Wilmington track team kicks off new season

Wilmington's boys and girls track teams traveled to Reed-Custer on Saturday for another meet in the fieldhouse. 



The Lady 'Cats picked up an eighth place finish out of the nine-team field, earning 17 team points, edging out Reed-Custer (11). 



Seneca took the top spot in the girls side (162), while Sandwich and Prairie Central followed with 79 and 56, respectively. 



On the boys side, Wilmington wound up taking ninth place with four points.



Prairie Central secured the top spot with 104, followed by Reed-Custer (74) and Streator (72).



The Lady Wildcats were led by Paige Persic, who secured two fifth place finishes in her events. 



She placed in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.85, and followed that up with a fifth in long jump (13' 9.25"). 



Hannah Harvell earned a third in the 200 meter (30.13), while Hailey Hirsch claimed sixth in the 400 (1:12.60).



Faith Barnes rounded out the individual placers, securing fifth in the shot put with a distance of 27' 10.25". 



The lady's 4x200 meter relay team, which consisted of Erica Roge, Harvell, Hirsch and Persic, also wound up with a fourth place finish, earning a time of 2:08.97. 



Wilmington's Mitchell Kolwelter was the only participant to register a placement, taking fourth in the 200 meter dash (25.80). 



R-C Quad



The Wilmington track teams opened their season last Tuesday evening as they traveled to Reed-Custer for a quad against the host team, Dwight and Streator in the fieldhouse. 



The boys and girls teams both wound up with fourth place finishes. 



The Lady Wildcats were edged out in the standings, finishing with 33 points, four team points behind Reed-Custer (37). 



Streator took first place (63), followed by Dwight (47). 



The Wildcats wound up with 16 team points. Streator claimed the top with 84, followed by Reed-Custer (75) and Dwight (31). 



The Lady Wildcats were led by Persic, who wound up placing in three events. 



She claimed first in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.78, and followed that up with a third in the 200 (31.81) and third in long jump (12' 11"). 



Harvell followed with a fourth in the 60 meter (8.89) and a second place in the 200 (31.61).



The 200 meter dash had two other Wilmington athletes place, with Marissa Sanchez earning fifth (32.85) and Riley Stepanek earning sixth (36.22). 



Rounding out the individual running events were Hirsch in the 400 (third, 1:12.85) and Mollie McGuire in the 800 (third, 3:25.53).



The 4x200 relay team consisting of Roge, Hirsch, Harvell and Persic wound up third (2:11.46).



In the field events, McGuire claimed second in high jump (4' 4"), while Faith Barnes clinched fourth in shot put. She threw for a distance of 25' 7.5".



For the boys, Kolwelter kicked off the placements earning third in the 200. He finished with a time of 25.91. 



In the 800, Dallas Ceh picked up fourth (2:22.67), followed by fifth-place Matt Nutt (2:35.38).



Jacob Allott finished up the individual running events, taking first in the 3200 meter. He earned a time of 14:36.00. 



The 4x400 relay team, which included Kolwelter, Matt Boynton, Nutt and Ceh picked up fourth place, running a time of 4:22.97. 



In the field events, Joey Mendoza was the only competitor to place, earning second in the triple jump with a distance of 32' 6.5".