The Lady Bears brought home 9 medals and the 2nd place team trophy, setting 9 school records and 20 personal records at the 11th Annual Milton Showcase Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 2-3. The boys also set 5 new school records, and 22 personal records across all events.
Senior Chloe Phelps started in the first event of the meet on Friday night, the girls' 5k. She brought home the bronze medal and a school record of 19:37 in her fourth 5k at the Milton Showcase in four years. Other highlights under the chilly Friday Night Lights included: school record performances in the 1500m by Leah Capomaccio ('20) in 5:41 and Zach Ellison ('18) in 4:31; a school record in the 300m by Kelechi Nwakanma('18) in 45.80s for fifth place; a school record and first place in the 800m by Delaney Goodell ('19); a silver medal for Carson Ertwine('19) in the 800m with a 2:06 time; a fifth place finish in the Distance Medley Relay by Isabel Suero('19), Chloe Phelps('18), Clarissa Beck('19), and Afton Hirschi ('20); a 7th place finished in the boys Distance Medley Relay by Josh Gargan('20), Zach Ellison ('18), Jack Donovan ('19), and Anders Law ('20); a 4th place finish for the boys 4x400 relay team composed of Jack McHale ('20), Garrick Kourany('19), Evan Bell('19), Tanner LeeMaster('18) in 3:38; and an incredible run but heartbreaking disqualification by the girls 4x400 relay team who would have won their race by over 10 seconds and in school record time.
The bulk of the events, including all field events, were held on Saturday, when thankfully the temperatures warmed up a bit. The first race of the day was the longest, like the day before, this time with Grace Gerlach('19) bringing home gold in the 2 mile and finishing in 11:51. Chris Anderson ('18) placed 5th with his 10:13 finish, a time 39 seconds faster than he ran last year in this meet. The two mile is not a standard distance for GHSA track meets, and both runners set school records.
Earning points towards the team score in field events, the girls team had Erin Greene('18) tie for 6th place in the pole vault by clearing 9'6", Michaela Prevallet ('20) cleared 4'6" in the high jump for 8th place, and sophomore Ryan Jackson earned the 1st place gold medal for her long jump of 17'5.5". For the boys, Connor McDaniel('19) placed 5th in the high jump, and tied his personal record, by clearing 5'10". While not placing with points, David Allan('19) set a new school record in the triple jump with a 14th place 35'25" jump, and besting his previous PR by over 6 inches.
The Lady Bears continued racking up points toward their second place finish in the afternoon with stellar performances by Ryan Jackson ('20) with a first place school record in the 200m at 25.28s, and a silver medal 12.32s finish in the 100m; Lexi Lay('20) finished fourth and set a school record in the 400m as her 1:00.91 finish broke the previous record set in 2015; Ashley Sechrest('20) and Lily Elston('18) both broke the previous 1 mile (and 1600m) record with times of 5:23 and 5:25, earning 4th and 5th place in a highly competitive race; Michaela Prevallet finished 4th in the 100m hurdles in a heat with a national record holder, besting her previous PR by over a second and finishing in 15.97s; 46.68s in the 300m hurdles earned Taya Jackson ('19) a school record and silver medal, followed by Michaela Prevallet in 4th with a 47.08 finish. The relay teams also had medal and point earning finishes. The girls 4x100 relay team of Ryan Jackson, Taya Jackson, Michaela Prevallet, and Lexi Lay finished in 3rd place with a 50.01 time. 3rd place and a bronze medal was also earned by the team of Isabel Suero('19), Lauren Harris('19), Kathryn Suplee ('21), and Liz Willis ('19) for the 4x800m with a time of 10:39. The sprint medley relay team of Quiniche Peets('19), Kelechi Nwakanma, Michaela Prevallet and Delaney Goodell finished in 6th place for 3 more points to finish out the day.
The boys had points scored in the afternoon by Jack Filan, with a bronze medal and school record 1 mile finish of 4:30; Garrick Kourany with a school record of 16.95s for sixth place in the 110m hurdles; and a 7th place finish by the 4x800 Relay team of Yahya Merchant('20), Deacon Law('20), Chris Manna('19), and Kyler Wilson('19) in 9:05.
The track and field team will host their next meet on Wednesday, March 7 against Kings Ridge, and then will travel on Saturday, March 10th to the Walton JV Relays.
