HHS boys finish second at home triangle meet

The Highland High School boys track and field team took second place at a home triangle meet on Tuesday.

The HHS Bulldogs, who are coached by Bob Vance, accumulated 66 team points, which was second to meet champion and Mississippi Valley Conference rival Waterloo’s victorious team total of 90 points, but was out front of. Mater Dei’s distant third-place total of 18 points.

Highland captured gold in five individual events, with junior sprinter Tyler Higgins racing to the finish stripe first in two of them. Higgins was the quickest in the 100 at 10.9 seconds and doubled up on victories by besting the field in the 200 after stopping the clock at 22.4 seconds.

As a sophomore last year, Higgins established school records in the triple of crown of sprinting, the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, and is the reigning Class 2A state champion in the 400.

Also securing first-place finishes for the hometown Bulldogs were freshman Sam LaPorta in the triple jump at 36 feet, 5 inches, sophomore Sebastian Wolf in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 10-0, and the 4 x 800-meter relay team of junior Bryce Sexton (2:11), junior Brock Schrage (2:18.4), freshman Joe Gallo (2:24) and senior Brode Portell (2:08.8).

LaPorta also earned second place in the discus (99-5), while Portell also came home in second place in the open 400 with a one-lap time of 54.0 seconds, and Sexton also crossed the finish line in second in the 1,600 with a four-lap time of 4:54.4.

Highland also had numerous athletes place in the top four in their respective event: junior Jacob Plocher, second in the 3,200 (10:42) and third in the 1,600 (5:04); senior Sam Ahlmeyer, second in the shot put (33-2.75); sophomore Deakon Thornton, second in the pole vault (8-6); junior Lucas Ammann, second in the triple jump (35-0); the 4 x 100 relay team of sophomore Mason Geiger (11.9), Wolf (11.9), junior Grant Thole (11.3) and Sam Teipe (11.7), second place (46.8); the 4 x 200 relay team of Geiger (25.3), Wolf (23.6), Thole (24.5) and Teipe (24.1), second place (1:37.6); the 4 x 400 relay team of junior Evan Capelle (57.0), Sexton (1:00.9), Wolf (1:00.4) and Portell (1:02.8), second place (4:01.1); sophomore Noah Schmitt, third in the 300 low hurdles (46.7); junior John Wick, third in the 800 (2:24); sophomore Kyle Lane, third in the shot put (32-11.5) and fourth in the 100 (11.9); LaPorta, fourth in the 110 high hurdles (18.5); Sexton, third in the high jump (5-2); Teipe, third in the long jump (18-5); Thole, fourth in the 200 (24.9); sophomore Derek Ahlmeyer, fourth in the 400 (1:02.1) and fourth in the high jump (5-2); sophomore Seth Schwappach, fourth in the 2:26); and junior Brendan Schrage, fourth in the 3,200 (11:14).

Norm Armstrong invite at Belleville West

Higgins showed he is in mid-season form on a big stage on Saturday afternoon at the Norm Armstrong Invitational at Belleville West High School.

In the 400 dash, Higgins raced to the finish line in second place with a speedy time of 49.83 seconds to beat out 35 other competitors. He was only edged out at the stripe by 0.04 of a second by Metea Valley senior Jordan Cagigal’s winning time of 49.79.

Portell also posted a noteworthy finish after nabbing the fourth-place medal in the 800 among a field of 40 runners with a two-lap time of 1:59.95.

Cahokia senior Ja’Mari Ward, a University of Missouri-Columbia recruit, has had a epic career already but he simply took his ability an even higher level on one of the area’s biggest stages at Belleville West.

Competing in the 100 and 200 meters in an outdoor competition for the first time, Ward posted meet-record and national-caliber times in both as he led the Comanches to a second-place finish in the elite 26-team event at Belleville West High School.

One week after posting the nation’s top effort in the triple jump (50 feet, 11.50 inches) at the Mobile (Ala.) Challenge of Champions, Ward set meet records in the 100 meters of 10.64 seconds and the 200 meters at 21.05 seconds as part of a four-victory performance on a crisp, cool spring afternoon.

He also captured the titles in the long jump (24-9) and the triple jump (49-1).

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 11:15 AM with the headline "HHS boys finish second at home triangle meet."