Highlights from District B-4 Track Meet in Pierce

The O’Neill Lady Eagles competed in the B-4 District Track and Field meet in Pierce on Thursday, May 14th. O’Neill was able to qualify one athlete that day, but had to wait a few hours before they had another qualifier.

Freshman, Mikayla Marvin continued her fine first season on the team by finishing as district runner-up in the pole vault, clearing 9-3.  She had three good attempts at 9-7, but failed to clear the height.

Fellow freshman, Aurora Gutshall, also continued her fine season by running her best time in the 100 high hurdles.  Aurora ran 16.15, to place 4th, one place away from automatically qualifying for the State Meet. After all of the Class B districts reported it was learned that she did qualify for the State Meet as the top 4th place time and the 9th fastest time overall.

Other placers for O’Neill were Rahtaya Young, who placed 5th in the discus throwing it 102-09. McKenzie Adamson also placed 5th in the triple jump with a jump of 33-01.25. The final placers for the Lady Eagles were the 4 x 100 relay team who finished in 6th.  Team members were Aurora Gutshall, Briaunna Parks, Randi Pinkerman and Sam Eichelberger.

Head Coach Mike Peterson praised his team's efforts. 

“I knew it would be tough to qualify anybody in this highly competitive district, but I am proud of those two girls who did qualify. We knew Aurora ran a really good time that would probably get her in as a wildcard, but were were not sure until Friday evening. I felt Rahtaya and McKenzie also both had good shots at qualifying and there were just inches away from doing just that in their respective field events. We look forward to see how Mikayla and Aurora will compete at the State Meet."

Peterson is also excited for next season's potential.

"I was very satisfied by how much our entire track team improved each meet and am looking forward to working with these talented young ladies next season. I would like to take the time to thank our seniors, McKenzie Adamson, Shelby Heiser, Randi Pinkerman and Rahtaya Young for putting in four great years for the Lady Eagle Track and Field team, they will all be missed.”

Article and photos courtesy of Mike Peterson.