Published: May 07, 2008 07:36 pm            

Plainfield track teams speed past Cascade

PLAINFIELD — Tuesday’s meet with Cascade was Plainfield’s first on its home track this year, and the Quakers made sure it was a good one. The Plainfield boys took all but one event on their way to winning the meet 112-20, while the Quaker girls also fared well with a 90-41 victory.

“We practice on our home track but a lot of times we practice at the middle school as well,” Plainfield boys’ coach Brian Pelkey said. “So we’re still trying to get a feel for our track, which is a little bit different. We’ve got to come back here next Thursday night and run sectional on our track.”

Tuesday’s meet marked Plainfield’s second in as many nights, so Pelkey relied on some of his squad’s reserves for depth.

“We ran last night at Martinsville, so we tried to limit the guys who ran last night to two events,” Pelkey said. “We tried to just work through this meet as best as possible. A lot of guys were kind of sore from yesterday, so we’re working through that and giving some other kids a chance to run in the varsity events.”

On the boys’ side, Plainfield dominated the sprint events as Kevin Mucho won the 100-meters (11.55), Bobby Finchum took the 200 (23.66), and Matt Williams finished first in the 400 (54.32). The Quaker distance runners also had a productive night, with Andrew Wilhelm winning the 1600 (4:54.57) and Mohsin Mukhtar outlasting the field to take the 3200 (10:45.52).

“We had some other guys that stepped up at different places,” Pelkey said. “Bobby Finchum ran the 200 and did a good job. Kevin Mucho ran well in the 100 tonight. He’s been running the 4x100 all year for us, but for him to come out of the blocks and run that fast, that’s promising.”

Other winners for the Plainfield boys included Riley Greene in the 300 hurdles (44.07), Pat Patterson in the 800 (2:08.08), and the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800 relay teams. In the field events, Finchum took the high jump (5’10’’), Zane Fakes won the shot put (43’8’’), and Tony Hawk finished first in discus (112’7 1/2’).

Dan Lewellen picked up Cascade’s lone victory in the 110 hurdles (16.60). The Cadets recorded several second-place finishes including Lewellen in the 300 hurdles, Joel Fisher in the 200, and Wade Hacker in the 3200.

The Plainfield girls won 13 of the 16 events. Leading the way for the Quakers was sophomore Courtney Erlenbaugh, who sped to victory in the 100 (13.19) and 200 (27.41). Sister Kelsey Erlenbaugh finished first in the 800 (2:34.20). Distance runner Krista Beal took the 1600 for Plainfield in 6:01.13. Junior Rebecca Hoesman took both hurdles events, winning the 110 in 16.64 and the 300 in 49.24.

The Plainfield girls also had a productive night in the field. Morgan Ford hurled the discus a first-place distance of 99’9’’, Alicia Peterman won the shot put (33’6 1/2’’), and Melissa Jones finished tops in the pole vault by clearing 9’6.’’

The Cascade 4x100 team of Kelsey Morefield, Melissa English, Kelsey Cooper, and Shelby Reynolds sprinted to victory in 53.62. Other winners for Cascade were English in long jump (15’6’’) and Shaylinn Eckols in high jump (4’10’’).

Both the Plainfield and Cascade girls’ teams return to action in sectionals May 13, while the boys’ teams begin postseason competition May 15.

kevin.leibrock@flyergroup.com

        

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