Nevada Middle School track shows strong performance in season's first meet

The Nevada Middle School track team participated in their first meet of the 2009 season as they hosted the 11th annual Nevada Middle School Invitational April 16.

All four divisions fared very well at the meet as the seventh grade girls placed third, the seventh grade boys and eighth grade girls placed second and the eighth grade boys placed fourth of the nine teams in attendance.

The seventh grade girls posted top six finishes in 14 events on the day, including top five finishes in the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays. Among the individuals placing in the top six for Nevada were Brittney Radspinner-fifth in shot put, Nikiya Feezell-fifth in high jump and first in pole vault and Megan Mason-second in long jump and sixth in the 200-meter dash.

Kelsey McCall took sixth in long jump, Kyla Guss-fifth in triple jump, Chanel Botha-second in the 100-meter dash, Sandra Bammer-sixth in the 1,600-meter run, Taylor Nitchell-sixth in the 400-meter dash and Elizabeth Nowak-third in the 200-meter dash.

The seventh grade boys were able to give a similarly strong performance as they put up top six finishes in 16 events, including top three placements in the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays. Among their top six finishers were Grant Wolfe-first in high jump, Brett Norton-first in pole vault, Lane Ketterman-first in long jump, Alex Payne-second in long jump and first in the 400-meter dash, Conner Harbit-fifth in triple jump and fourth in the 1,600-meter run and Nick Geeding-fourth in 100-meter hurdles.

Wyatt Smith finished sixth in the 100-meter dash, Corbin Gunter-sixth in the 400-meter dash, Anthony Franco-third in the 800-meter run, Bryant McKinley-fifth in the 200-meter dash and Josh McDowell-sixth in the 200-meter dash.

The eighth grade girls had the strongest performance of the day for Nevada as they were able to post top six finishes in 21 events, including top three finishes in the 400-, 800- and 1600-meter relays. In individual events, the girls picked up top six finishes from Bailey Jones-fourth in discus, Ashely Shumaker-first in high jump and fourth in the 200-meter dash, Marissa Heard-fourth in high jump and second in the 100-meter dash, Melissa Mosbrucker-first in pole vault, Jessica Nettie-fifth in pole vault and Tori Dahmer-second in long jump. Victoria Culbertson took sixth in long jump, Beth Dreyer-second in triple jump, Christian Novak-fourth in triple jump and fifth in the 800-meter run, Sharla Quick-first in the 75-meter hurdles, Caitlin Johnson-third in the 75-meter hurdles and the 200-meter dash, Lauren Baker-fifth in the 100-meter dash, McKenzie Pritchett-third in the 400-meter dash, Chelsea Johnson-third in the 200-meter dash and Kendra Mellenbruch-fourth in the 400-meter dash.

The eighth grade boys posted top six finishes in 14 events, including top four finishes in the 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meter relays. Among their top six finishers were Jamin Brandt-first in discus, Sam Ellifrits-third in discus, Nick Conner-sixth in shot put, Tyler Whitworth- fourth in high jump, Morgan Hold-sixth in high jump and fifth in the 800-meter run, Dalton Hendren- second in triple jump, fourth in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash, Grant Elder-sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and Andrew Schmidt-fourth in the 400-meter dash.