Boys Track Wins the Team Championship at OBU Bison Invitational
Shawnee, OK - The Bethany (4A) boys track team headed to the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison Invitational on Tuesday, April 9 and came home as the team champions in what was an impressive showing. The Bronchos made a strong statement as one of the top tier teams in class 4A Tuesday as they scored 90 points in a meet, which gave them a 22 point victory over some of the other historically strong track teams in the field. Lincoln Christian, a perennial 4A title contender, finished in second with 68 points while Sulphur, a strong 3A program finished in 3rd with 65 points.
Bethany got off to a hot start in the meet with a first place finish in the 4 x 800 Meter Relay as Daniel Birchell, David Miller, Jordan Flinton, and Chapman Neal, who ran an 8:35.12 which is a season's best for this relay for the Bronchos and good for the fourth best time in class 4A this season so far. Bethany also got a 1st place finish from Lawson Stout in the 110 Meter Hurdles and Evan Rothwell in the Discus. Rothwell had a personal record throw for him of 130 feet and six inches to bring home the gold medal. The Bronchos also had a good showing in the middle distance events with Blake Balenseifen and Jeremiah Martinez bringing home a 1st and 2nd place finish in the 800 Meter Run as they ran away from the field. Daniel Birchell and David Miller continued the success in the middle distance events as Birchell ran a season's best 4:47.01 in the 1600 Meter Run to finish as the runner up and while Miller finished in 5th place.
Other point scoring finishes for Bethany included a 4th place finish in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay by Scott Lynch, Jackson Howard, Hunter Reimers, and Jalen Beaver. Lynch also finished in 4th place in a competitive 200 Meter Dash field while Beaver finished in 6th place in the 100 Meter Dash. Reimers also had a strong 3rd place finish in the 400 Meter Dash later in the day. Some other Broncho hurdlers also had good days with Sam Brandt finishing in 3rd place in the 300 Meter Hurdles and Manuel Maya finishing in 6th place in the 110 Meter Hurdles. In other field events Aaron Sailer had a good day throwing 42'0.25" in the shot put and finishing in 5th place, while Zack Copeland jumped 19'0" to finish in 6th place in the long jump. In addition to Rothwell's gold medal in the discus the Bronchos also had two other point scorers as Alex Millspaugh finished in 4th place throwing 116'9" and Tyler Garner finished in 6th place throwing 114'1". In the final event the Bronchos also brought home a 5th place finish in the 4 x 400 Meter Relay with Copeland, Ashton Taylor, Balenseifen, and Flinton combining to run 3:40.70.
On the girls side the Bronchos also had some success which was headlined by Kaylen King's gold medal run of 59.87 in the 400 Meter Dash. King also anchored the Bethany 4 x 400 Meter Relay team to a season's best time of 4:19.55. Sylvia Lambert brought home a 3rd place finish in the 100 meter hurdles and a 4th place finish in the high jump. Sophomore sprinter Carissa Burns also had a strong day with a 3rd place finish in the 100 Meter Dash and a 6th place finish in the 200 Meter Dash. Also, in the discus Bethany's Caitlyn Vogel had a 4th place finish while Sydney Walstad finished in 5th place overall.
Bethany returns to action Thursday and Friday, April 11-12 at the Wichita State University Shocker Pre-State Invitational which is hosted at historic Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. Follow us at www.BethanyBronchos.com or on Twitter and Facebook for all of the news.