Mahomet-Seymour Girls Dominate Sprint Races to Claim Multiple Titles at Apollo Conference Track Meet
By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour dominated all of the sprint races on Thursday (May 2) in the six-school Apollo Conference girls’ track and field meet at Mattoon.
M-S runners won individual titles in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races as well as the 400-meter relay.
Sophomore Madalyn Marx took top honors in the 200 meters (25.52 seconds), beating teammate Lauren Burr to the finish line (25.90 seconds). Marx also was victorious in the 400 meters (57.23 seconds) with Burr placing third (personal-best 1:00.19).
Sharing the baton on the first-place 400-meter relay were Kara Carney, Burr, Evelyn Hillard and Marx. Their composite time was 50.44 seconds.
Hillard was the 100-meter conference titlist with a personal-best 13.07 seconds. Teammate Ayla Finfrock was ninth (14.02 seconds).
Junior Carney was the Bulldogs’ other individual champion. She outstepped the competition in the 300-meter hurdles (personal-best 46.70 seconds) with teammate Adelyn Boyd placing seventh (54.12 seconds).
In every individual running race, M-S had two of its entries secure top-10 finishes.
Ava Boyd made her outdoor season debut after returning from an injury and raced to a third-place finish in the 1600 meters (5:23.69) with teammate Chloe Bundren taking seventh (6:02.77).
In the 800 meters, Bulldogs Taylor Mills (personal-best 2:30.98) and Morgan Waisath (personal-best 2:31.16) ended fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the 3,200 meters, M-S sophomore Emily Anand was the only non-senior among the top four finishers. She wound up third with a personal-best 12:05.90. Teammate Jaci Kellenberger placed fifth (13:13.82).
Adelyn Boyd ended third in the 300-meter hurdles (personal-best 18.18 seconds) with teammate Selma Tilton running ninth (personal-best 19.72 seconds).
In the field events, Hannah Martin secured three top-10 finishes. She was seventh in the discus (72 feet, 6 inches), eighth in the high jump (4 feet, 3 inches) and eighth in the triple jump (personal-best 31 feet,9 inches).
Kendyl Petro finished third in the shot put (31 feet) and fourth in the discus (94 feet, 5 inches).
Burr earned a second-place finish in the long jump (16 feet, 1 inch) with teammate Alyssa Gray coming in eighth (14 feet, 5 inches).
In the pole vault, Kelsie Fuoss tied for second (10 feet, 3 inches) and M-S entry Delia Ann Stout was seventh (7 feet, 3 inches).
Three other Bulldog relays placed among the top three, including the runner-up 800-meter foursome of Carney, Anniston Huff, Hillard and Martin. They were timed in 1:46.75.
The 1,600-meter relay featured Cora Ummel, Katherine Simmons, Waisath and Emma Frazier. Their cumulative time was 4:14.51 and they ended in third place.
Running the 3,200-meter relay for M-S were Bundren, Frazier, Mills and Huff. They were third in 10:02.26.
Team honors were won by Mount Zion (165 points), followed by Effingham (112 points). M-S was third with 107 points.
M-S and Mount Zion both won five events. Effingham was first in four events, followed by Charleston (two events), Mattoon (one event) and Taylorville (one event).
The Bulldogs will return to action on Wednesday (May 8) in the 17-school Charleston Class 2A Sectional.
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M-S athletes won two events on Saturday (May 4) in the Apollo Conference freshman-sophomore meet at Taylorville.
Ayla Finfrock took top honors in the triple jump (30 feet, 8 inches) with teammate Jaci Kellenberger winding up fifth (29 feet).
The Bulldogs’ 3,200-meter relay was also victorious. The runners were Hannah Martin, Cora Ummel, Kellenberger and Katherine Simmons. Their final time was 10:48.22.
M-S had runner-up performances from its other three relays.
The 400-meter grouping of Selma Tilton, Ava Kersh, Alyssa Gray and Finfrock stopped the clock in 53.23 seconds.
Joining forces on the 800-meter relay unit were Kersh, Gray, Mollie Schifo and Finfrock. Their time was 1:56.13.
The 1,600-meter relay consisted of Ummel, Martin, Gray and Simmons. Their combined time was 4:25.35.
Tilton produced top-six showings in both the 100-meter hurdles (fifth in 20:00 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (sixth in a personal-best 55.98 seconds).
Rayna Reid was eighth in the 100 meters (16.24 seconds) and teammate Iris O’Malley was 10th in the 200 meters (32.97 seconds).
In the field events, Kylee Bell and Kyndl Zehr were the team leaders in the shot put and discus.
Bell ended third in the shot (personal-best 26 feet, 2 inches) and was eighth in the discus (52 feet, 2 inches).
Zehr was fourth in the shot (personal-best 26 feet, 1 inch) and seventh in the discus (57 feet, 1 inch).
Long jumpers Ava Kersh (fifth in a personal-best 14 feet, 3 inches) and Petra Milinkovic (seventh in 13 feet, 6 inches).
Delia Ann Stout took third in the pole vault (6 feet, 8 inches).
Winning the team title was Effingham (116 points), followed by Charleston (112 points). M-S was fifth with 67 points.