Teams compete at historically difficult Smoky Valley meet

LINDSBORG — The Smoky Valley High School track meet is historically a difficult one for the Bearcat track team, but the athletes overcame challenges to compete on April 12 at the Bethany College stadium in Lindsborg.

“Friday did not go as well as we wanted,” Head Coach Nick Rodriguez said. “We had some injuries creep up on a couple kids early in the meet, so we pulled them out for the rest of the meet.

“Reflecting back on the week, our throwers really had a solid week. Been saying for a while that our depth of the current team is the throwers. We have a solid mix of veteran throwers mixed in with some younger kids. They have been very consistent so far, and (we) look for continued improvement from them as a group.”

In the discus, sophomore Reagan Hansen threw 106 feet, 4 inches for second place.

Freshman Sophie Homolka threw 102 feet, 5 inches in the javelin for fourth place.

For the boys, junior Tiernan George placed fifth in the javelin with his throw of 140 feet, 0 inches.

The boys’ and girls’ throwers also contributed to team points by their performance in the rumble relay, where four throwers ran a 4x100 relay. Both teams finished third. The girls’ team consisted of freshman Jane Magie, junior Keeley Pflueghoeft, Hansen and Homolka. The boys’ team consisted of sophomore Cameron Gardner, juniors Vincent Stambaugh and Sumner Homolka and George.

Distance runner Molly Ehrlich had a strong finish in the 2-mile with a time of 12:35.95, ending the competitive race with fourth place.

“On the track, we just need to get ourselves healthy and continue to make progress,” Rodriguez said.

The team will compete again at Sterling April 19.

Girls’ results — team placing 10th 3,200m run — Molly Ehrlich, fourth, 12:35.95 4x100m throwers’ rumble relay —Jane Magie, Keeley Pflughoeft, Reagan Hansen, Sophie Homolka, third Discus — Reagan Hansen, second, 106 feet, 4 inches Javelin — Sophie Homolka, fourth, 102 feet, 5 inches

Boys’ results — team placing ninth 4x100m throwers’ rumble relay — Cameron Gardner, Vincent Stambaugh, Sumner Homolka, Tiernan George, third Javelin — Tiernan George, fifth, 140 feet, 0 inches

“... our throwers really had a solid week. We have a solid mix of veteran throwers mixed in with some younger kids.”

Nick Rodriguez Head Track Coach