Eagles land in first

Fairview, Hale win Hillman Invitational

By CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI
The Hale boys track team was the only thing that kept Fairview from sweeping the boys and girls meets at the Hillman Invitational on Friday.

The Eagles, led by Zach Putnam’s four first-place finishes, scored 146 points to soar past Fairview, which had 112.

The girls side of the meet was considerably closer as Fairview edged Alcona for first, 152 1/2-149 1/2.

“I’m very excited about that,” Fairview coach Don Haskin said of overcoming Alcona to take first. “I figured it would be a good meet.”

A top notch performance in the 3,200 was the big key to Fairview’s victory as the Eagles took first (Camille Szubelak), third (Rachel Lanczak) and fourth (Kallie Yoder) in that event. Alcona received a second-place finish from Laura Pelton to keep Fairview from claiming each of the top spots.

Three girls won a pair of events each at the seven-team meet. Alcona’s Shannon McNichols took the 1,600 (5:44.9) and the 800 (2:38.1); her teammate, Nikole Hampton, was first in the 200 (27.96) and the long jump (14-7); and Fairview’s Morgan Wiedbrauk won the shot put (28-2 1/2) and the discus (92-8).

Putnam was the big standout of the day. He won the 110 hurdles (16.06), 300 hurdles (46.2), 100 dash (11.97) and showed his versatility with a first in the shot put as well (41-1).

Hale’s other wins came in the long jump, where Robert Amicone jumped 18-9, and in the high jump, where Lane Self jumped 5-6.

Fairview’s wins came in the distance races as Titus Brown won the 1,600 (5:01.1) and the 3,200 (10:48.5).

Hale’s 34-point spread over Fairview was considerably different than how the two teams fared last week in a meet in Fairview.

“We’ve been going back-and-forth with Hale all year,” said Haskin. “We beat them in our meet by a whopping two points.”

Still, Haskin doesn’t think Hale is the team to worry about with the North Star League Championships coming up next week.

“I don’t think Hale is our big obstacle,” said Haskin. “Au Gres is the team to beat. We’re making progress. There are things we have to tweak, but we’ve got a shot.”

The boys standings were as follows: Hale (146 points), Fairview (112), Hillman (77), Alcona (62), Mio (62), Atlanta (26) and Posen (8).

The girls standings were as follows: Fairview (152 1/2), Alcona (149 1/2), Hale (85 1/2), Posen (48), Mio (33 1/2), Atlanta (13) and Hillman (9).

Chris Dobrowolski can be reached via e-mail at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694.