New Bloomfield runners hopes to lead pack at sectionals
By Jeremy Jacob
For the Fulton Sun
After a strong showing last Saturday in the Class 2 District 2 meet at New Haven, the New Bloomfield track and field teams will look to have more success today in sectionals at South Callaway High School.
New Bloomfield athletes recorded 16 top-4 finishes at the district meet. Five of those came courtesy of their boys long-distance runners.
Junior Nathan Hinrichs had two first-place times, winning the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. He even set the school record in the 3,200 on April 27 in the Guy Rush Memorial Meet in California with a time of 9:45.51.
Hinrichs has finished in the top spot in the 3,200 eight times.
New Bloomfield senior Caleb Distler finished the 3,200 district race behind Hinrichs, adding a second-place finish in the 800 and a third-place finish in the 1,600. Distler has the top conference marks in the 800 and 1,600 and the top district mark in the 1,600.
Distler broke the school record in the 800 with a time of 1:59.59 on April 17 at the Russellville Invitational. He also set the best mark in the 1,600 by running the race in 4:29.88 on April 30 at the South Callaway Invitational. The senior has six first-place finishes in the 800 and four in the 1,600.
New Bloomfield track and field coach Jacob White said Hinrichs and Distler work well with each other, but have gone back-and-forth this year for the 1,600 school record.
“We’ve got guys that are pretty strong in distance,” White said. “They push each other a lot.”
Freshman Hunter Dawson and senior Adam Deppe had the rest of the Wildcats’ individual top-3 finishes at districts. Dawson placed first in the 110-meter hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles, and Deppe had a second-place mark in the long jump. Deppe finished fourth in each of the hurdles events.
White said Deppe is a strong hurdler and does well enough in the long jump to possibly qualify for the state championships in both events. He added Dawson has a chance to do so in the hurdles and the relay events.
The Lady Wildcats have had success in distance and hurdle events. Junior Mikaela Lemelin finished third at districts in the 3,200 and has the top conference time in the event. Senior Aislin Jennings finished second at districts in the 300 hurdles.
Lemelin has run the top time in the 3,200 twice and Jennings has risen above the competition four times in the 300 hurdles.
“They both have a chance to make it into the state meet,” White said.
Junior Brooke Talbot in the pole vault and junior Ellie Emerson in the javelin aim to qualify for state. Emerson has the top javelin mark in the conference and has the fourth-longest throw in Class 2 this year. Talbot has team season bests in the pole vault and the 200.
Going into sectionals, White said he has been impressed by how his team has performed this year.
“They are a bunch of hardworking kids and it has been fun watching them succeed,” White said.