|
But compete they did. The Lady Railers track squad endured five
hours of 27 mph winds and wind chills in the lower 40-degree range
Friday when they traveled to the suburban St. Louis area to compete
against 11 other excellent track programs in the Panther Relays at
Jersey Community High School. The field consisted of some excellent
track clubs, including the likes of O'Fallon, Cahokia, Alton,
Granite City and others. While the Lady Railers do not have a great
deal of depth, the girls on the squad gave it their all and competed
well in every event they entered.
The team's base of upperclassmen not only competed, they competed
well enough to garner LCHS 31 points and an eighth-place finish, in
spite of the fact that Lincoln has no girls to compete in several
events. The Lady Railers were able to accumulate their 31 points on
the basis of two second-place finishes, one fourth-place finish, two
additional fifth-place finishes and a sixth-place finish.
The revamped Railer 4-by-200-meter relay team took home one of
the second-place medals with a finishing time of 1:53.2. That relay
team consists of Kelsey Bunner, Hilary Hobler, Bridget Hyde and
Allissa Martin. Cahokia won the event in an amazing time of 1:48.5.
The Railers' other second-place medal was taken home by Hilary
Hobler in the long jump event. Hobler initially competed against
approximately 30 other athletes until the number was trimmed to the
nine finalists an hour later. The finals consisted of three
additional jumps with the wind howling over the long jump runway.
Hobler's final jump of 15 feet, 11 1/4 inches secured her
second-place victory, behind Litchfield's Jant and in front of long
jumpers from Cahokia and Granite City.
The fourth-place finish and one of the fifth-place finishes for
Lincoln came through the individual efforts of Hobler and Bunner.
This time the forum was the 100-meter dash. Hobler posted a time of
13.04 in the prelims to advance her to the finals. Teammate Kelsey
Bunner also advanced to the finals, with a prelim run time rounded
to 13.2. Both girls competed side by side in the finals of the 100
about an hour later, with Hobler taking fourth place in 13.06 and
Bunner close behind with a time of 13.16.
[to top of second column] |
The Railers accumulated additional points in the Panther relay,
when the same foursome that took second in the 4-by-200 relay also
brought home a fifth-place finish in the 4-by-100 in a windblown
time of 53.8. Bunner, Hobler, Hyde and Martin once again did their
speed work, against a very fast field, and pulled out the
fifth-place spot. Cahokia won the event with a time of 51.5
The Railers' final points of the cold evening came in the
300-meter hurdles, where Allissa Martin ran to a sixth-place finish
for her team.
The Lady Railers, hoping for some warmer conditions, will have
their next meet against an excellent 11-team field at the Chatham
Glenwood Co-ed Invitational on Friday.
GO, RAILERS!!
[By RICK
L. HOBLER]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
|
