ALTOONA-MIDWAY MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK
BUFFALO – The Altoona-Midway Middle School track team was hyped up to host its own invitational track meet here Monday afternoon, but Mother Nature had other plans.
Rain and lightning curtailed the track meet midway in the competition, preventing many of the events from being completed.
“Although threatening weather cancelled the last couple hours of the meet, there were still a lot of great performances by our athletes,” noted AMMS head coach Chary Weilert. “In fact, many of our students were able to set new PRs (personal records).”
Weilert added that many of the Jets competed in the upper division of the meet.
“Most of our middle school tracksters competed in the ‘A Division.’ That means that almost all of our sixth and seventh graders were competing against eighth graders,” Weilert said. “I was very proud of the kids who competed prior to the meet getting cancelled.”
Altoona-Midway had five athletes place in the Top Six of their respective events, including four in the ‘A’ Division.
The best finish for a Jet was turned in by eighth grader Taj O’Connor, who took second place in the Division A shot put with a throw of 34-6.
A pair of fourth place finishes in Division A were recorded by Peyton Drake (4-0 in the high jump) and Chance Mustain (mile run with a PR of 6:23).
Two other Jets also recorded PRs while earning fifth-place medals: Chance Carter (69-11.5 in Division A discus) and Zach Good (11-3.5 in Division B long jump).
A multitude of AMMS athletes recorded PRs despite not placing in the top six of their events. Those personal bests included:
100 Meters – Bella Douglas (16.08), Caleb Kuhn (16.17), Zach Good (16.46), Caden Sicka (18.95), Ashlynn Sicka (19.69).
Shot Put – Ashlynn Sicka (15-4), Caden Sicka (19-10.25), Jasa Pankanskie (22-11.5), Hadlee Pupanek (27-2.25).
High Jump – Taj O’Connor (4-2).
Long Jump – Emily Burch (8-1.25)
Discus – Sandra Morales (59-9.5), Katherine Tindle (35-1.5), Emily Burch (18-2.5).
400 Meters – Katherine Tindle (1:44.33), Ashlynn Sicka (1:46.27).
“I'm excited to see so many PRs being recorded. I always tell the kids that our goal is to improve – so as long as they are improving, we're doing good,” Weilert said.
“The meet tonight was difficult because I put most of our kids in the A Division,” she noted. “Although it was going to be tougher for our students to place in the top six, it also meant that we were able to run sixth, seventh, and eightth graders together to establish some relay teams. We were all set to have a 4x100 relay, two 4x200 relays, and one Medley Relay. Unfortunately, lightning and the threat of severe weather meant an early end to the track meet, so only one relay team was able to compete.”
Next action for the AMMS team will be Tuesday, April 18 at the Yates Center Invitational. The meet is slated to begin at 3 p.m.