Hillsboro track struggles for team points at Halstead

Hillsboro found team points hard to come by in its first invitational track meet of the season, with the boys placing eighth and the girls 12th Thursday in the 15-school Conrad Nightingale meet in Halstead.

Conway Springs claimed the boys? title with a 95-84 edge over second-place Berean Academy, while Hesston outscored runner-up Conway Springs, 108-96, in the girls? division.

Hillsboro boys finished with 39 points and the girls with eight.

Joel Allen won Hillsboro?s only gold medal, winning the 3,200 in a season-best 9 minutes, 57 seconds. He also placed second in the 1,600 (4:44) and was a member of the second-place 4×800 team (8:43) that also included Josh Richert, Justin King and Bret Mueller.

Trojan coach Dennis Boldt highlighted Allen?s 18-second victory in the 3,200.

?It was a fantastic time in some difficult conditions,? he said.

Meanwhile, Callie Serene turned in the top finish for the HHS girls by placing third in the 800 (2:33.22). The team?s only other entry that scored was the fifth-place 4×800 team (11:36.71) that included Erin Wiebe, Heather Mayfield, Erica Just and Serene.

?We had some very good results tonight, considering they were coming off a meet on Tues?day and that the majority of the team was on a trip,? coach Dennis Boldt said.

?We look forward to the meets we host next week and getting back into the routine of practice.?

Sterling?With only 13 athletes competing, the Trojan boys? and girls? teams each finished third out of five schools at the Central Kansas Track League meet in Sterling April 19.

The host school ran away with both divisions. The Sterling boys rolled up 132 points to outpace Herington (83), Hillsboro (68), Goessel (52) and Canton-Galva (4), while the Black Bear girls finshed with 113, followed by Herington (56), Hillsboro (52), Goessel (37) and Canton-Galva (35).

The Hillsboro boys won five events: Joel Allen, the 1,600 (4 minutes, 45 seconds) and the 800 (2:09); Mitchell Day, the 100 (11.33) and long jump (20 feet, 5 inches); and Jordan Riggs the javelin (150-9).

Callie Serene took home the only gold medal for the Trojan girls, winning the 800 in 2:47.

Considering the number of athletes missing because of a youth conference, Boldt was pleased with his team?s performance.

?I thought placing third despite having such a small group was an exceptional finish for both the girls? and boys? teams,? he said.

Coming?The Trojans were scheduled to host a CKTL meet Tuesday, followed by the James Thomas Invitational Friday, beginning at 3 p.m. at Joel H. Wiens Stadium.

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