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Sports
Sports
By Patrick Browne
In their second meet of the season and having only had the opportunity to practice on the track three times, the Lady Wykons recently demonstrated clearly why they are the team to beat.
“While it is difficult to assess competition due to the limited number of posted track results across the UP this Spring, our girls are working very hard and are impressive,” stated Wykon coach Kristi Berutti.
In both of their meets the team has taken first place. Most recently, in the Menominee Triangular, the team scored 70 points and won convincingly over Menominee which finished with 54 and Ishpeming which scored 34.
Seana Stine won the 100 and 300 hurdles, while junior standout Danica Shamion won the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. Calli Pellizzer garnered first place in the high jump, clearing five feet, and Allie Salazar took first in the shot put.
Impressively, in addition to the aforementioned, the team earned second place seven times, third place five times and fourth place four times.
“The girls are working very hard and look very good as a team,” stated Coach Shamion.
As the Lady Wykons are demonstrating strength as a team, the West Iron men’s squad is running against schools with a greater number of athletes and thus challenged to place in the overall standings. In the Menominee Triangular both of the teams the Wykons faced had a greater number of athletes and thus the Wykons were unable to compete for the overall victory.
With a small but committed team of athletes, Coach Jeff Taff is encouraged by what he is seeing.
“We are young and inexperienced, so I told the guys to do better this time than the last time -- just improve,” he said. “For the most part we did that.”
Sophomore Elijah Oberlin took second in the 800 meter dash and third in the high jump. In the 800, with a time of 2:19, Oberlin was just one second behind first place. Although it is difficult to compare meets, the time would have won at the Niagara Invitational. In the high jump, Oberlin cleared 5 feet 4 inches, just two inches behind second place.
Freshman Tanner Nordstrom bested his first place throw from the Wykons’ previous meet by throwing the shot put 37 feet 6 inches and the discus a distance of 103 feet and 11 inches. While his efforts only garnered third place in each of the events, his performance thus far in both events is only a few feet short of qualifying for state competition.
Finishing out the scoring for the Wykons was junior sprinter Logan Bradshaw. Bradshaw shaved eight-tenths of a second off his 100 meter dash time and earned fourth place with an impressive 11.89.
While the team is short on runners, they have a talented trio and the remaining seven athletes are underclassmen. This should bode well for the future as Coach Taff works to build his team.