Girls Track & Field Take 3rd at CWC Championships!

The Bay High School Rockets Girls Track and Field team took 3rd place at the Cleveland West Conference Championships, enjoying several standout performances along the way. Over the course of two days, the girls performed admirably, starting in the Wednesday field events, as senior Sophie Gadd - during her final home event! - achieved a personal best in the High Jump to start the scoring for the team. At the other end of the stadium, in the throws, junior Riley Mitchell earned the teams' first trip to the top of the podium, taking first place in the Shot Put to be named CWC Champion in the event. The junior co-captain was not alone, though, for joining her on the podium was teammate Chloe Pyros, who enjoyed a new PR to take 3rd in the event. Meanwhile, on the track, seven of the 10 girls participating in prelims qualified to Friday's finals, setting the team up for a fantastic Friday finish. For Friday's finals, it was once again the field event athletes that started the scoring for the team, and once again Riley stepped up big, taking 4th place with a new personal best in the Discus. Alongside, senior Maddie Knaack capped her home career with a 6th place finish, helping the throws group gather an impressive 24 out of a possible 40 points during the Championship. On the track, sophomore's Annie Willmitch and Birdie Krueger took 3rd and 8th in the 100m Dash to continue the scoring for the team. Annie then put forth an impressive double, as she, fellow sophomore Jaiden Latimer-Smith, and freshmen Ruby Render and Alex Linsenmeyer, set a season PR to be crowned CWC champions in the 4x200m Relay. Minutes later, the crew of Jaiden, Alex, and Annie were joined by sophomore Mckenna Adkins in the 4x100m relay, and despite a close race, stood atop the podium once again with another relay championship! Thus, thanks to these early results, the girls were in reaching distance of a top three team finish. Indeed, in an effort to put the team in the best possible competitive position to achieve a top team finish, many athletes were asked to compete in multiple events, essentially sacrificing their personal times in order to score maximum team points. Freshman Ruby Render did so with aplomb, running four events and scoring in each despite her exhausting day, taking 5th in the 400, 7th in the 200, and leading off the 4th place 4x400m Relay team. Annie did the same, capping her day with a 2nd place 200m Dash finish, meaning she took part in helping to score over 30 points for the team! Meanwhile, Birdie, asked to focus on the 400m, did so fantastically, setting a new personal best in the event, taking 4th in both the open event and the 4x400m relay. Not to be outdone, Mckenna, running her first ever 400m, put the 4x400m Relay team in prime position - despite competing in the 300m Hurdles earlier (and taking 5th with a season best) - thanks to a fantastic second-leg split while veteran 400m participant Evin Mason set a new personal best in making sure the team finished the event strong. A key group that played an important role in the team's overall finish were the distance team of sophomore Addisen Patrick and senior' Hannah Starnes, Erin Belveal, Kiera Jansen, and Brooklyn Marriot. In the 1600m Run, Brooklyn scored valuable points with her 7th place finish while in the 3200m Run, Erin earned All-CWC honors with a fantastic race. Meanwhile, first-year runner Anne Weber finished close behind, taking 3rd to help the distance team earn 14 points in the penultimate event of the day. With the final competitions complete, the girls finished the meet tied for 3rd place, improving one spot and 2.5 points over the previous season, a fitting finish for a group that had worked so hard all season long. Congratulations to the entire team - and especially our seniors! - on a fantastic championship week! Looking ahead, the Rockets are set to compete in the District Championships on May 21st and 23rd in Avon.