Fairfield girls, Pekin boys run in Pella

PELLA ? The Fairfield girls? track and field team was the winner of two events at the annual Central Indoor in Pella Thursday.

Trojan junior Sydney Howard, last year?s winner of the 55-meter dash, repeated in the sprint with a time of 7.33 seconds. The 4x200 team of McKenzie McClure, Sydney Burnett, Sesali Martin and Howard finished atop the field in 1:56.60.

Fairfield also placed third in both the 4x800 and distance-medley relays. In the 4x8, Erin Thompson, Huma Liptak, Jessica Lamb and Hannah Sobaski finished in 10:49. Liptak, Thompson, Marisa Repp and Martin ran the distance-medley in 4:46.

Other top individual finishers for Fairfield were Lamb and Burnett. Lamb added a third-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:21, and Burnett ran the 55-meter dash in 7.82 seconds to take sixth place.

Alexis Ring, Grace Smith, Ashley Manning and Repp got their first taste of the shuttle-hurdle relay this season. The quartet was fourth with a time of 42.61.

The Trojans will be running on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls Tuesday.

Pekin boys starting fast

PELLA ? At this point in the season, Pekin boys? track and field coach Davis Eidahl is only concerned with improvement from one meet to the next.

Right now, the Panthers are right where Eidahl wants them.

?Our improvement from one week ago was very good,? Eidahl said. ?Our boys have worked hard in practice but also worked very hard competing in the meet.?

The best event for the Panthers place-wise Thursday was the shot put, with Derek Morales (48?9?) and Tater Clubb (45?2?) taking third and fourth, respectively.

Colton Swanson, Cory Loyd, Chase Earnest and Jordan Hagedon finished third in the shuttle-hurdle relay (38.56), and the Panthers? 4x800 and distance-medley relays both added fourth-place results.

Quinton Garrels took fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17-feet, 4.75 inches, while Earnest was fifth in the high jump at five feet, eight-inches.

The Pekin boys kick off the outdoor season with the Ruritan Relays in Packwood March 26.