Manchester Girls Win Track Meet

NORTH MANCHESTER - The U.S. Post Office delivers the mail through rain, snow or dark of night. Tuesday the Manchester, Whitko and Northfield boys and girls track teams endured rain and cold along with dark, cloudy conditions to participate in a meet.

In the end, Northfield won the boys competition with Manchester coming in second and Whitko rounding out the third place finishers. Manchester took top honors on the girls side with Whitko placing second and Northfield placing third.

"Although the conditions were terrible to compete in, a good effort was put forth by all the teams," said Manchester boys coach Ned Bowman.

In the boys competition, Manchester recorded nine first-place finishes, with Rex Reimer earning two individual awards in the long jump and the 100 as well as one team ribbon in the 400 relay. David Barrett, Michael Hendrix and Josh Peden made up the other three-quarters of the 400 relay team.

Barrett also placed first in the 200 and teamed up with Hendrix, Annon Gaerte and Trent Penrod to earn a first-place finish in the 1,600 relay.

Gaerte earned two individual first-place ribbons for the Squires in the 110 high hurdles and the 300 hurdles. Other Squires earning first place were Greg Groombridge (discus) and David Bazzoni (high jump).

"I think our guys did very well," said Bowman. "They all gave 100 percent under the conditions."

Whitko's lone first place finish came from Ben Mohr, who came out on top in the 400 meter dash.

"Even given the conditions, we were not at our best," said Whitko boys coach Ron Cherry. "We had too many kids concerned with the weather than the competition."

The Manchester girls overcame the weather to place first in nine of 15 events to win the competition over Whitko and Northfield.

Adaku Oneyji led the Squires by placing first in the 100- and 200 -meter races while anchoring the first-place 1,600 and 400 relay teams.

Ann Harms also won four events for the Manchester squad. Harms placed first in the 100 high hurdles, the 300 hurdles and the long jump while anchoring the 400 relay team.

Muriel Speicher was the other Manchester first-place winner, taking top honors in the 400 meter race.

Whitko earned three first-place finishes in the meet as Karin Tinkel won the shot put and the discus competitions. Cara Badksey placed first in the high jump to round out the top Wildcat finishers.

"I think our girls gave a gutsy performance given the conditions," said Whitko girls coach Jennifer Frieden. "We had personal records for Bunny Puckett and Karin Tinkel. The girls did very well in the conditions."

BOYS: Northfield 67, Manchester 62, Whitko 37

Long Jump -Ê1. Reimer (M) 20-7 1/2, 2. Brainard (N), 3. Bechtold (M), 4. Egglinger (N)

3,200 Relay -Ê1. Northfield 8:51.83, 2. Whitko

Discus - 1. Groombridge (M) 144-7, 2. Biehl (N), 3. Bradford (W), 4. Martin (N)

110 High Hurdles - 1. Gaerte (M) 16.4, 2. Zimmerman, 3. Slater (W)

100 M -Ê1. Reimer (M) 11.6, 2. Hendrix (M), 3. Brainard (N), 4. Mathias (W)

1,600 M -Ê1. Parks (N) 4:45.31, 2. Cordes (N), 3. Walker (N), 4. Haupert (N)

400 Relay -Ê1. Manchester (Barrett, Hendrix, Peden, Reimer) 46.47, 2. Whitko

400 M -Ê1. Mohr (W) 55.84, 2. Penrod (M), 3. Stoffel (W), 4. Neal (N)

Shot Put -Ê1. Martin (N) 40-11, 2. Biehl (N), 3. Groombridge (M), 4. Sprunger (W)

300 Hurdles -Ê1. Gaerte (M) 43.94, 2. Zimmerman (W), 3. Slater (W), 4. Whiteman (M)

800 M -Ê1. Andrews (N) 2:06.91, 2. Kerr (M), 3. Moncrief (W), 4. Marante

Pole Vault - 1. Zimmerman (N) 9-6, 2. Keel (W), 3. Neale (N), 4. Marante (N)

200 M -Ê1. Barrett (M) 25.59, 2. Neale (N), 3. Gonzalez (W), 4. Sincroft (M)

High Jump -Ê1. Bazzoni (M) 5-8, 2. Mohr (W), 3. Brainard (N), 4. MacFarlane (M)

3200 M -Ê1. Parks (N) 11:03.3, 2. Andrews (N), 3. Walker (N), 4. Riccius (M)

1,600 Relay -Ê1. Manchester (Barrett, Gaerte, Hendrix, Penrod) 3:54.63, 2. Whitko

GIRLS: Manchester 64, Whitko 47, Northfield 45

Shot Put - 1. Tinkel (W) 32 9 1/2, 2. Wagner (N), 3. Penrod (M), 4. Melzoni (N)

3,200 Relay -Ê1. Northfield 10:57, 2. Whitko

High Jump -Ê1. Badskey (W) 4-6, 2. Graves (W), 3. Penner (N), 4. Adams (N)

100 High Hurdles -Ê1. Harms (M) 16.75; 2. Markstahler (M), 3. Sparks (W), Rife (N)

100 M - 1. Oneyji (M) 13.28, 2. French (M), 3. Van Buskirk (N), 4. Bingley (W)

Long Jump -Ê1. Harms (M) 14- 1/4, 2. French (M), 3. Badskey (W), 4. Shannon (N)

1,600 M -Ê1. Leland (N) 5:50, 2. Guenin (N), 3. Flora (M), 4. Puckett (W)

400 Relay -Ê1. Manchester (French, Oneyji, Terflinger, Harms) 54.5, 2. Whitko

400 M - 1. Speicher (M) 1:07, 2. Adding (W), 3. Houghlin, 4. Ketheart (W)

Discus -Ê1. Tinkel (W) 107-11, 2. Minnix (M), 3. Penrod (M), 4. Wagner (N)

300 Hurdles -Ê1. Harms (M) 57.25, 2. Sparks (W), 3. Rife (N), 4. Graves (W)

800 M -Ê1. Guenin (N) 2:42, 2. Markstahler (M), 3. Badskey (W), 4. Adams (N)

200 M -Ê1. Oneyji (M) 29.42, 2. VanBuskirk (N), 3. French (M), 4. Houlihan (N)

3,200 M -Ê1. Leland (N) 13:03, 2. Guenin (N), 3. Puckett (W), 4. Flora (M)

1,600 M -Ê1. Manchester (Speicher, Markstahler, Markstahler, Oneyji) 4:47, 2. Northfield