This was a dual meet, as the Wildcats hosted the Gaylord Blue Devils.

The girl’s team returned with 46.5 points and a loss, while Gaylord finished with 79.5.

Meanwhile, the boy’s team took home the victory, scoring 70 points, as the Blue Devils ended with 57.

“We had plenty of (personal records) across the board, especially across all skill levels,” Alpena coach Spencer Kraft said. “Some of our top guys, like Thorin Rogers and Ty Dever both, came today and performed exceptionally well, and some of our freshmen came out and helped us earn the win.”

News Photo by Owen Kinzey The Alpena High School boys and girls track and field team gathers on Wednesday during their first home meet. The boys took home a strong win against Gaylord, while the girls fell short.

Starting in order of the distance of events, the girl’s 100-meter event was utterly dominated by Gaylord.

Emily Jorgenson took home first, running 13.55, while five other Blue Devils followed her.

While Alpena fell short by several runners in the 200-meter, the Wildcat’s Keslee Jex achieved a PR with a 30.46.

The women’s 400-meter race displayed Alpena’s incredible talent. Emma Dickins placed first, and Liberty Prevost and Marion Renard took third and fourth, respectively.

While Alpena stole five out of the six top places in the 800, Katie Berkshire torched everyone, finishing with a 2:25.60 time.

Dickins shined once again in the 1600, taking home first as Izzy Symanski took second.

Gaylord completely controlled 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, as each Alpena athlete finished behind a Blue Devil.

Gaylord also won the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×800, as Alpena’s teams finished shortly behind in each event.

Out of all the relays, the Wildcats only finished first in the 4×400, which consisted of Dickins, Natalie Maychen, Evelyn Ruemenapp, and Prevost.

Kiera Prue ended up taking first place in shotput as well as discus, setting Alpena up to compete in the field events.

The women’s jumping events didn’t quite follow suit, as Gaylord won the high jump and pole vault with ease.

Finally, the long jump finished in favor of Alpena. Maychen finished first, and Claire Lacross second.

Despite the girl’s performances, the boys battled all day to come out with the win.

Thorin Rogers kicked things off with a PR and second-place finish in the 100-meter.

Alpena also took second and third place in the 200 as Ty Dever and Braeden Mathis each had a PR.

In the 400, Mathis placed first, and Carson Heath ended in third.

Each of the top three finishers in the 800-meter race came from Alpena as John Kurowski, Bacchus, and Charles Renard took the spots.

Men’s 1600 ended in a win for Hayden Bacchus. The Wildcats also finished in that race’s top six out of seven spots.

Alpena has commanded the hurdles category all season due to one man who has broken out in his senior season.

Joe Sheridan continued his outstanding season, taking first in both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

Alpena’s relay teams also came to play, winning three out of four races.

The Wildcats finished a tenth of a second behind in the 4×100 yet bounced back to win the final three relays of the 4×200, 4×400, and 4×800.

Connor Bryam and the Blue Devils took home both throwing events, while Brady Carlson and Cole Herman battled closely, especially in discus.

Similar to the women’s team, Alpena dropped the high jump and pole vault to Gaylord, but Dever and the Wildcats stole the long jump by a considerable distance.

“Today was a beautiful day for a track meet between our training, our effort, and our overall performance; I was pleased with how we competed,” Alpena coach Trevor Roznowski said. “We saw a lot of personal growth, season bests, and just lots of development from our young team.”

The Wildcats head to the Bay City Western Invite on Friday.