Searcy, relay teams lead Belleville West to second place finish at Triad Invitational

In the midst of a rebuilding process, Belleville West first-year coach Sally Stephens squad provided a glimpse of the future for the Maroons on a cold Friday night at Triad High School.

And in the case of freshman Kelvi Searcy, it could be a very bright future.

Ignoring the unseasonably cold temperatures, Searcy won the 110-meter hurdles and placed second in the 200 meters to lead a solid Belleville West performance as the Maroons finished a distant second behind Naperville Central at the Triad Girls Track and Field Invitational.

In what has become an annual getaway weekend for the Hawks to compete and have a little fun seeing the sites in the St. Louis, Naperville Central once again used its depth to lap the field as it finished with 207 points, 76 1/2 more than Belleville West. The title is the third straight at Triad for the Hawks, who are a perennial state power.

But while the Maroons fell well short of the team championship, Stephens had to like what she saw from her team who had its most impressive performance of the season.

Searcy led the way as she won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.52 seconds and placed second in the 200 meters, clocking with an effort 27.29 seconds, but a full two seconds behind D’Jenne Egharevba of Naperville Central.

Searcy wasn’t the only bright spot of the night for Belleville West, which won the 400-meter relay in 50.79 seconds and the 800-meter relay in 1:50.1. Senior Danielle Meitzenheimer was second in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 4 inches and third in the discus with an effort of 114-4.

Maroons junior Kameron Frazier was second in the 100 meters with a time of 12.74.

While Meitzenheimer’s effort in the field events was impressive, it was a distant second to that effort of Triad senior Allison Richter. Winding down a solid high school, Richter won three events in her final Knights Invitational appearance.

Headed to Western Illinois University in the fall, Richter won the shot put with an effort of 41-, the discus with a throw of 125-7 and the long jump with a leap of 16-7. Triad also got a win from senior Gabby Arbus in the pole vault with an effort of 11 feet.

Mater Dei senior Taylor Padak won the high jump with a leap of 4-10.

Mahomet-Seymour was third in the team competition with 120 1/2 points, while host Triad was fourth with 102 1/2 points.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Searcy, relay teams lead Belleville West to second place finish at Triad Invitational."