Highland High School boys, girls track teams kick off 2022 campaign at Granite City
The Highland girls track team enjoyed a strong 2022 season opener, rolling to an 81-43 dual meet victory against host Granite City on Thursday, March 17.
“Granite City only had I think 10 girls, so it didn’t look like much of a contest,” Lady Bulldogs coach Doug Bradley said. “They didn’t run anybody in any individual events other than the 300 (IM) hurdles, so we ran unopposed in the 400, 800, 1,600, and 200 (meters).”
In the relay events, HHS competed in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. The Warriors defeated the Lady Bulldogs in the 4x100 and 4x200 races.
Highland rebounded in the 4x400 relay race, claiming first place.
Middle distance also fared well for HHS as Danielle Little won the 1,600-meter run and Tarryn Keeney won the 800-meter run.
In the 300 hurdles, Cheyenne Choate placed first, while Lydia Hadowksy took first place in the pole vault, high jump, and 100-meter hurdles. Gillian Trover won the long jump and Ashlyn Ray won the triple jump by default.
Senior Josie Hapack, meanwhile, won the shot put and discus. Hapack — headed to Indiana State this fall for track and field — threw an eye-popping 132 feet to win the discus.
“Her 132-foot throw was longer than Taylor’s (Kesner) best throw last year which means she’s now the second furthest throwing discus athlete at Highland High School behind Lena Geiger, who was a state qualifier,” Bradley said.
Overall, Highland’s showing thus far has pleased Bradley.
“We are pretty healthy and we have a couple of people returning from basketball injuries, but for the most part we’re pretty healthy and free-wheeling,” Bradley said.
The Lady Bulldogs also expect to get a boost from newcomers Peyton Frey and Alyson Pace this spring.
“They are both really gifted,” Bradley said.
Highland boys track
While the girls had a successful day at Granite City, the host Warriors defeated the Highland boys 63-34 on Thursday, March 17.
According to new Bulldogs coach Joe Shannon, the team’s focus was more on improving personal performances across each event.
“They beat us pretty handily, but we did’t really load it up to score points and it was more to kind of set kids up in a position to PR (personal record),” Shannon said. “So, (with that) the kids did pretty well.”
Junior Travis Gieseking won the shot put in his first high school track meet thanks to a first-place throw of 37 feet, 6 inches.
In the pole vault, Ben Capelle took first with a PR height of 11 feet.
HHS also had success in the middle distance events as Dallas Mancianas won the 1,600 meter run with a first-place time of 4:59.
The 4x400 relay team of Brody Lewis, Gabe Schwarz, Hunter Fridley, and Cole Basden also captured first place.
Meanwhile, the 4x200 team of Lewis, Paul Graham, Brent Wuebbels, and Travis Porter dropped 3.5 seconds for a season-best performance.
“We knew it (the time) would get a little quicker outdoors, but the big drop was more than I was expecting, so it was pretty exciting,” Shannon said. “They were all juniors and running track for the first time, so that’s pretty exciting.”
Trip to Champaign
Highland ventured to Champaign on Saturday, March 19, to run in the Gene Armer Indoor Invite at the University of Illinois.
The Bulldog 4x800 team ran a season’s best time, as freshmzn Avery Brock dropped six seconds for a new PR of 2:10 on his leg of the race. Mason Steinbeck, Ethan Smith, and Basden also ran on the relay team, which placed ninth out of 21 teams.
“Pretty solid (performance) especially with Avery’s big PR,” Shannon said.
Two other Bulldogs also had productive days as Mancinas clocked a 2:12 for ninth place in the 800-meter run while Steinbeck ran a new indoor PR of 55.6 in the 400-meter run.
Those performances pleased Shannon.
“It’s not easy to come back and run on a Saturday after a Thursday meet, so it was a good showing and I was really proud of them,” Shannon said.
Highland Baseball
The Bulldogs baseball team opened the 2022 season at home against defending Class 2A champ Freeburg on Monday, March 22, and came up short, losing 16-12 in a slug fest.
Highland led 12-10 entering the top of the seventh inning, but the Midgets exploded for six runs and held on for the win. The Bulldogs road game at Columbia on Wednesday, March 23, was rained out.
Highland Girls Soccer
Highland hit the road for a Mississippi Valley Conference game at archrival Triad High School on Monday, March 21. The Lady Bulldogs, unfortunately, had a rough outing as Triad exploded for five first-half goals and handed HHS an 8-0 defeat. The following day, HHS dropped a 6-0 decision at Collinsville.
HHS finished off a tough week Thursday, March 24, with a 2-0 non-conference loss at Murphysboro.
Highland Softball
It took extra innings, but the Lady Bulldogs softball team defeated Freeburg 3-2 in extra innings Monday, March 21. Gracie Levin ripped a two-run homer in the fifth inning and the Lady Bulldogs pushed across a run in the top of the eighth to clip the Midgets at Freeburg High School.
Sophomore pitcher Sophia Donoho went the distance for HHS. Donoho scattered six hits, struck out 11, and walked one in picking up her third win of the season.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 2:17 PM.