Bulldogs place second at Granite City Relays

The Highland High School boys track and field team had a strong showing en route to grabbing second place at the inaugural Granite City Warrior Relays Friday at Granite City High School.

The Bulldogs had some very good performances on the day in racking up 132 total points. That was second only to meet champion and host Granite City’s final score of 148, but it was out in front of the rest of the field, Alton (124), Madison (50) and Alton Marquette Catholic (six).

Highland junior Tyler Higgins, the defending Class 2A state champion in the 400, proved to be the fastest individual sprinter on the day as he captured the crown in the 100-meter dash with a winning time of 11.0 seconds.

The Bulldogs’ pole vault relay team was also triumphant with a total four-man height of 35 feet, 12 inches. The quartet was led by sophomore Sebastian Wolf at a height of 11-0. Wolf was joined on the team by sophomore Deakon Thornton (9-0), junior Evan Capelle (8-6) and freshman Joe Gallo (7-6).

Adding top-four finishes for Highland were: the sprint medley relay team of junior Grant Thole (25.7), Capelle (23.8), Higgins (49.3) and Portell (2:08.8), second place (3:50.73); the 4 x 400 relay team of junior Nathan Higgins (52.6), Thole (54.8), Capelle (55.0) and Portell (51.6), second place (3:30.7); the 4 x 800 relay team of junior Bryce Sexton (2:09.1), junior Jacob Plocher (2:16.2), junior Brendan Schrage (2:20.0) and Thornton (2:35.1), second place (9:20.7); the 4 x 110 shuttle hurdle relay team of freshman Sam LaPorta (17.4), senior Ziven Soyka (18.1), freshman Sam LaPorta (17.4), sophomore Noah Schmitt (18.0) and junior Bryce Sexton (18.4), second place (1:13.6); the 3 x 300 shuttle hurdle relay team of Schmitt (48.0), LaPorta (49.7) and Soyka (50.4), second place (2:28.5); the high jump relay team of Capelle (5-8), sophomore Derek Ahlmeyer (5-4), Sexton (5-0) and Portell (5-0), second place; the long jump relay team of senior Sam Teipe (19-6), DeProw (16-7.5), junior Lucas Ammann (16-7), second place; the triple jump relay team of Teipe (37-4), LaPorta (36-2), Ammann (33-4) and Schmitt (32-2), second place; the freshman/sophomore 4 x 200 relay team of Wolf (23.4), sophomore Chase DeProw (23.9), sophomore Noah Schmitt (24.5) and sophomore Mason Geiger (25.2), second place (1:36.72); the freshman/sophomore 4 x 400 relay team of freshman Ben Wille (55.4), Gallo (59.1), sophomore Seth Schwappach (59.4) and Ahlmeyer (60.2), second place (3:54.0); the 4 x 1,600 relay team of Sexton (4:53.4), Plocher (4:54.7), Wille (5:04.1) and Schrage (5:11.4), third place (20:02.8); the shot put relay team of freshman Brayton Moss (34-1), junior Jacob White (32-8), sophomore Corey Michaels (29-2) and sophomore Dylan Rolfingsmeier (26-6) third place; the discus relay team of LaPorta (111-1), White (90-9), Rolfingsmeier (73-8) and sophomore Chance Kurwicki (69-7), third place; the 4 x 100 relay team of Wolf (11.0), Sam Teipe (11.5), Geiger (12.1) and DeProw (12.3), fourth place (46.9); Gallo, fourth place in the 1,600 (5:04.5); and Thornton, fifth place in the 1,600 (5:34.2).

Madison County Championships

A day earlier at the Madison County Championships at Edwardsville High School, Higgins and Portell showed the way after each claimed an individual championship.

Higgins was crowned the 400 champion with the quickest one-lap time of 51.11 seconds, while Portell was the top runner in the 800 as he cruised to the win with a two-lap time of 1:59.20, which was more than three seconds faster than the next finisher, Arie Macias of Alton’s runner-up time of 2:02.39.

Also gaining top-six finishes for the Bulldogs were: Plocher, third place in the 3,200 (10:32.18); Sexton, fourth place in the 1,600 (4:47.97); and Wolf, sixth place in the 200 (24.14).

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Bulldogs place second at Granite City Relays."