The Ballard women's track team finished as runner-up at the Carroll Invite on Monday.  The Bombers scored 109 team points with Carroll winning the meet with a team score of 139.  The 4x800 realy team of Paityn Noe, Brynn Wilson, Jada Lande and Ava Richardson finished first in a time of 10:38.93.  Annika Larson won the 1500 M run finishing in a time of 5:05.05 and teammate Ava Vance finishing 5th in a time of 5:33.93.  Vance also finished 2nd in the 3000 M run.  Noel Boettger finished second running in a time of 27.96.  Ally Baker finished second in the 100 M hurdles with a time of 17.47.

The Bombers are back in action on Tuesday - April 18 when they compete in the Bomber Relays.  The meet will start at 4:30 PM.

Comments From Women's Head Coach Scott Barth:

"It was a beautiful night for our second meet of the season. Having missed two out of our first three meets, getting back into competition felt good.  Overall we had some great performances which are showing our growth as a team and the level of competitiveness we are putting on display. 

We had two first place finishes on the night.  The 4x800 opened with the first win of the night with a time of 10:38.93.  The foursome of Paityn Noe, Brynn Wilson, Jada Lande and Ava Richardson.  Paityn opened up with a 2:22 split and the other 3 cruised to the victory by over 100 meters.  The other win of the night came from Annika Larson in the 1500 meters.  She is working her way back from injury and came back strong in running a season best time of 5:05 and showed that she is on the mend. 

We also had a lot of runner-up finishes that were backed up with a second place winner in many open events.  Ava Vance ran a strong second in the 3000 meters.  She is also coming back from injury and in her first race back.  She started back where she left off and is getting back into form.  Kasey Larson and Brooklyn Baumgardner doubled up placers in the high jump with 3rd and 5th place finishers.  The shuttle hurdle team of Noel Boettger, Reagan Bartlett, Anya Jorgensen and Ally Baker ran a very good race placing 2nd with a time of 1:13.55.  That ellipses our season best time from last season which is very promising heading forward.  We doubled up in the 800 meters with Paityn Noe running a likely Drake meet qualifying time of 2:18.38 (PR) in placing 2nd and Brenna Baumgardner ran a 2:39.23 (PR) to take 5th in a good field.  I was proud of Paityn taking a chance and stepping out of her comfort zone in challenging herself in a race she is not used to running in and against one of the state's best.  It was a great, neck to neck race and Paityn had a chance.  Noel Boettger placed 2nd in the 200 meters with a time of 27.96.  We placed 3rd and 6th in the 400 meter hurdles with Brynn Wilson and Anya Jorgensen in times of 1:18.36 and 1:21.76 respectively.  This was the first 400 meter hurdles race for both of these athletes and they showed potential in doing so. I really appreciated their willingness to try something new.  Ava Vance also ran in the 1500 meters event that Annika won.   Ava ran a 5:33.93 which was good for 5th place.

As you can see it was a good night for the Bomber girls and lots of progress was made. We are developing our depth and competing well in most events. Our athletes are growing and improving in every event and I am very proud of their efforts."

TEAM SCORES

1. Carroll, 139

2. Ballard, 109

3. Greene County, 82

4. Woodward-Granger, 54

5. Audubon, 51

6. Kuemper Catholic, 46

7. South Central Calhoun, 37

8. IKM-Manning, 30

9. MVAOCOU, 28

10. Perry, 13