“We competed well and had a good showing,” senior Nicole Montgomery said. “The purpose of this meet was to see where we are individually and as a team and compete against some of the competition we will see at districts. We made our statement.”
The Bruins captured 11 first place finishes throughout the meet. On the girls side, this included dominating performances by junior Mallory Short in the 100 meter hurdles and junior Sienna Trice in the 300 meter hurdles. On the boys side, junior Nathan Keown set a personal record of 4:29.93, winning the 1600 meter run and senior Nate Egharevba took the win in the 110 meter hurdles.
To close the meet, both girls and boys 4×400 meter relay teams took first. The girls relay of sophomore Taylor McDannold, Short, freshman Makayla Jones and Trice beat Jefferson City by three seconds with a time of 4:11.42. In a similar fashion, the boys relay of senior Bennett Arey, senior Brennan Cortez, senior Matt Kelly and junior Chas Barbee won with a time of 3:31.28 over second place Hillsboro.
Through this domination of an early meet, RBHS hoped to make it clear they will be strong competitors in the post season. With a daily practice schedule and weekly opportunities for competition, the Bruins have time to train and improve throughout the season before they are put to the test in the post season.
“I think we made a strong impact and that we can definitely compete for a state trophy or even a championship,” senior David Morris said.
The varsity track and field team will compete next against competition front the Kansas City area at the Kearney Classic Invitational April 5.
By Emily Wright
