The Bluejay track team capped off last week with a large meet in St. Marys at the Ray Kovar Invitational on Friday, April 28. With 14 teams in attendance, the Bluejay boys finished second overall and the Lady Jays finished sixth. Participating schools included Sabetha, St. Marys, Osage City, Rock Creek, Cornerstone, Northern Heights, Silver Lake, Jefferson West, Wamego, ACCHS, Doniphan West, Herington, Wabaunsee and Rossville.

“We had a good competitive meet and were able to see a few teams that will be at our Regional,” said Head Coach Dave Remmers. “In spite of the cool, windy weather, we still had a few athletes record season and career bests in their respective events. The coaching staff is working with the kids to improve a few general things to help them perform even better at upcoming meets.”

Girls

Senior Mary Lukert continues to prove to be a potent competitor in the mid- and long-distance races as she brought home silvers in the 800-meter and in the 1600-meter races. Sophomore Laura Metzger scored for her team when she finished sixth in the 3200-meter race.

The team of Metzger, sophomore Lauren Bowles, freshman Krysta Menold and Lukert ran a tough race and finished second in the 4×800-meter relay.

In the field events, freshman Olivia Baumgartner placed fifth in the pole vault. Halle Scoby continues to finish towards the top of the list in the throwing events, and she earned a silver medal in the shot put and a bronze in the discus at St. Marys.

Boys

The Bluejay boys finished second in this large and competitive meet. Junior Nate Menold earned a bronze in the 400-meter race, with junior Cole Hinton crossing the finish line in sixth place. Sophomore Brody Deters and freshman Charlie Lukert continue to push each other in the mid-distance race of the 800-meter category. Deters finished second in the 800, less than three seconds behind the gold medal winner, and just seven-tenths of a second ahead of Lukert who took the bronze.

Lukert powered out another sub-five minute mile time to take second in the 1600-meter race, with junior teammate Kalvin Evans contributing to the team tally when he finished fifth in the event. Evans then grabbed the gold in the 3200-meter race as he continues to be a contender in this event in each of the meets he competes in.

Freshman Cole Menold has been a top performer in the hurdles events and would finish fourth in the 110-meters, and then earned points with a fifth place finish in the 300-meter hurdles.

In the relays, freshmen Josh Enneking and Cole Menold, along with senior Davis Rokey and Hinton, placed sixth in the 4×100-meter relay. Enneking, Deters, C. Lukert and N. Menold brought home the silver medal in the 4×400-meter race and then grabbed the gold in the 4×800-meter relay.

On the field event side of the action, senior Abe Wehner finished fourth in the high jump and senior Nohl Niehues took the silver in the triple jump event.

In the throwing events, junior Joshua Grimm took second in both the shot and discus events, while senior Preston Michael hurled his way into fifth place in the javelin.

The Jays traveled to Nemaha Central on Tuesday, May 2, and then will host an invitational meet on Thursday, May 4. These results were not available at The Herald’s press time.