Sports
WHS Track Excels, Relay Team Wins Division 3 Crown
The boys 4x400 relay team won the Division 3 title while the girls 4x400 team came in second. Other individuals performed well and the boys team finished in fifth place.
The Wilmington boys and girls 4x400 meter relay teams saved some of their best performances for last. And they weren’t the only Wildcats to do so.
Both Wilmington track teams put together strong individual performances at the Division 3 state championship meet on February 14, leading to a fifth place team finish for the boys and 18th place result for the Lady Wildcats.
The highlight of the event came in the 4x400 relay races, as the boys team made up of Pat Barry, Colin Chase, Andrew Sears and Steve Halas outlasted Canton and ran a time of 3:34.35, earning the Wildcats a Division 3 championship.
Find out what's happening in Wilmingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Three of the four of them are seniors, and they’ve had very successful careers. This was really a culmination of a lot of hard work over a lot of seasons,” said head coach Michael Kinney. “They’re really hard working kids, and I’m happy for them.”
On the girls side, the 4x400 relay team of Alex Bischoff, Rachel Alatalo, Cassie Grasso and Kelly Hartsough finished the day with a time of 4:08.62. That time was just over a second off of Pembroke’s pace, but still good for second in Division 3.
Find out what's happening in Wilmingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Both relay teams qualified for this weekend’s All-State meet thanks to their finishes. But the relay teams weren’t the only ones extending their track season.
Halas snagged a fourth place finish in the boys 1,000-meter run thanks to his time of 2:36.75. His coach said it wasn’t Halas’ best peformance of the year, but it was his grittiest as he fought for position against much bigger runners.
Eli Jennings hurled the shot put two feet further than he ever has in his career, earning second place in Division 3 with a toss of 52 feet, five inches.
Halas is ranked 19th entering this weekend’s All-State meet, Jennings is seeded 8th, the boys 4x400 team is slotted 20th out of 24 teams and the girls 4x400 team is ranked 10th out of 24 teams heading into the event.
“We had a good year,” said girls head coach Thomas Bradley, whose team was 3-3 in league meets this year. “There are some very good runners on this year’s team.”
Are you a big fan of the Wildcats? You'll also want to see:
- Redmen Visit Town in Heavyweight Hockey Battle
- Wildcats Edged by Reading in 'Super' Match Up
- Lady Wildcat Seniors Honored Before Key Win
- Pimental's Veteran Presence Key for Wildcats
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
