scored 62 points, putting them in a tie for third with Berean Academy behind invite champion Concordia and runner-up Hesston. Pratt rounded out the top five in the team standings.

The Vikings scored their only first-place finish by winning the 4×800 meter relay with Tytus Reed, Justice Gardner, Garrett Huffman, and Lukas Apel each running a leg.

Other top finishes by the Viking boys included Apel and Wyatt Johnson placing second and third in the 400 meters, while Reed finished second in the 1,600 meters and the Vikings 4×400 meter relay quartet also took second.

The next outing for the Smoky Valley track/field teams will come on Friday, April 29 at Hillsboro.

SMOKY VALLEY TRACK/FIELD at Halstead Conrad Nightingale Invitational

LADY VIKINGS (Top 7 Finishers):

Team Standings (top 8 teams): 1. LADY VIKINGS 112; 2. Cheney 108; 3. Berean Academy 76; 4. Hesston 59; 5. Concordia 34; 6. Conway Springs 37.5; 7. Wichita Trinity Academy 26; 8. Kingman 23.

100 Meters: 1. BREANNE PETERS 12.65; 7. Noelle Peters 13.25.

200 Meters: 1. BREANNE PETERS 27.33.

400 Meters: 2. Keira Mullen 1:03.68; 4. Katja Blanchat 1:05.82.

800 Meters: 1. GRACIE LAMBERT 2:19.83.

1,600 Meters: 3. Gracie Lambert 5:37.22.

3,200 Meters: 2. Sophia Fruits 13:08.83.

100 Meter Hurdles: 2. Clara McElroy 17.06; 7. Lydia Peterson 18.52.

300 Meter Hurdles: 4. Clara McElroy 52.45; 5. Lydia Peterson 52.69.

4×100 Meter Relay: 3. Lady Vikings 52.48 (Noelle Peters, Breanne Peters, Clara McElroy, Gabby Behanna).

4×400 Meter Relay: 1. LADY VIKINGS 4:18.90 (Keira Mullen, Katja Blanchat, Nevaeh Spitler, Gracie Lambert).

4X800 Meter Relay: 1. LADY VIKINGS 10:24.12 (Keira Mullen, Sophia Fruits, Katja Blanchat, Gracie Lambert).

Long Jump: 1. BREANNE PETERS 16’7”.

Javelin: 5. Keira Mullen 100’3”.

VIKING BOYS (Top 7 Finisher):

Team Standings (top 8 teams): 1. Concordia 93; 2. Hesston 73; T-3. VIKINGS 62; T-3. Berean Academy 62; 5. Pratt 59; 6. Kingman 50; 7. Hutchinson Trinity Catholic 38; 8. Cheney 35.

100 Meters: 3. Jerome Autry 11.34.

400 Meters: 2. Lukas Apel 51.75; 3. Wyatt Johnson 53.44; 7. Ki Blanchat 54.35.

800 Meters: 6. Tytus Reed 2:13.54.

1,600 Meters: 2. Tytus Reed 4:47.75.

3,200 Meters: 4. Britton Becker 11:02.69.

4×100 Meter Relay: 6. Vikings 45.55 (Gavin Stambaugh, Zach Gross, Jerome Autry, Justice Autry).

4×400 Meter Relay: 2. Vikings 3:31.96 (Wyatt Johnson, Ki Blanchat, Tytus Reed, Lukas Apel).

4×800 Meter Relay: 1. VIKINGS 8:37.11 (Tytus Reed, Justice Gardner, Garrett Huffman, Lukas Apel).

High Jump: 5. Haven Lysell-Stewart 5’10”.

Shot Put: 6. Trystan Stambaugh 41’0.25”; 7. Justin Holt 39’8”.

(William is a free-lance writer covering McPherson County Activities – he can be reached at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)