John Michaels
IVN Contributing Writer
Matt Ellis was the only Illinois Valley winner as the Cougars track team opened their season with a non-scoring meet at the Rogue Classic Invite last Thursday at Russ Werner Field in Grants Pass. The non-scoring Invite was open to all the local Rogue Valley High Schools no matter their classification.
Ellis took first place at the Invite in the javelin with a toss of 150’ 2. Ellis also placed 6th in the shot put with a heave of 35’ 2. He was bested by one place and one inch by teammate Dylen Hall, who finished 5th with an effort of 35’ 3. Hall wound up with a 4th place finish in the discus, hurling the implement 97’ 1.25 Other Cougars participating in the field events on the boys’ side included Cameron Shinault in shot (30’ 6) and Kenneth Wunch (74’ 2.5) in discus. Each finished 9th.
Grit Charitram had one of the better racing days for the Cougars. Charitram grabbed second in the 150 meter dash with a time of 17.75. He also finished 6th in the 60 at 7.62 edging teammate Trenton Davis. Davis finished 8th with a time of 7.65. Davis also placed two spots behind Charitram in the 150, finishing 4th in 18.70. Tanner Brazil also ran the 60 and finished10th at 7.89. Charitram, Davis, and Brazil teamed with George Kouspov to claim 4th place in the 4×100 relay with a time of 46.72.
Curtiss Heier was another top finisher for IV, placing second in the 3000 race with a time of 10:24.36. Heier also finished 6th in the 1500 meters at 4:47.39. Just off of Heier’s pace for the Cougars was Hannabal Bohmker. Bohmker finished 6th in the 3000 at 11:53.62 and just one spot behind Heier in the 1500 at 7th in 5:10.57. Eli Deutsch finished 7th in the 3000 (12:52.5.3), but managed to place 6th in the 800 in 2:35.54. Wunch finished 8th in the 800 with a 2:44.68 Randy Huang also competed in the 1500 finishing 13th in 6:21.57.
Shilo Farnsworth finished out the Cougar contingent on the boys’ side by placing 5th in the 300 hurdles in 48.52 and 6th in the 300 race with a time of 40.53.
Blossom Robinson had a great day for Illinois Valley on the girls’ side of the Invite with three silver medal finishes. Robinson finished 2nd in the 60 with a clocking of 8.37, 2nd in the 150 at 19.81 and ran a leg on the Lady Cougars’ 2nd place 4×100 relay team with Shelby Reed, Lyila Murphy and Breanna Reed. They finished the relay in 54.03.
Robinson just edged teammate Jessame Pope in both the 60 and 150 races. Pope took the bronze in both races, finishing the 60 in 8.40 and the 150 in 20.38.
Robinson’s relay mates also performed well at the Invite. Shelby Reed finished 4th in the 300 with a time of 47.96. Kava Rose also ran the 300 and finished 6th at 53.68. Murphy finished 5th in the 800 at 3:20.01. Finally, Breeana Reed took 7th in the 60 at
IV’s Orion Hardy had the best day for the Cougars in the field events. Hardy finished 3rd in the shot with a heave of 26’ 6. She also finished 5th in the discus with a toss of 70’ 10.75. Aleigha Hix (22’ 1), Rayna Hulsey (22’ 0), and Naomi Merrill (19’9) also competed in the shot. Hulsey (60’ 2.5 Merrill (45’ 8), and Hix (39’ 9.75) also competed in the discus and again, all finished outside the top 10.
The Cougars have a pair of meets this week before Spring Break. On Wednesday, IV travels to Phoenix to take part in the Phoenix Icebreaker meet. The first event is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. The next day on Thursday a contingent of Cougars will be going to Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point to take part in the Crater Classic Track Twilight meet. On Thursday the first event is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m.