John Michaels
IVN Contributing Writer
The Lorna Byrne Middle School track team hosted its first meet Thursday, competing in a Southern Oregon Middle School Athletic Association event accommodating a seven-team gathering at Illinois Valley High Schools’ track. The Vikings had an exceptionally good afternoon with the boys’ and girls’ squads finishing first in the combined scoring event.
Lorna Byrne totaled 254 points on the afternoon, edging out second place St. Mary’s with 247. The rest of the field included Valley (144), New Hope Christian (138), Butte Falls (64) Prospect (59.5) and Sacred Heart (41.5).
Lorna Byrne had multiple outstanding performances with four school records falling during the meet. In addition, many of the Vikings set personal records in front of their home fans during the afternoon.
“I want to give a huge shout out to the IVHS Track and Field team and Coach Scott Thornhill,” said Lorna Byrne track coach Todd Smith. “They deserve recognition for coming out in force and running all of the fielding events at the meet.”
“I received compliments from other coaches on how professional and knowledgeable our high school athletes were,” Smith added. “I cannot thank them enough for all they did. It’s always a good time when the Middle School and High School teams get together.”
Rye Anderson, Logan Ponchart, Carson Bracht and Demien Green gave the Vikings the edge needed for victory by winning the final event, the 4×100 meter relay. Their time of 49.53 was also a new Lorna Byrne record in the event, eclipsing almost two seconds off the previous record the quartet set earlier this year.
The Vikings were also given a huge boost when Green, Bracht, Ponchart and Brody Rasmussen all set personal records in sweeping all four scoring places in the boys’ 100 meter dash. Green went 12.01 in winning the event, just edging Bracht (12.32), Ponchart (13.02 and Rasmussen (13.04).
Although he finished second in the event, Anderson set a personal and school record in the 1500, with a time of 5:39.10. He was followed in the next two scoring places by fellow Vikings Ashur Smilo (5:46.17—PR) and Oliver Peters (5:56.56—PR).
Smilo also finished fourth in the 400, with a personal record of 1:11.98. Although he did not score in the event, William Herren had a PR in the 400 with a time of 1:28.01. “Will has been working very hard,” said Smith. “He keeps getting better and he is close to scoring points for us. I really think he might help the high school program someday.”
The boys were not the only athletes setting records for Lorna Byrne. Skylin Deckert finished second in the 200 with a clocking of 31.01, setting a personal record. Jacey Workman (20.41) and Kalia Franks (20.59) went silver and bronze in the 100 hurdles event, both getting PRs. Emily Fisk set a personal record while finishing third in the 800. Her time of 3:05.17 was less than a second off the Lorna Byrne girls’ record in that race. Vivienne Klein ran a 15.02 in the 100, setting a PR while finishing just outside the scoring column.
The Vikings also had superb performances in the field events on their way to winning the meet. Deckert broke her own school record in the javelin with a throw of 69’ 3. Saray Mendoza and Arielle Carr took home the gold and silver in the shot put. Mendoza’s toss of 31’ 0 shattered Carr’s previous school record. Carr went 26’ 7 in finishing second. Carr also scored points in the discus with a PR of 57’ 10, earning fourth place. Although not in the scoring column, Amelia Crutchfield also set a personal best with a toss of 43’ 11 in the same event.
Klein set a PR while finishing first in the high jump, clearing 4’ 4. Klein (11’ 10) and Franks (11’ 05) scored for the Vikings in the long jump, finishing second and fourth, respectively.
Not to be outdone, the boys also set a school record and several personal records in the field events as well. Green, in addition to winning the 100 meter race, also took home first and set a school record in the javelin, with a remarkable 126’ 0. Nazario Gutierrez finished first with 99’0 heave in the discus, which was a new personal best for him. Mason Fee finished third in the event at 75’ 6, which also was a PR. In the shot put, Gutierrez (31’ 2—PR) finished second and Donald Lee (30’ 1—PR) finished fourth. Bracht (17’ 9)and Ponchart (14’ 9) finished first and second in the long jump for the Vikings. Rye Anderson set a personal record clearing 4’ 6 while finishing second in the high jump. Kelvin Williams just missed scoring points but set a PR by clearing 4’ 0 in the event.
The Vikings next competition will be the District Championships. This week the Lorna Byrne sixth grade team will travel to Ashland Wednesday for the sixth-grade district meet. The seventh and eighth-grade district meet will be held May 2.