Knights are peaking at just the right time in the season

By Ginna Young

Two more meets are under the belt of the Cornell-Lake Holcombe track program, with athletes seeing success and gaining confidence.

April 30 Bloomer Meet

It was off to Bloomer, to start the week, with several athletes attaining personal bests in field events, as well as a few running events.

“The Bloomer meet was a defining step in our season,” said coach Sean Schmidt. “Not only were we finally able to get together a successful boys relay and a pair of successful girls relays all in one meet, but (senior) Trent Nitek also ran the 100, 200 and 400 for the first time, all in one meet, winning two of those events.”

Nitek placed first in the 100-meter dash, in a time of 11.26, and first in the 400-meter dash (50.95), along with second place in the 200-meter dash (22.74). Junior Chase Burgess followed that with a 16th place finish in the 100 dash (12.25), while sophomore Alex Dixon was 17th in the 800-meter run (2:22.21).

For the girls, sophomore Megan Paff placed eighth in the shot put event (29-10.5) and 13th in discus (85-05), with freshman Katya Kuc taking 17th in shot put (2609.5). Senior Lauren Samardzich placed 17th in the 800 run (2:44.04) and freshman Brooklyn Anders claimed 18th in long jump (14-03).

“With conference only a couple weeks away, we’re starting to peak at the right time, as we get toward the meets that matter the most and that’s very exciting,” said Schmidt.

May 6 Webster Meet

After the weekend off, the Knights were at Webster, where several of the athletes again saw high places.

Again claiming the top spot in the 100 dash (11.29) and 200 dash (22.56), was Nitek, who also placed first in the 400 dash (50.84). Senior Will Peterson was next, in ninth place in the discus (100-2) and 12th in the shot put event (34-2). Burgess also placed 12th in the long jump (15-10), while senior Zach Shurtz was 17th in that event (13-6.75).

On the girls’ side, Paff was first in shot put (31-7) and 13th in discus (66-6).