The Clinton Lady Maroons Track and Field Team kept busy this past Easter weekend, competing in two invitational meets and proving they can keep up with the competition. Friday morning, the Maroons were at Shelbyville for a 19 team meet. Highlights of the meet included Ally Lawson in the high jump, jumping her season best again of 4’10”, and placing 3^rd overall. Says Coach Leann Sosamon of her athlete, “I am proud of Ally, she consistently scores points for us in the high jump and is a very coachable jumper. We lean on her a lot in the field events”. Joining Lawson for the 4x100m relay were Erin West, Jade Thomas, and Becca Anderson running a time of 52.34 and placing 2^nd in the event. The 4x200m relay of West, Anderson, Amber Miller, and Morgan Witzke was able to place 3^rd with a time of 1:52.01, and the 4x400m relay took 3^rd as well with a time of 4:19 consisting of Miller, Thomas, Witzke, and Anderson. Coach Rachel Lyons says of the relay times, “These times are the fastest times we ever ran in these events last year, so we are very happy with obtaining them this early in the season!”.

The Next morning the younger Maroons were able to compete in a Freshman/Sophomore meet hosted by Prairie Central. There is no “JV team” in track and field, so it’s always nice to see how the developing classes are stacking up. Winning events were Becca Anderson in the 100m dash with a time of 13.2 with teammate Brittany Price placing 6^th with a 14.1. Morgan Witzke ran for a 1^st place finish in the 200m clocking in at 28.4 with Price not far behind in 5^th place at 29.7. The Clinton 4x200m relay consisting of Price, Whitney Ferguson, Holly Brown, and Ally Green also took first place with a time of 1:59.3. Freshman Shi Smith earned a 2^nd place ribbon with her long jump of 13’8”, and was able to place 4^th with a time of 57.33 in the 300m hurdles, running for the first time ever! Sophomore, Hannah Miles, dropped 8 seconds in her 3200m run to place 2^nd at 13:38.4, and scored another personal best in the triple jump with 24’8.5”. Distance buddy and freshman, Raeann Huffman, ran a lifetime personal best in the 800m getting 3^rd with a 2:44.9. Coach Dan Andrews has a lot of positive things to say about his distance crew and hurdle girls, “Raeann Huffman and Hannah Miles have stepped up this season as underclassmen willing to perform at a high level and have consistently improved all season long with the distance runners. We are still waiting for Alivia Powers and Mykenzie Witzke to return to full strength from injuries and trying to sort out relays and individual events to maximize performances. Alex Hunt and Megan Creager are putting in solid efforts in the hurdle events with freshmen Sarah Gehres and Shianne Smith and Junior Madison McClurg just now really learning how to hurdle and distribute energy in the hurdle races properly while attacking the hurdles. I really expect to see great improvement from these four athletes as the season progresses. Hungry freshmen and dedicated upperclassmen is usually a recipe for success at the team and personal levels”. In the throwing events Tara Coopenbarger and Jessica Riva led the way in the discus throwing their best throws of the year at 60’3”, and 59.95” respectively. With a lot of youth and seasoned throwers in the mix, there is a lot to be excited about in the throws! Says Andrews, “We have had a very solid improvement all year long from all our throwers this season. Megan Creager and Alexis Obermeyer leading the way and scoring in meets for us at Shot Put with Hannah Riva and Shianne Smith leading our discus throwers. Right now we are trying to develop our younger throwers for the long term as they have shown the capacity to break 28 feet in the shot put and 90 feet in the discus. At the fresh/soph meet this weekend our discus throwers threw 60 feet and for their second meet of the season surpassing their previous personal records.”

The Maroons have a busy week competing at Olympia on Tuesday the 10^th, and the Unity Invite Friday the 13^th, then they are back at home on Monday the 16^th. Come out and support your running, jumping, and throwing Maroons!