Bay Girls Track & Field Takes 2nd at Districts!
Thanks to some fantastic postseason performances both on the track and on the field, the Bay Girls Track & Field team finished 2nd at the District Championships in Amherst, Ohio.
On Wednesday, day one, the scoring started much like last week’s conference winning prelims, and like she’s done the entire season, senior Riley Mitchell started said scoring for the team, punching her first ever ticket to Regionals thanks to a clutch final throw that led to a 4th place performance. Following her lead, the 4x800 team of senior Anne Weber and freshmen Kai Ripley, Chloe Vincent, and Maya Gonzalez ran a season-best time to take 3rd overall. As a result, both Riley and the distance tag-team earned Regional qualifying spots thanks to their performance.
Day two would see several outstanding finishes, in large part thanks to some fantastic prelim performances on Wednesday. First, though, the field events would boost the team like they had done all season long. In the Discus, junior Susie Hargett took 6th, setting four - four! - PR’s in four consecutive throws! Meanwhile, sophomore standout Ruby Render not only made the finals, but took 6th overall with a performance in the Long Jump just shy of her PR set just the week prior. A major highlight, however, was no doubt sophomore Gigi Waters, who not only set a new PR by 6”, but finished 4th - and thus qualified for Regionals! - in the Pole Vault, her first ever trip to the second round of the track and field postseason.
On the track, junior Annie Willmitch continued what may be one of the top sprint seasons in school history. Not only did she compete in three events, but she took 3rd and 4th, respectively, in both the 100m and 200m, while also anchoring the 4x200m Relay team to a 3rd place finish as well. In the end, it all meant that one of the top sprinters in BHS history qualified to Regionals in each and every event she competed in at Districts. She, however, was not alone, and the junior trio of Birdie Krueger, McKenna Adkins, and Ruby played huge roles in helping the crew move on to Regional competition. Indeed, McKenna would go on to set a new PR in the 300 Hurdles, breaking the 50 second mark with a 49.76 6th place finish!
In the distance events, senior Anne Weber enjoyed a personal best in the 1600 while freshman Chloe Vincent did the same in the 800. Their teammate, freshman Maya Gonzalez, would run a tough race in the 1600 to take 1st overall and then come back a short time later to do the same in the 800. In the end, not only did Maya qualify for Regionals in both events, but she also broke a nearly 40 year old record in the 800 (by over a second!)!
As a result of so many individual finishes, the girls earned the District runner-up trophy and celebrated as one does while in Amherst - with a trip to Hot Dog Heaven!
Congratulations to all the girls who competed this week and good luck next week at Regionals and be sure to check out pictures of the event here, a recap of day one here, and a recap of day two here (there may be a play for some of these links) while full results may be found here.
The meet was held under a clear sky with no reported wind, creating favorable spring conditions for competition across the schedule. Bay’s athletes represented the program at one of the area’s established meets, though specific finishes, times and distances were not included in the information provided.
If fuller event results become available, Bay’s individual and relay performances can be detailed more completely. For now, the Rockets’ trip to Amherst stands as a Saturday appearance at the 70th Annual Comet Relays.
