The last time Silver Lake girls claimed a Twin Valley Conference Championship was in 2003. This year, the Mustangs reclaimed that title on Saturday, May 3rd, earning 121 team points, 15 points ahead of the next team, Shelton. The meet got underway at Sandy Creek High School with field events. Sophie Schmidt earned a personal best jump of 16-03 to earn a championship in long jump. The junior claimed two more gold medals along with a silver medal for the day. She took the top spot in the 200 meter dash with a season-best time of 27.26, ran the final leg of the 1600 meter relay for gold, and also claimed second place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:02.30. Also in field events, freshman Libby Soucek took the second place spot in triple jump with her jump of 32-02.25 and earned a fifth place in long jump with a leap of 14-11.50. Sophomore Kaisley Hansen jumped her best height of the year in high jump, 4-08, to earn a silver medal. Lastly, in the throwing events, Silver Lake claimed the top two spots in discus with seniors Katelyn Strampher and Katy Soucek. Strampher threw 116-09 and Soucek threw 113-10. Soucek also claimed a fifth place in shot put with her heave of 32-08.
Following the field event series, the Mustangs got started in the running events. Both junior MaKenna Karr and Libby Soucek advanced to finals in the 100-meter dash, with Karr ultimately earning second place with her time of 13.23. Karr was also a part of the 1600-meter relay team that earned gold, and she earned another silver medal in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 50.76. Following the hurdles came the 400-meter dash. Senior Paige Faimon earned a fourth-place medal with her personal best time of 1:05.30. Faimon also earned second place in the 800-meter run with a season record of 2:32.16, and she competed on the 1600-meter relay team. In long distance, freshman Kaylee Karr earned the top spot in the 1600 meter run, running a 5:44.23. She also set a personal record and took second place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:50.35, and she rounded out the 1600-meter relay team.
On the boys’ side, the Mustangs earned their fair share of gold medals as well. The 3200-meter relay team, consisting of freshman Laikyn Krueger, sophomore Lane Magarin, and juniors Jaxon tenBensel and Hayden Karr, took the top spot with a time of 8:53.02. The team found success in the relay events, earning fifth place in the 400 and 1600-meter relays. The 400-meter relay consists of freshman Braedyn Snell, sophomore Brody Knehans, tenBensel, and senior Lane Conway. The 1600-meter relay team consists of Magarin, Karr, Conway, and tenBensel. Other members of the team who earned gold included tenBensel in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 43.42. Karr also claimed another gold medal in the 1600-meter run with his personal best time of 5:01.08. Conway earned a sixth-place medal in the 800-meter run, with his time of 2:12.85, and Krueger placed sixth in the 3200-meter run, shaving a lot off of his time and finishing with 11:38.24.
Also competing that day was the junior high track team, which earned a lot of personal bests as well. For the girls, 8th grader Jerzey Brittain earned a gold medal in shot put with her throw of 27-07. She also took sixth place in discus with a throw of 66-02. In field events, 8th grader Elisha Johnson placed sixth in high jump, clearing 4 feet. Johnson also claimed a few medals in the hurdles. She placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 20.29 and fourth in the 200-meter hurdles with another personal record of 36.27. Moreover, 8th grader Araya Gomez earned a personal best and placed in the 100-meter hurdles. She finished in fifth place with a time of 20.99. 7th grader Olivia Whitten earned a silver medal in the 1600-meter run with a personal best time of 6:42.26. Whitten also placed fifth in the 800-meter run, running 3:04.11. 7th grader Elise Parr followed right behind her with 3:06.65 to place sixth. Rounding out the running events, the 1600 meter relay team, consisting of 7th graders Leah Bartels, Parr, and Hailee Knehans and 8th grader Araya Gomez, placed sixth.
For the junior high boys, 8th grader Devin Maudlin started out the day by placing third in the 1600-meter run. He ran a personal best time of 5:22.74. Maudlin also claimed fifth place in long jump. 8th grader Graham Karr claimed the lone gold medal for the team in the 100-meter hurdles, running a time of 17.76. Karr also placed fourth in the 200-meter hurdles and sixth in triple jump. 8th grader Noah Lutz placed fifth in shot put with his heave of 35-07. The 400-meter relay team, consisting of Karr, Lutz, Maudlin, and 7th grader Christopher Smidt, earned a sixth-place finish as well.