The Ballard women's track team placed second in the Lindsay Ellingson Coed Invite in Gilbert on Tuesday night and the men placed sixth.  The Bombers would see improvements in all areas of the track.  Ava Vance won 3,000 meter run in a time of 11:55.  The 4x800 relay team (Kate Huisinga, Mya Ehresman, Caitlin Maher and Josie Fleischmann) finished in 1st place with a time of 10:35.  The men's 4x200 relay team took third in a time of 1:40.31.

In the shuttle hurdles, Rori Olson, Alexis Kluender, Reagan Bartlett and Ally Baker ran a personal best en route to a first place finish.  Blake Stover picked up a second place finish in the long jump in a jump of 18'8.75".  Caitlin Maher won the 800 and Noel Boettger won the 400 for the Bombers.  Cael Estrem finished fifth in the long jump with a jump of 17'1.5".

Comments From Head Coach Scott Barth:

"It was a warm and windy night, but it was nice to get another meet under our belts.  We were without the services of one of our most consistent relay runners in Natalie Maher, but we made adjustments and turned in some good performances. 

Our first place finishers on the night were Ava Vance in her inaugural 3,000 meter race in a time of 11:55.  The 4x800 team of Kate Huisinga, Mya Ehresman, Caitlin Maher and Josie Fleischmann followed up with a 1st place finish in a time of 10:35.  The distance Medley team of Katie Tollefson, Molly Ihle, Kate Miller and Shewaye Johnson took home the gold in a time of 4:30.  The shuttle hurdle team of Rori Olson, Alexis Kluender, Reagan Bartlett and Ally Baker ran a season personal record of 1:17.79 in winning the event.  Ally Baker won the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 18.06 for her first win of the season.  Caitlin Maher picked up the win in the 800 meter run in a time of 2:31.94.  Noel Boettger ran away with the 400 meter hurdle title in a time of 1:22.38.  Shewaye Johnson won her 1,500 meter race in a time of 4:47.58.

Other top 3 finishers on the night were 2nd place finisher in the 800 Josie Fleischmann, 3rd place finisher in the 1,500 Kate Huisinga, the sprint medley relay of Alexis Kluender, Carley Wilson, Molly Ihle and Noel Boettger, the 4x200 meter team of Katie Tollefson, Molly Ihle, Mya Ehresman, and Carley Wilson and Cecilia Christensen in the discus with her PR.

We ended up with a point total of 134 points which was good enough for second place in the team race.  That is a sign that we are developing into a pretty good team.  Distance events do set the tone for us, but sprinters are moving up in the standings also and contributing quite a few points on their own.  Getting points in the discus was a big thing for us also and Cecilia continues to improve.  We are off for nine days which will give us some quality time for additional conditioning.  That should pay off for us at our next meet in Ogden on April 15th."

Comments From Head Coach Darren Herrold:

"Blake Stover had a personal record in the long jump.  The sprint medley dropped five seconds off of their times and the distance medley improved by 11 seconds.  Austin Shoen improved his 1,600 time by 25 seconds.  The 4X100 improved by two seconds and the 4X400 improved by ten seconds.  We are seeing excellent improvement by our athletes and are very happy with how we are progressing."

LINDSEY ELLINGSON WOMEN'S SCORES

1. Roland-Story, 160

2. Ballard, 134

3. Gilbert, 124

4. South Hamilton, 110

5. Des Moines Christian, 74

6. Perry, 54

7. Saydel, 27

LINDSEY ELLINGSON MEN'S SCORES

1. Pella, 186.50

2. Gilbert, 127.50

2. Roland-Story, 127.50

4. South Hamilton, 108.50

5. Des Moines Christian, 85

6. Ballard, 41.50

7. Saydel, 23.50

8. Perry, 22

The Bomber women are back in action on Thursday - April 15 when they travel to Ogden.  The meet will start at 4:30 PM.

The Bomber men are back in action on Thursday - April 8 when they travel to Nevada.  The meet will start at 4:30 PM.