TROY – With the first meet of the season in the books, the Fremont Ross track and field teams have plenty of cause to be excited about their prospects for the season.
But while the season started off on the right foot, the trick is to build upon the sturdy foundation they’ve laid.
Bryce McKinstry
“I told the kids, you’ve had a great meet but in two or three weeks, no one is going to remember,” said boys head coach John Elder. “You either build on it (or you don’t).”
The boys team finished first in the 16-team Troy Up and Running Invitational, totaling 84 points, 17 points head of second-place Butler. The Lady Giants meanwhile used three placing performances from Marissa Overmyer (second), Cal Cahill (fourth) and Emma Jahns (fifth) in the discus to snatch second-place away from Chaminade Julienne by just a point-and-a-half.
“Chaminade Julienne, which is a Division 2 Catholic school, and is really good in the sprints and so on, they were like 15 points ahead of us, they didn’t have anybody in the discus that was going to score so they figured they were second and they took the second-place plaque and went home,” Elder said. “We scored 17 points in the discus and beat them, so they have the second-place trophy and we need to get that from them. That was great. It was wonderful.”
The Lady Giants totaled five second-place finishes with McKela Elder posting a first-place finish in the 1600 run.
Jason Burling
The boys team garnered a pair of first-place victories from Bryce McKinstry in the high jump and the 400, where he was joined by a pair of Little Giant teammates as Ivan Starkweather placed second and Jonathan Martin placed sixth.
Jason Burling won the discus for the Little Giants while also grabbing third in the shot put.
“All the champions we had, and all the second-place fishers that we had, really did an outstanding job,” Elder said. “Bryce, McKela Elder in the mile, Jason Burling in the shot put, Zach Edmonds in the mile, AnneMarie (Moses) of course, Emma Jahns, all those kids had outstanding meets.
Elder also noted the performances of freshmen Martin and Briana Morrisette, who each scored a pair of top-10 finishes.
“You never know, going from middle to high school is a big jump and freshman to senior is a huge physical difference in a lot of cases, so for freshmen to score, is a great start and gives us something to build on.”
McKela Elder
The Ross track and field teams are off until April 2 when they travel to Vermillion.
Troy Up and Running Invitational
GIRLS
Team Results: Fremont Ross finished second out of 16 teams with 80 points, behind first-place Troy (133.5) and ahead of third-place Chaminade Julienne (78.5).
Top 10 finishes
100 Hurdles: Makenna Englund, 10th, 19.10
100 Dash: Briana Morrisette, 3rd, 13.20; Jazelle Lindsey, 10th, 13.87
1600 Run: McKela Elder, 1st, 5:27.06
400 Dash: Ashanti Elkins, 10th, 1:06.48
300 Hurdles: Makenna Englund, 10th, 56.90
800 Run: McKela Elder, 2nd, 2:28.67
200 Dash: Briana Morisette, 8th, 27.77
3200 Run: Grace Egbert, 8th, 14.38
Long Jump: Jazelle Lindsey, 6th, 14-09.25
High Jump: Sarah Watson, 2nd, 5-00.00; Olivia DeRodes, 4th, 4-09.00
Shot Put: Emma Jahns, 2nd, 34-07.75; Marissa Overmyer, 6th, 31-01.25
Discus: Marissa Overmyer, 2nd, 99-06.99; Cal Cahill, 4th, 88-0.00; Emma Jahns, 5th, 85-3.00
Pole Vault: AnneMarie Moses, 2nd, 11-00.00; Allison Taylor, 6th, 8-00.00
BOYS
Team Results: Fremont Ross finished first out of 16 teams with 84 points, with Butler finishing second with 67.
Top 10 finishes
110 Hurdles: Andrew Born, 6th, 18.61
1600 Run: Zach Edmonds, 2nd, 4:42.76
400 Dash: Bryce McKinstry, 1st, 51.47; Ivan Starkweather, 2nd, 52.63; 6 Jonathan Martin, 6th, 54.17
800 Run: Jayden Scott, 2nd, 2:08.44
200 Dash: Ivan Starkweather, 8th, 24.14; Jonathan Martin, 9th, 24.42
3200 Run: Ethan McClory, 3rd, 10:21.64
High Jump: Bryce McKinstry, 1st, 6-01.00
Shot Put: Jason Burling, 3rd, 45-08.75; Dontrez Brown, 6th, 43-05.00; Mike Thomas, 7th, 43-03.25
Discus: Jason Burling, 1st, 148-3.00; Ethan Green, 8th, 130-01.00
Pole Vault: Keaton Jordan, 4th, 11-06.00