ELLINWOOD — The Ellsworth Bearcat track team competed and brought home many individual and team victories in their last regular season meet May 5. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams took third place overall.

A sunny, cool day with very little wind allowed for the best running conditions of the season and a chance for the team to compete at their best level.

The day began with the field events, where a few throwers and jumpers excelled.

Sophomore Madison Newell placed third in high jump with a jump of 4 feet, 8 inches. Junior Katelyn Soukup followed close behind with a jump of 4 feet, 6 inches.

Freshman Reagan Hansen dominated in her events for the day. She took first in shot put with a personal best throw of 33 feet, 11 ¼ inches and finished third in discus with a throw of 88 feet, 7 ¾ inches.

“(Reagan) is really competing well as a freshman thrower,” Head Coach Nick Rodriguez said.

The female throwers found an abundance of success in javelin. Junior Kylan Turnipseed placed second with a throw of 122 feet, 1 inch, junior Rylan Ohl took fifth with a throw of 91 feet, 7 ½ inches and sophomore Keeley Pflughoeft finished sixth with a throw of 90 feet, 2 inches.

Some of the girls did very well in individual running events as well.

In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Danica Hicks took fourth and sophomore MaLaney Brantley took fifth and sophomore Cadence Togersen finished sixth in the 200-meter dash. Freshman Kate Rathbun brought home two placings, finishing fifth in the one-mile and fourth in the two-mile.

Freshman Elyse Haxton and sophomore Jessa Schultz each competed and placed in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300meter hurdles. Haxton placed first in the 100 and second in the 300 and Schultz placed third in both races. Both runners met their season records.

The girls’ 4x100-meter relay placed third with a time of 54.3. Their 4x400-meter relay finished fourth with a time of 4:40.66.

The boys also competed well. Junior Jordan Rodriguez found a couple of placings in his field events. Rodriguez placed fourth in shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 3 inches and third in discus with a throw of 124 feet, 10 inches.

Junior Trenton Hays was also able to place in discus, taking sixth with a throw of 114 feet.

Sophomore Sumner Homolka finished sixth in javelin with a throw of 129 feet, 6 inches.

At the long jump pit, freshman Cooper McGowan jumped an impressive 18 feet, 10 ¾ inches to earn a second place finish.

In the triple jump, McGowan finished third with a 38 feet, 2 ¾ inch jump and junior Will Cravens finished second with a jump of 40 feet, 4 inches.

Along with a couple of season records, junior Riley Stone ended with four medals for the day. Stone placed second in the 100-meter dash, third in the 200-meter dash and first in both relays.

Also running the 100-meter dash was junior Loden West who took sixth. Sophomore Landin Johnson finished sixth in the 200-meter dash.

In the 400-meter dash, junior Josh Rodriguez placed fourth and junior Wyatt Pelzel placed fifth.

Sophomore Trenton Holmes finished sixth in both the oneand two-mile races. Senior Byron Johnson placed third in the two-mile.

The 4x100-meter relay team finished first with a time of 44.55. The 4x400-meter relay team took first as well with a time of 3:38.41.

With this being the last regular season meet, the team is looking on to the postseason and where they want to be at the end.

“We just have to come out and work hard on the hard days and understand on recovery days what that actually means,” Rodriguez said. “At this point in the season the key is to continue to work hard, get plenty of sleep, eat well and stay healthy.”

The Bearcat track team will compete at home in the NCAA league track meet today.

“At this point in the season the key is to continue to work hard, get plenty of sleep, eat well and stay healthy. ”

Nick Rodriguez Head Coach