STERLING — The Hubs track and field team has recorded top-3 finishes in each of its last three meets, and the boys followed up with a victory in dual competition with the Sterling Golden Warriors on Tuesday.
Rochelle won the meet by a score of 144-122, with junior Bazil Bennett making a statement in the throwing events, winning the shot put with a heave of 44-4 (a personal record) and setting another personal record in the discus (118-1) to finish in third place. Junior Zach Miller took third in the shot put with a mark of 40-2 ½, while junior Alex Harvey placed fifth at 39-8 ½.
Senior Andrew Myers cleared 6-4 in the high jump for his second consecutive victory in the event, while senior Michael Drendel amazed with his effort in the pole vault, turning in a state-qualifying mark of 13-1 to win first place. Drendel also finished first in the long jump (19-3 ¼), with junior teammate Frantz Vardman placing second at 17-87 ½ and sophomore Isaac Musselman putting forward a leap of 37-5 ¾ in the triple jump for second place.
Rochelle fielded several top finishers in the open sprints, with senior Lance Huftalin winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.69 seconds and sophomore Alex Louck taking second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.92. Sophomore Austin Walsh took the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.46.
Seniors Levi Johnson and Edwin Infante earned the top two spots in the 300-meter hurdles, with Johnson placing first at 43.46 and Infante finishing second in 44.70. Sophomore Dylan Finkboner placed third with a time of 47.52, and Finkboner finished third in the 110-meter hurdles (19.64), with senior Jake Rodriguez landing in second with a time of 18.53.
In the open distance races, senior Matthew Drendel ran a 2:04.06 in the 800-meter run to claim first place, and sophomore Connor Lenkaitis’ time of 2:19.21 was good enough for third place. Freshman Santi Cordoba placed third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:28.93, and Cordoba finished second in the 3200-meter run, with fellow freshman Diego Escobar winning the event with a time of 12:14.89.
Both the 1600-meter relay team and the 3200-meter relay team placed first in the dual meet, with Matthew Drendel, Huftalin, Walsh and sophomore Eddie Villalobos combining to take the 1600-meter race with a time of 3:34.36. Drendel joined forces with Lenkaitis, Walsh and sophomore Jessee Infante to win the 3200-meter relay with a time of 9:08.55.
Article courtesy of Rochelle News-Leader