NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊManchester and NorthWood kicked off the outdoor track season Thursday evening in North Manchester with the Panthers coming out on top 105-26.

NorthWood jumpstarted the meet with the 3,200-meter relay team of Jason Meyers, Andy Rummel, Eric Shepherd and Brad Greenlee taking top honors.

NorthWood continued to come out on top throughout the meet as the Panthers took first place in 14 of 16 events.

Greg Groombridge and David Bazzoni were the two first-place finishers for the Squires as Groombridge tossed the discus 139-6 and Bazzoni completed a 5-foot-10 high jump. Groombridge also placed second in the shot put behind NorthWood's Joe Abel, while Bazzoni placed second behind Bill Mitschelen in the pole vault.

The meet was the NorthWood show on the track as NorthWood won every running event and swept the 400, 800 and 1,600 runs.

Greenlee won the 800 with a time of 2:14 and was followed by teammates Aaron Hoover, who placed second. Greenlee also led the first-place 1,600 relay team with Ryan Yoder, Andy Yoder and Jason Brenneman, who also won the 400.

Hoover also took top honors in the 1,600 and 3,200 races.

Jon Cook placed first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.8 seconds and in the long jump with a leap of 20-5. He was also part of the first-place 400 relay team.

NorthWood also brought home first-place honors in the 100 hurdles, 100 and 200.

"Our spring break starts today, so with the distractions and the trip down here, I think our team performed very well," said NorthWood coach Mark Bemiller. "Everyone performed well. Our seniors showed leader ship on the track and helped the team come out with a good performance."

"I think our kids did a good job tonight. They ran hard," said Manchester coach Ned Bowman. "It's our first meet, and we're probably about where I expected them to be. We competed against a good NorthWood team tonight.

"Basically, this was a good meet to show the kids where they are right now and where we would like them to be in the future."

NorthWood 105, Manchester 26

110 Hurdles -Ê1. Traub (N) 15:07, 2. Cook (N), 3. Gaerte (M)

100 M - 1. Braun (N) 11.4, 2. Hendrix (M), 3. Sherer (N)

1,600 M Run -Ê1. Hoover (N), 2. Hizard (N), 3. Myers (N)

400 M Relay -Ê1. NorthWood (Scherer, Cook, Shafer, Braun), 45.3

300 Hurdles -Ê1. Cook (N) 40.8, 2. Traub (N), 3. Gaerte (M)

800 M Run -Ê1. Greenlee (N) 2:14, 2. Hoover (N), 3. Hizard (N)

200 M -Ê1. Shafer (N) 23.6, 2. Braun (N), 3. Barrett (M)

3,200 M Run -Ê1. Hoover (N) 10:47, 2. Myers (N), 3. Riccus (M)

Long Jump - 1. Cook (N) 20-5, 2. Bechtold (M), 3. Scherer (N)

High Jump -Ê1. Bazzoni (M) 5-10, 2. Nunemaker (N), 3. Bechtold (M)

Shot Put -Ê1. Abel (N) 44-10 1/2, 2. Groombridge (M), 3. Mitchelen (N)

Discus -Ê1. Groombridge (M) 139-6, 2. Mitschelen (N), 3. Greenwalt (N)

3,200 M Relay -Ê1. NorthWood (Meyers, Rummel, Shepherd, Greenlee) 9:14

400 M -Ê1. Brenneman (N) 52.9, 2. A. Yoder (N), 3. B. Yoder (N)

Pole Vault -Ê1. Mitschelen (N) 13-0, 2. Bazzoni (M)

1,600 M Relay -Ê1. NorthWood (Greenlee, Yoder, Yoder, Brennan) 3:49, 2. Manchester [[In-content Ad]]