While they didn’t score a lot of team points, the Milford track and field team competed hard and set 22 season bests and 17 personal bests. Two athletes set new marks on the top 10 lists, as well, Coach Cody Gregory said.
“What started off as a rainy day ended up being one of our better weather days this season for a track meet. It was a little on the chilly side for the sprinters and jumpers, but the rest of the meet showed some fantastic times,” he said.
He described the meet as a mini state preview and said it was good to see district foe Norris before the district meet.
“Our kids competed well, especially as the day went on,” Gregory said.
Abby Crabtree broke the school’s 400-meter dash record, which was set last season by Lilly Kenning at 1:01.08. Crabtree finished in 1:00.67 and was fourth in the race. She was behind defending state champion Alonna Depalma from Waverly and two others ranked in the 20 in Class B.
“Abby showed that she can hold her own against some really good competition,” Gregory said.
Connor Adams cracked the top 10 in the 400 with a time of 52.82 seconds.
Isaac Roth won the 300-meter hurdles with his best time of the season, finishing in 39.69 seconds.
“The 300 hurdles were stacked - six of the top eight in Class B ran, in addition to two more in the top 20,” Gregory said. “Isaac ran a phenomenal race, closing hard over the last two hurdles to secure the win. It was his best time of the season, breaking under 40, however, not quite as fast as his best last year.”
Roth was disqualified in the 110-meter hurdles after knocking a hurdle into a neighboring lane.
Avery Carter placed fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:32.67, a season best for him.
“Avery Carter really went after improving his school-record time in the 1600, coming up one second short,” Gregory said. “He ran his most competitive race of the year so far, challenging the leaders and taking the lead with 600 meters to go. He came up just a bit short this time, getting caught on the home stretch, but if he keeps running like he did, he will be able to finish much stronger in a couple of weeks.”
Zeb Reil had a good day for the Eagles, the coach said. He just missed a personal best in the long jump at 20-5.
Reil, Thomas Belleau, Roth and Aiden Henson teamed up for a 44.65 in the 4x100-relay, not far off the school record of 44.5 seconds, set in 1993.
Reil replaced Kaleb Meierdierks in the 4x400 relay because Meierdierks was sick. It was the first time his freshman season Reil ran a 400 in competition, and “he showed he was more than capable, running a 53 second split,” Gregory said.
The team (Adams, Reil, Carter and Roth) finished fourth in 3:33.1.
Gregory said, when Meierdierks is back, having another option for the relay who can run a sub-54 split will be good, “especially with Carter coming on the 1600, which is only a couple of events ahead of the relay.”
The Eagles will compete in the Southern Nebraska Conference meet Saturday, May 3, at Tri County.
