The Ballard women's track team kicked off the '23 season hosting the Ballard Invitational.  Annika Larson started off by winning the 3000M run in a time of 11:56.78.  The 4x800 relay team of Paityn Noe, Brenna Baumgardner, Jada Lande, and Ava Richardson won with a time of 10:44.35.  The distance medley team of Allie Kuiper, Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson, and Noe won with a time of 4:33.73.

The Bombers are back in action on Tuesday - April 4 when they compete in the Gilbert Invitational.  The meet will start at 4:30 PM.

Comments From Women's Head Coach Scott Barth:

"It was great to get our first meet of the year under our belts with a decent night to run. It was a smaller field than we are used to in most meets, but that offered us a chance to place our athletes in multiple events to get the season started.

We had three first place finishers on the night. Annika Larson started out the running events with a W in the 3000 meters, running an 11:56.78 to beat the rest of the field by over a minute. The 4x800 followed suit with the win in a time of 10:44.35 which knocked 12 seconds off of their Dickinson Relays time. The 4x8 was composed of Paityn Noe, Brenna Baumgardner, Jada Lande and Ava Richardson. The next win of the night came in the distance medley team of Allie Kuiper, Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson and Paityn Noe in a very good time of 4:33.73.

We added in several second and third place finishers as well. Kasey Larson made a solid return to track and field with a 2nd place finish in the high jump with a height of 4-10. Ally Baker added a 2nd place finish in the 100 hurdles with a good opening season time of 18.40. Ava Richardson crossed the finish line with a time of 2:41.10 in the 800 meters to earn a silver in that event. Noel Boettger took the bronze in the 100 meter dash with a time of 14.27. Ava Richardson added her third medal on the night with a third place finish in the 400 meters with a time of 1:07.44 The shuttle hurdle team of Reagan Bartlett, Liberty Boettger, Noel Boettger and Baker ran a great early season time of 1:17 to place 3rd. 

Several of the athletes were entered in 4 events tonight since we were missing several athletes who were participating at Model UN. That is not an easy thing to do on a normal night and the wind made the challenge even greater. I am really pleased with how we performed with our limited roster. I saw a  lot of fight in the girls tonight and know that they have all been putting in the work during practices. There is a  lot of upside on this team and it should be a fun year to see how we develop."

TEAM SCORES

1. Carlisle, 164

2. Norwalk, 141

3. Bondurant-Farrar, 94

4. Ballard, 88

5. Grinnell, 81