Trojan tracksters take home title
Sports reporter
There's something about the track invitationals named after people for the Hillsboro High School boys' track and field team.
A week after capturing the title at Halstead's Conrad Nightengale Invitational, the team took home another crown Friday at their own meet, the James Thomas Invitational.
The girls' team was seventh.
Head coach Dennis Boldt is giving the credit to his field event athletes who are starting to catch up with the ultra-talented runners on the squad.
The Trojans brought home four medals, three from David Loewen in field events, to score a meet-high 121 points.
"The guys are really having fun," Boldt said, "and of course the more guys who contribute points, the stronger our team becomes."
Along with Loewen's medals in the shot put, discus, and javelin, Ben Bebermeyer brought home a third-place medal in the triple jump.
But it was a senior sprinter who once against shined on the track.
Jacob Yoder won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.30 seconds, and was third in the 200m dash with a time of 23.18.
Teammate Ishmael Morris edged him out in the 200 prelims by .32 seconds, but Yoder came back in the final to win.
Morris finished fourth in the 200 and second in the 400.
Trojan Nathan Vogel was the only one to beat Morris in the 400, finishing with a time of 51.87 seconds.
Morris came in at 52.02.
Cody McMillen did his best to be top Trojan on the day, taking first in the 1600 and 3200m races.
Nicholas Mueller was third in the 1600, and Grant Schneider placed in both of the boys' hurdle events.
The 4x400 and 4x800m relay teams took home first-place medals as well.
The girls' squad didn't win the meet, but showed some fight, scoring 38 points.
Dakota Kaufman continued her consistency at each meet, taking first in the triple and long jumps.
Tiffany Rooker also earned a first-place finish in the pole vault, and Chelsea Bebermeyer was third in the discus, and fifth in the shot put, accounting for all of team's points.
"It was good to see these young ladies win their events in front of our home crowd," Boldt said.
Only the Hesston Invitational Thursday remains until the Mid-Central Activities Association meet May 9 at Smoky Valley.
See full results above.
