Blake leads WACO at Ruritan Relays

PACKWOOD ? WACO?s Braden Blake finished first in the 800-meter run during the Ruritan Relays at Pekin in Packwood on Thursday night.

Blake ran a time of 2:16.4 in the event, almost exactly one second ahead of the next finisher.

Blake had the only first-place finish for the Warriors, who took fourth of five teams at the meet. However, the Warriors had five other top-three finishes.

Blake added a second-place finish when he crossed the line in 57.52 seconds during the 400-meter dash.

WACO also got second-place finishes in a pair of hurdle events, as Dylan Carlson was the runner-up in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:02.19, and he also took silver in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 16.30 seconds.

Carlson was just barely edged out of first in the 110 highs, losing the race by five hundreths of a second.

Jorge Chacone took third for WACO in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:28.7, and Bryce Achen also picked up a third-place finish with a time of 25.54 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

The Warriors placed fourth overall out of five teams at the meet. They scored 56 team points.

Pekin claimed a team win handily, scoring 194 points at their home meet.

In second place was Lone Tree with 115 points, followed by Cardinal with 104 points. Tri-County finished fifth with 41 points.

The Warriors compete again, along with the WACO girls? team, in a co-ed meet at Mediapolis on Tuesday, April 2.