Running Through the End of the Season With Eyes Set On Regionals and State

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Senior Connor Green running in the boys 400 meter dash at Bullitt East. Photo: Haley Grether

Ainsley Gordon, Copy Editor

It’s the beginning of the end.

The team finished their regular season and then competed at the regional meet.

Bullitt East held their last home meet on May 8 against North Bullitt and Bullitt Central. They then traveled to Male High School to compete in regionals. Their last meet will be at the University of Kentucky for state.

At the final home track and field meet on Monday, the girls team placed first out of three teams and the boys team placed second out of three teams.

In the girls 100 meter dash, freshman Valerie Lanci placed fourth out of 13 with a time of 14.08.  Middle schooler Addison Pruitt placed fifth out of 13 with a time of 14.33 in the girls 100 meter dash. Also in the girls 100 meter dash, middle schooler Kristina Adams placed sixth out of 13 with a time of 14.43.

Eighth-grader Josh Perdue competed in the boys 100 meter dash and placed third out of 11 with a time of 12.05.

In the girls 100 meter hurdles, seventh grader Emma Egan placed first out of three with a time of 17.93. Freshman Meredith Bass placed second out of three in the girls 100 meter hurdles with a time of 19.78.

Five Bullitt East girls ran in the girls 200 meter dash and placed first through fifth. Senior Claire Feldhaus placed first out of 11 with a time of 27.58. Freshman Emily Ezell then placed second out of 11 with a time of 27.83. Freshman Emily McDonald placed third out of 11 with a time of 28.08. Senior Lauren Masden placed fourth out of 11 with a time of 28.18. Junior Taylor Willis placed fifth out of 11 with a time of 29.37.

Junior AJ Moss placed second out of 12 in the boys 200 meter dash with a time of 23.46. In the boys 200 meter dash, senior Connor Green placed third out of 12 with a time of 24.02.

In the girls 300 meter hurdles, Egan placed first out of five with a time of 51.14. Bass followed closely behind and placed second out of five with a time of 51.27 in the girls 300 meter hurdles.

Masden placed first out of six in the girls 400 meter dash with a time of 1:03.74. Senior Brianna Poole also competed in the girls 400 meter dash and placed third out of six with a time of 1:05:45. In the boys 400 meter dash, Green placed first out of seven with a time of 52:02. Moss placed second out of seven in the boys 400 meter dash with a time of 52.87.

In the girls 800 meter run, junior Julia Poole placed first out of nine with a time of 2:31.84. Sophomore Allie Rae Thompson placed second out of nine in the girls 800 meter run with a time of 2:38.06. Sophomore Lindsey Spencer placed fourth out of nine with a time of 2:57.59 in the girls 800 meter run. Sophomore Tyler Ford placed first out of four in the boys 800 meter run with a time of 2:29.78.

Eighth-grader Bailey Chitwood placed first out of six in the girls 1600 meter run, with a time of 5:49.02. Spencer placed second out of six in the girls 1600 meter run with a time of 6:31.25. Junior Cori Etherton placed third out of six with a time of 6:33.72 in the girls 1600 meter run. In the boys 1600 meter run, sophomore Josh Wetzel placed first out of six with a time of 5:16.66.

In the girls 3200 meter run, sophomore Abigail Clarkson placed first out of three with a time of 15:38:59. Middle schooler Dalton Lesher placed first out of five with a time of 10:55.88 in the boys 3200 meter run.

In the girls 4×100 meter relay, McDonald, Thompson, Ezell, and sophomore Emmy Ralph placed first out of two teams with a time of 53.96.

Bullitt East was the only school to compete in the girls 4×200 meter relay, but Brianna Poole, McDonald, Ezell and Ralph ended well with a time of 1:51.24.

Green, Moss, freshman Ethan Boyer and Perdue placed first out of two teams with a time of 1:38.84 in the boys 4×200 meter relay.

Feldhaus, Julia Poole, Thompson and Ralph placed first out of two in the girls 4×400 meter relay with a time of 4:18.36. In the boys 4×400 meter relay, Moss, Green, Wetzel and junior Sean Woods placed first out of two with a time of 3:44.75.

In the girls 4×800 meter relay, Feldhaus, Masden, Julia Poole and Spencer placed first out of two teams with a time of 10:16.44. In the boys 4×800 meter relay, Woods, Wetzel, Ford and sophomore Cole Davenport placed first out of two teams with a time of 9:36.72.

Willis placed first out of three in the girls high jump. In the boys high jump, Boyer placed first out of five. Freshman Mekaiya Cannon placed first out of four in the girls long jump and McDonald placed second out of four in the girls long jump.

“(The) final home meet went well. We moved kids around in events and that worked out well. It is always great to win as a team which the girls did. We had some really encouraging performances to lead into the region meet. And we were able to decide on some events for individuals that we were questioning before the meet,” said Lenny Raley the track and field coach.

The time finally came when the team competed at the regional competition. Many athletes competed well.

In the boys 400 meter dash, Green placed fourth out of 15 with a time of 51.09. Moss then placed fifth out of 15 with a time of 51.66.

Masden placed third out of 12 in the girls 800 meter run with a time of 2:20.43.

In the girls 4×200 meter relay, Ralph, McDonald, Ezell and Brianna Poole placed fifth out of seven with the time of 1:49.74.

Masden, Feldhaus, Brianna Poole and Ralph placed third out of seven with a time of 4:08.12 in the girls 4×400 meter relay.

“Regionals went very well for me. I was really happy with my performances and doing what I need to do to help our relays and team as a whole. For the team, it went great! The girls got fourth and the guys got eighth which is extremely good since we are in one of the hardest regions of triple a,” said Brianna Poole.

In the girls 4×800 meter relay, Masden, Feldhaus, Julia Poole and Thompson placed third out of six with a time of 10:07.53.

“(Regional) went good for me. That hype of an environment made me want to run better and qualify for state… I hope we all do really well (at state) and win and if not, place really well,” said Thompson.

In the girls long jump, Cannon placed fourth out of ten. Willis placed second out of seven in the girls high jump.

Seven Bullitt East events qualified for the state meet. Those include the girls long jump, girls high jump, boys 400 meter dash, girls 800 meter run, girls 4×200 meter relay, girls 4×400 meter relay and the girls 4×800 meter relay.

“There is tremendous competition in all events and we are very pleased to represent Bullitt East in all of the events that we will be competing in,” said Raley. The state competition will be on Saturday, May 20 at the University of Kentucky.