Ravenwood's track & field team headed west this week to compete at the Scott Hartman Invitational. Up against powerhouses Brentwood and Brentwood Academy, the Raptors held their own and emerged with four event wins and a fourth place overall team finish.
Tuesday featured six races on the track and three field events, most of which netted points for the Raptors. In the 3200m, freshmen Jacob Allen and Kyle Brown both notched PRs. Running the 1600m for the second time in less than a week, Jack Dellinger ran negative splits (2:20/2:16) to clock a 4:36 and place fourth. Sophomore Gabriel Robin got Ravenwood's first win with a classic sit and kick race in the 800m, holding off a furious finish from Centennial's standout senior Davis Bove. David Kertai also won his heat of the 800m and finished 7th overall. Juniors Andrew Mason and Will Kaylor were third and fourth in the 200m dash, with both running well under 23 seconds. In the final event of the day, Ian Gatlin, Ian Brown, newcomer Erik Hoogerland, and Gabriel Robinson finished fourth in the 4x400m relay.
Gabriel Sleenhof continued to establish himself as one of the best throwers in the state by winning the discus with a throw of 145'8" (TN #10). Ian Brown had a season best jump of 5'10" in the high jump to place third, and Garrett Moorman was third in the long jump, just missing 20'.
Freshman Sam Fitch, Jet Steinke, Cole Meyer, and Andrew Silva teamed up to finish 7th the 4x800m on Wednesday. The boys 100m featured one of the most exciting finishes of the meet as Andrew Mason (11.09) withstood a late surge by TJ Sheffield to win by .01 seconds, the closes of margins. Garrett Moorman (11.24) placed third. Though they just missed scoring, Jalen Johnson and David Story both PRed in the 400m dash.Finally, just as the sun was setting, the boys 4x100m put on another clinic, running the fourth fastest time in the state (43.15) so far this season. The start and handoffs were smooth, and coaches Branch and Mueller could barely contain their pride and enthusiam during and after the race.
Though he didn't win the shot, Gabriel Sleenhof did have a 3' PR, throwing 52'8" (TN #2) to finish in second. Freshman Parker Williamson placed 8th in the triple jump as the boys tallied 94.5 points, good enough for fourth place.
"This was a good meet for us," said Coach Mueller afterwards. "We got contributions from sprints, jumps, throws, and distance and so many guys had PRs. The junior class is so strong so hopefully they'll keep getting better while the younger guys gain valuable experience to prepare for their futures. We have a lot of track & field in front of us and this is going to be a fun season."
See the complete meet results.
