By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour eighth-grader Taylor Mills was a two-event winner on Saturday (April 29) in the 13-school Mount Zion junior high girls’ track and field invitational.
Mills was the dominant runner in both the 800- and 1,600-meter races, establishing personal-best times in each.
She was timed at 2 minutes, 38.37 seconds in the 800 and was 1.49 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
In the 1,600, she was clocked in 5:38.82 and won by 4.86 seconds. She led a 1-2 Bulldog finish in the 1,600. The runner-up was Anniston Huff (personal-best 5:43.68).
M-S also had a first-place relay.
The 400-meter grouping of Selma Tilton, Alyssa Gray, Evelyn Hillard and Erika Johnson finished in 55.56 seconds and had a 1.44-second margin of victory.
The Bulldog eighth-graders captured team honors, accumulating 92 ½ points. Runner-up Effingham totaled 80 points.
Mills and Huff were among the six Bulldog eighth-graders who achieved personal bests.
The others were: Jaci Kellenberger (third in the 800 meters in 2:43.93), Lily Carlson (fourth in the 200 meters in 29.19 seconds), Gray (fourth in the long jump at 14-10 ½) and Hannah Martin (fourth in the 400 meters in 1:06.38).
Five other Bulldog runners and five field event entries also ended with performances that placed them among the top 10 individuals.
Ayla Finfrock was the 200-meter runner-up (28.53 seconds), Johnson took third in the 100 meters (14.66), Emma Busch was seventh in the 400 meters (1:10.31), Tilton was eighth in the 100-meter hurdles (20.15 seconds) and Gray captured ninth in the 100 meters (14.98 seconds).
Martin posted two top finishes in field events. She ended third in the discus (63-9) and sixth in the high jump (4-2).
Carlson tied for fifth in the pole vault (6-6), Claire Waggoner tied for eighth in the pole vault (5-6) and Finfrock placed 10th in the long jump (13-3).
Two of the eighth-grade’s other relays finished among the top three.
In second place was the 1,600-meter grouping of Finfrock, Cora Ummel, Huff and Ava Watkins. Their time was 4:24.43.
The featured runners on the third-place 800-meter relay were Watkins, Carlson, Huff and Finfrock. Their combined time was 1:55.86.
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Mahomet-Seymour athletes swept the top two positions in the girls’ seventh-grade division of the pole vault in the Mount Zion Invitational.
Cecily Smith was the meet winner, clearing a personal-best 6 feet, 9 inches. Finley Smith was second (6-0).
The Bulldogs also had lofty finishes from their three relays.
Sharing the baton for the second-place 400-meter relay were Cora Howard, Abigail Rudicil, Sydney Bohannen and Madi Bain. Their time was 1:00.61.
The third-place 800-meter relay featured Sierra Tuttle, Norelle Eilts, Vanessa O’Herron and Annie Clements. They were timed in 2:04.98.
The 1,600-meter foursome also wound up in third place. The runners were Eilts, Paige Jansen, Cecily Smith and Clements. They crossed the finish line in 4:43.21.
Other Bulldog seventh-graders who registered personal-best marks were: Kennedy Ashby (fourth in the 1,600 meters in 6:05.67), Mackenzie Bonham (fifth in the discus at 65-4 ½ and seventh in the shot put at 22-4), Jansen (fifth in the 1,600 meters in 6:07.24), Clements (sixth in the 200 meters in 30.40), Cecily Smith (sixth in the 400 meters in 1:09.72) and Eilts (seventh in the 400 meters in 1:10.08).
Other top-10 placers for M-S were: Clements (seventh in the long jump at 13-3 ½), Phoebe Graham (eighth in the 800 meters in 2:57.68), O’Herron (ninth in the 200 meters in 3.53 seconds) and Rilynn Nelson (10th in the 100-meter hurdles in 21.70).
Among the sixth-graders who competed well at the seventh-grade level were Eilts, O’Herron and Nelson.
The Bulldogs’ seventh-grade squad placed fourth in the team standings with 48 points. The meet champion, with 142 points, was Mount Zion.
M-S will return to action on Saturday (May 6) at the Clinton Challenge, which will be the school’s final tune-up prior to the May 13 sectional at Mount Zion.
