by Tyler Foster

Last Tuesday, May 5, the PCM boys’ and girls’ track teams competed in Alleman, hosted by North Polk. In a meet with very strong competition, which included some outstanding track teams, both the boys and girls competed to their liking.
On the boys’ side, senior Skyler Koder finished second in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 16.01 and fourth in high jump with a leap of six feet even. Fellow senior Connor Warrick hurled a throw of 44-01.25, a personal best, placing him third in shot put. Junior Logan Gilman also finished third in discus with a throw of 118-03. The only first place for the Mustangs was the shuttle hurdle team, consisting of seniors Koder, Luke Pendroy, Ricky Reeve and junior Austin Sneller, clocking in at 1:03.13.
“We have really improved our overall attitude as a team and we are starting to see better results with those attitudes. It’s nice to see our times improve from week to week.” said Sneller
The girls had multiple first-place finishes on the day. Freshman Baylee Smith won the 3000 with a time of 12:10.30. Junior Ashley Van Gorp won the open 200-meter dash with a season best of 27.15. The distance medley relay team of seniors Rachel Peter and Mackenzie Clarke and juniors Emily Hugen and Van Gorp finished first with a season best 4:25.58. Other notable finishers were sophomore Jayci Vos, who placed second in both the 100-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles with times of 13.46 and 68.33, respectively. The 4×400 relay team of Peter, Vos, Van Gorp and sophomore Rachel Stafford had yet another season best and finished second with a time of 4:12.79.
Head Coach Bridget Martin said, “We had multiple girls out-lean other runners at the finish line to get those extra points needed for the team. Our girls continue to work together as a team and reach our goal of placing in the top three over every meet. We are getting to the crucial time in the season, and now is the time we need to shine.”