Tuscola track rolls at ALAH Invite
By Lenny Sementi
Ryan Hornaday’s boys’ track team finally got to start their 2018 season last Wednesday the 11th after Mother Nature forced a delayed start to the season. Hunter Woodard and the boys dominated at the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond Invite taking home seven first place medals and the team title scoring 104 points to second place ALAH’s 82 points.
The boys in black and gold captured points in all four relays scoring 36 ponts in all with two firsts and two seconds. Noah Woods was the lynch pin in both the 4×100 and the 4×400-meter races both of which collected gold medals. Ben Dixon, Dalton Hoel, and Brandon Douglas joined him in the first race rounding the ALAH oval in 45.8-seconds. Jon Hill, Bradley Kramer, and Michael Holmes were Wood’s running mates in the 4×4 turning in a very good 3:39. Hill, Holmes, and Kramer welcomed Mason Day to the party in the 4×800. The four middle distance runners placed second with a time of 9-minutes 7-seconds. Hoel, Dixon, and Douglas handed off to Mathew Cantu in the other sprint relay securing eight points for the team and second place hardware posting 1:38.
Woods scored in four events taking first in the 100 breaking the tape in 12.1-seconds and fifth in the 400 with a time of 54.12. Hill led the way in the 400 ending the night on top of the podium and a gold medal finishing the race in 52.59. Sophomore Jake Kibler was coach Hornaday’s point man in the hurdles. Kibler took third in the 110 high hurdles and fourth in what is always the toughest race of the day the 300 hurldes, posting 10 points total. JD Barrett was a near miss in the 3200-meter falling a few seconds short of scoring by landing in seventh place with a career best time of 11:08.
Hunter Woodard led the way in the field sweeping the throwing events. The Oklahoma State football commit won the shot with a personal best outdoor throw of 56-feet 2-inches. He fired the discus 147’ 4.5” to complete the sweep. CJ Picaso scored in shot as well with a fifth place finish tossing it 43’ 10.5”. Haden Cothron and Hoel rounded out the scoring in field. The duo took first and fourth in the long jump adding 14 points to the team totals. Cothron soared to first with a PR of 20-feet 7-inches, while Hoel posted a jump of 19’ 3”.