Pekin off to the races

Pekin?s indoor track season opened with a couple relay meets, the Bulldog Panther Relays on March 11 in Pella and the Pekin Indoor Classic on Thursday.

On the boys? side in Pella, Pekin won the 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relays as a team. The 4 x 800 was run by Chandler Eckley, Isaiah Wittrock, Austin Fariss and Ryan Millikin in 8:53.76, a full 11 seconds faster than second-place Dallas Center-Grimes at 9:04.51. The 4 x 400 time was 3:42.14, edging Pella by five seconds, and was run by Chandler Eckley, Sam Roth, Wittrock and Cameron Millikin.

The Panthers placed second in the Shuttle Relay, with Chase Copeland, Tyler Copeland, Chase Eckley and Levi Long running a 27.45. Pekin finished fifth in the 4 x 200, clocking a 1:40.07 with the same team that ran the shuttle relay.

On the girls? side of the Bulldog Panther Relays, Pekin?s Shelbie Williams won the shot put event with a distance of 39?9?. Fairfield?s Jada Lippincott finished fourth at 32 feet, 4.5 inches. Kaysha Dodson took the high jump title, clearing the bar at 5?2?. Fairfield?s Kara Jeffrey and Pekin?s Beth Atwood cleared 4?10? and Fairfield?s Kailey Kaska cleared 4?8?.

Gwynne Wright placed third in the 55-meter hurdles at 9.92, missing second place by 1/100th of a second.

At the Indoor Classic event, the Panther boys again took the 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 titles, running a 3:39.59 and 8:44.62 respectively. They also won the medley, running the 2.5 miles with Chandler Eckley, Wittrock, Austin Fariss and Ryan Millikin in 11:34.94 .The shuttle relay team placed second behind Albia with a time of 27.19 and third in the 4 x 200 with a time of 1:41.8.

For the girls, Dodson again took the high jump title at five feet, three inches and Williams won the shot put, throwing it 38 feet. Wright finished second individually in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.77, while Kaylee Linder placed second in the 55-meter dash with a 7.37 time.

Pekin?s girls placed first in the 4 x 200, 4 x 400 and medley events, while finishing third in the 4 x 800 relay.

The Panthers will run next at the Ruritan Relays on March 28 at home.