Buckeye girls edge Westlake 66-64 behind relay wins and balanced field performances

Buckeye’s girls track and field team left Westlake with a narrow team victory Wednesday, holding off the hosts 66-64 in a meet decided by depth across the track and in the field. The Bucks got key first-place finishes from both relay teams, strong hurdle work from Blakely Herman and wins in several field events to secure the result at Westlake.

The relay events helped set the tone. Buckeye’s 4x800 team of Maycie Bodak, Lily Regiec, Ruby Joy and Hayleigh Kreeger won in 11:51.43, while the 4x100 group of Kylee Kash, Avery Lewandowski, Emma Bostic and Ellen Steppenbacker also took first in 53.49. In the open sprints, Kash finished second in the 100-meter dash in 13.02 and Grace Pronik followed in third at 13.12, adding important team points in a meet that stayed tight throughout.

Herman turned in one of Buckeye’s top individual performances, sweeping the hurdles with a win in the 100 hurdles in 16.01 and another first-place finish in the 300 hurdles in 50.53. Kaylee Limbert added a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles at 17.23, then came back for third in the 300 hurdles in 54.59. Erin Salazar gave the Bucks another boost in the 300 hurdles with a runner-up finish in 54.22, giving Buckeye a major advantage in that event.

Buckeye also found points in the distance races. Kreeger placed second in the 1600 in 6:01.47, Sophia Regiec was third in the 800 in 2:35.49 and Shelby Skilskyj won the 3200 in 15:06.93. Those finishes, combined with the 4x800 victory, helped the Bucks maintain enough scoring balance to stay in front by the end of the meet.

The field events were just as important to the final margin. Kerrigan Graves won the shot put with a throw of 29 feet, 4 inches. Maddie Gillin cleared 4-8 to win the high jump, with Julia King second at 4-4 and Herman third at 4-2. In the long jump, Emma Bostic took first at 15-11.5, Erin Salazar was second at 14-4.25 and Hailey McDaniel finished third at 13-8. Buckeye also went one-two in the pole vault, where Ellen Steppenbacker won at 10-6 and Leah Bengough was second at 9-6.

That collection of event wins and places was enough for Buckeye to escape with the 66-64 team victory over Westlake. In a meet decided by two points, the Bucks’ ability to score in relays, hurdles, distance races and multiple field events made the difference.