PETERS DOMINATES MARION RELAYS – VIKINGS FINISH 2ND TWICE!

By Staff

            MARION – On Thursday, the Smoky Valley track/field teams competed at the Marion Relays and came home with a pair of second-place team finishes plus 12 individual first place medals that included four by Breanne Peters.

            Combined the Viking boys and Lady Vikings each competed in 18 events and brought home an overall total of 33 individual top-five medals to go with the dozen golds.

            For the Lady Vikings, the team itself finished a close second to Chapman for the team title as Smoky Valley had 153 points and Chapman rolled up 169. Marion, Hutchinson Central Christian and Goessel rounded out the top five of the 12 teams competing.

            “Progress is not always measured in a performance mark,” noted Viking head coach Jay Myers. “There is quite often progress made where the result is something less than that and maybe even not that close to what an individual wanted, and we saw some of those today.”

            Leading the charge for the Lady Vikings was Breanne Peters as she continues to overwhelm the competition by taking first in four individual events including the 100- and 200-meters as well as field events like the long jump and pole vault where she set a personal record best mark. In her pole vault victory, Breanne was joined by teammates Noelle Peters and Ceeley Friesen to make the event a one-two-three Lady Viking finish.

            Hope Willems won an individual gold in the 3,200 meters as did Clara McElroy in the 100 meter hurdles. The Smoky Valley girls also took top spot in the 4×800 relay while placing second in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

            Overall, 18 Lady Vikings finished the competition with a top five medal.

            Like the girls, the Viking boys also finished second in the team standings right behind Chapman as Smoky Valley stacked up 126 points while the Fighting Irish scored 156. Chase County, Marion and El Dorado rounded out the top five.

            Three Vikings scored individual golds for first place finishes including Wyatt Johnson in the 400 meters, Vincent Pickering in the 300 meter hurdles, and Trystan Stambaugh throwing the discus. Both the 4s400 and 4×800 relay quartets also scored gold on the day with the 4×400 relay team setting a meet record, breaking one that Smoky Valley set in 2022.

            A total of 15 Vikings brought home top five medals to add to their collections.

            Coach Myers concluded his post-meet reflections by saying, “I saw several today where all the attitude and focus boxes were checked off and even a few where it did not begin well but then ended up being pretty good overall due to the individual refocusing.”

            Next up for the Smoky Valley track/field teams will come when they host a home meet on Friday, April 14.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKING TRACK/FIELD at Marion Relays

LADY VIKING RESULTS:

Team Standings > 1. Chapman – 169; 2. LADY VIKINGS – 153; 3. Marion – 77; 4. Hutchinson Central Christian – 65; 5. Goessel – 52.5; 6. El Dorado – 49; 7. Wichita Central Christian – 49.50; 8. Centre – 26; 9. Independent School – 16; 10. Chase County – 14; 11. Peabody/Burns – 5; 12. Wichita Homeschool Warriors – 2.

LADY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (top-10 finishes):

100 Meters > 1. Breanne Peters – 13.08; 4. Ceeley Friesen – 13.79; 7. Noelle Peters – 14.08.

200 Meters > 1. Breanne Peters – 27.25; 7. Gabby Behanna – 30.04; 9. Jillian Fishback – 30.54.

400 Meters > 2. Katja Blanchat – 1:05.03; 7. Ceeley Friesen – 1:09.03.

800 Meters > 6. Esther Clark – 3:01.22.

1,600 Meters > 5. Hope Willems – 6:17.06; 10. Esther Clark – 6:50.91.

3,200 Meters > 1. Hope Willems – 12:35.81.

100 Meter Hurdles > 1. Clara McElroy – 17.69.

300 Meter Hurdles > 2. Clara McElroy – 51.42; 5. Taytum Reed – 54.41.

4×100 Meter Relay > 2. Lady Vikings (Noelle Peters, Madison Oakes, Ceeley Friesen, Clara McElroy) – 53.63.

4×400 Meter Relay > 2. Lady Vikings (Noelle Peters, Keira Mullen, Madison Oakes, Katja Blanchat) – 4:34.95.

4×800 Meter Relay > 1. Lady Vikings (Hope Willems, Keira Mullen, Esther Clark, Katja Blanchat) – 11:01.31.

Long Jump > 1. Breanne Peters – 17’ 0”; 10.Jillian Fishback – 13’ 9”.

Triple Jump > 8. Jillian Fishback – 30’ 0”.

Pole Vault > 1. Breanne Peters – 13’ 3”; 2. Noelle Peters – 9’ 6”; 3. Ceeley Friesen – 7’ 0”.

Discus > 10. Maggie Riedel – 79’ 0”.

Javelin > 2. Keira Mullen – 100’ 8”; 3. Madison Oakes – 96’ 11”.

VIKING BOYS RESULTS:

Team Standings > 1. Chapman – 156; 2. VIKINGS – 126; 3. Chase County – 97; 4. Marion – 78; 5. El Dorado – 65; 6. Independent School – 36.5; 7. Goessel – 34; 8. Hutchinson Central Christian – 32.5; 9. Wichita Central Christian – 25; 10. Bluestem – 22; 11. Wichita Homeschool Warriors – 7; 12. Centre – 3.

VIKING BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (top-10 finishes):

100 Meters > 4. Gavin Stambaugh – 11.78; 5. Zach Gross – 11.84.

200 Meters > 4. Zach Gross – 24.04; 6. Gavin Stambaugh – 24.37.

400 Meters > 1. Wyatt Johnson – 51.23; 3. Ki Blanchat – 52.54; 4. Karson Pihl – 52.93.

800 Meters > 3. Tytus Reed – 2:06.43; 7. Brayden Eyer – 2:18.75; 9. Kaden Bishop – 2:21.79.

1,600 Meters > 2. Brayden Eyer – 5:09.88; 6. Kaden Bishop – 5:26.26.

3,200 Meters > 6. Sebastian Pavlovich – 11:39.78.

300 Meter Hurdles > 1. Vincent Pickering – 44.14.

4×100 Meter Relay > 3. Vikings (Gavin Stambaugh, Zach Gross, Wyatt Johnson, Ki Blanchat) – 45.24

4×400 Meter Relay > 1. Vikings (Ki Blanchat, Tytus Reed, Karson Pihl, Wyatt Johnson) – 3:31.98.

4×800 Meter Relay > 1. Vikings (Tytus Reed, Kaden Bishop, Karson Pihl, Wyatt Johnson) – 8:35.83.

Discus > 1. Trystan Stambaugh – 137’ 6”; 3. Gus Griffith – 113’ 8”; 8. Mason Morel – 105’ 4”.

Javelin > 7. Trystan Stambaugh – 129’ 2”.

Shot Put > 2. Justin Holt – 44’ 6.75”; 6. Trystan Stambaugh – 38’ 6.25.

(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)