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Jacob Hoover lets one fly in the shot put. (Ali Wagner)

The Bellwood-Antis track teams both improved their records to 7-2 in yesterday’s double dual meet against Central and Everett.

For the B-A boys a theme of grit and determination for this team really showed during this meet.

The team has suffered with injuries and other difficulties throughout the season but has not folded, and they continued to prosper.

“It was nice to get some guys back yesterday because without them we would not have won the meet. Their performances may not have been what they wanted, but they were enough to score some points for us and in a 76-74 meet every point counts,” explained track coach Nick Lovrich.

It was no surprise that when the team needed a victory in their last event – the 1600 meter relay, the squad pulled through and got the job done. Although the relay team lost to Everett, it defeated Central, which gave them a crucial five points and a hard earned victory.

“In a close meet, the 1600 relay, the pole vault, and the discus are always important because they are usually the last events being competed.   We did really well in those 3 events yesterday,” said Coach Lovrich.  “In the discus (Tom Whiteford and Jason Shade) we went 4-5 vs Central and 8-1 against Everett.  The pole vault (Ryen Beam, Lucas Tuggy, and Matt Perry) was huge for us going 9-0 against both. So the score going into the final event against Central was 74-71 Central, so whoever won that race was the winner.  Our guys (Shawn Wolfe, Tanner Worthing, Noah D’Angelo, and Nathan Davis) stepped up big time to help us win that race.  That was the first real pressure situation they had and they came through pretty good.”

D’Angelo took home first place in the 800 run, and Robert Vankrik won the two mile race. B-A also had a first-place finisher in the high jump  Matt Glunt won the vent.

Coach Lovrich is confident that this meet will make his team better.

“Meets like this are ones that make you stronger as the season goes on. Hopefully this will make us a better team as we get closer to the end of the year. I really do think we have improved from the beginning of the year to where we are now,” Coach Lovrich said.

Senior Marissa Panasiti, who has not lost a race in the 200 and 400 meter dashes this season, remained perfect in these races. She also won the 100 meter dash for the seventh time in nine races.

The girls swept the pole vault with Lexi Gerwert winning the event jumping 9-6.