Running into an exciting track and field season.

Selected members of the the track and field team competed in the second meet of the season.

The team competed in 14 events on Saturday, Feb. 18. This meet was very eye-opening to the members of the track and field team to what they are capable of. The next meet will in a month at the Christian Academy of Louisville.

The events competed in included girls 55 meter hurdles, girls 55 meter dash, boys 55 meter dash, girls 400 meter dash, boys 400 meter dash, girls 800 meter run, boys 800 meter run, girls 1600 meter run, boys 1600 meter run, girls 4×400 relay, girls 4×800 meter relay, boys 4×800 meter relay, girls long jump, and girls triple jump.

Two freshmen competed in the girls 55-meter hurdles. Meredith Bass finished 17 out of 38 with a time of 10.96. Finishing in 24 out of 38, Hana Davis ended the race with a time of 11.28.

Freshmen Emily McDonald, Bass, Davis, Mekaiya Cannon, and Valerie Lanci and sophomore Alyssa Williams competed in the girls 55-meter dash. McDonald placed 23 out of 128 with a time of 8.27. Bass finished with a time of 8.56 placing her 45 out of 128. Placing 65 out of 128, Davis finished the race in 8.73. Following close behind Davis, Cannon placed 69 out of 128 with a time of 8.76. Lanci placed 72 out of 128 with a time of 8.78. Williams ended the race with a time of 9.21, placing her in 95 place.

Six Bullitt East members competed in the boys 55-meter dash. Those members include eighth-grader Josh Perdue, freshman Paul Beckmann, sophomores Lamontez Cannon, Bradley Lewis and Dylan Prell and junior AJ Moss. Moss placed ninth out of 142 with a time of 6.99. Perdue finished the race with a time of 7.29 placing him 39 out of 142. Placing 97, Beckmann ended with a time of 7.75. Finishing close behind, Lewis placed 102 with a time of 7.78. Ending the race with a time of 8.04, Lamontez Cannon placed 118 out of 142. Prell placed 133 out of 142 with a time of 8.59.

Sophomore Lindsey Spencer and junior Meredith Thornsberry competed in the girls 1600 meter run. Spencer placed 16 out of 31 runners with a time of 6:30. Thornsberry finished the race with a time of 7:15 placing her in 30 place. In the boys 1600 meter run, Josh Wetzel placed 16 out of 57 with a time of 5:29.

“The track meet went really well for the whole team. We all really worked hard and gave it our all,” said Spencer.

Mekaiya Cannon and Williams also competed in the girls 400-meter dash with senior Brianna Poole. Poole finished the race with a time of 1:09, placing her 13 out of 83. Mekaiya Cannon placed 45 out of 83 with a time of 1:18. Following close behind, Williams placed 56 out of 83 with a time of 1:21.

Moss, Perdue, Beckmann and Lewis competed in the boys 400-meter dash. Moss finished in seventh place out of 99 runners with a time of 58.49. Perdue finished with a time of 1:01 placing him 32 out of 99. Beckmann placed 50 with a time of 1:03. Finishing close behind, Lewis placed 61 with a time of 1:05.

Four Bullitt East girls competed in the girls 800-meter run. Those girls included senior Claire Feldhaus, juniors Julia Poole and Thornsberry and freshman Ryley Ortega. Julia Poole placed second out of 34 with a time of 2:36. Feldhaus finished the race with a time of 2:53, placing 15 out of 34. Placing 22 out of 34, Ortega finished the race with a time of 3:06. Thornsberry finished the race with a time of 3:26, placing her 32 out of 34. In the boys 800-meter run, Wetzel placed 13 out of 40 with a time of 2:26.

“The meet for me went well. It’s a good indicator of where I am now and where I need to be at the end of the season to run fast times. I think the meet helped me a lot to see what I’m capable of this early in the season,” said Julia Poole.

Two Bullitt East groups competed in the girls 4×400 relay. The first group includes Brianna Poole, Julia Poole, Feldhaus and Ortega. The group placed fifth out of 23 with a time of 4:43. The second group includes McDonald, Spencer, Lanci and Bass. They placed ninth out of 23 with a time of 4:45.

Another two Bullitt East groups competed in the boys 4×400 relay. The first group includes Moss, Wetzel, Perdue and Beckmann. They placed sixth out of 15 with a time of 4:07. The second group includes Lewis, Prell and Lamontez Cannon. They competed in the event, but they were disqualified for not having four members.

A group of Feldhaus, Brianna Poole, Julia Poole and Spencer competed in the girls 4×800 relay. The girls placed second out of 11 with a time of 11:12.

“It was exciting. That was the first time we had ran the 4×800 this season, so placing second was great. We were hoping to get first, but overall we all ran good and our time was good, so we were happy,” said Julia Poole.

In the girls long jump, Mekaiya Cannon placed seventh out of 41 with a distance of 14’1.75 meters and McDonald placed eighth out of 41 with a distance of 14’1.5 meters. Mekaiya Cannon also competed in the girls triple jump and placed seventh out of 12 with a distance of 27 meters. “Placing seventh in the girls long jump was a great start for the season and placing seventh in the triple jump wasn’t the best start, but I plan on improving in that area… the meet for my team overall went well, but there’s always room and time for us to get better,” said Mekaiya Cannon.
“I am very excited for this season because I can already tell my teammates and I are putting in a lot of effort at practice, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we compete at meets,” said Spencer. The next track and field meet for Bullitt East will be the Harry Greschel Invite at the Christian Academy of Louisville on March 18.