Highland boys slog their way to fifth place, girls third, at Madison County Track Meet

In conditions better suited to waterfowl and fish, the Highland boys and girls track teams both had solid performances at the Madison County track meet on Monday at Highland High School.

Highland’s boys finished fifth place overall with 56 points behind first place Edwardsville (169), second place Triad (100), third place Alton (96), and just 11 points behind fourth place Collinsville (67). Granite City was in sixth place with 53 points.

Highland boys coach Joe Shannon was pleased with the Bulldogs’ performance overall.

“I think we did better than we did at county last year,” Shannon said. “We’re a small school, so to bet any of the teams in it with Triad being one of the top 2A teams and then the rest are 3A schools, so even just beating Granite City is a pretty big accomplishment for us so I’m pretty happy with how we competed yesterday.”

Senior Dallas Mancinas led the way for the Bulldogs with first place in the 3,200-meter run (9:41.43) and a second place in the 1,600-meter run (4:30.73).

“Dallas is having a helluva year this year,” Shannon said. “Right now his PR in the open distance events is below the state qualifying time, so he qualified in the 2-mile, the mile, and qualified in the 800 and he’s also part of the 4 x 800 team that went even seconds under (state qualifying) as well so he’s having a crazy good year.”

Highland also had solid finishes in the relays as the Bulldogs took fourth place in the 4 x 100 relay, third place in the 4 x 200 relay, fifth place in the 4 x 400 relay, and fourth in the 4 x 800 relay.

“That 4 x 200 relay with Hunter Fridley, Dylan Beadle, Rome Wallace, and Cam Ward to compete in that event and get a third place and be able to compete with a program like Triad is really good (for us),” Shannon said. “That 4 x 200 I’m proud of and it seems like our sprints and rays are starting to click at the right time.”

In the field events, senior Cam Ward fared well in the long jump with a fourth-place finish (5.96).

“He’s been having a really good season this year and I’m kind of excited to see how he’s going to finish his track career this year. His long jump was pretty good and he did well in the open 200 as he and Fridley went fifth and sixth in the open 200 and to get two kids scoring in a spring event at county is pretty exciting for us,” Shannon said.

On the girls’ side of the meet Highland had an even better day as the Bulldog girls finished third overall with 101 points behind Edwardsville (152) and Alton (119). HHS finished ahead of Collinsville (76), Triad (55), and Granite City (50).

Highland girls coach Nick Schaible was proud of his team’s showing as they battled through wet conditions and a lengthy rain delay to finish strong. “They really got locked back in after the rain delay and came out (strong) and some of them even had some PR’s,” Schaible said.

Junior Peyton Frey and freshman Kallie Hubbard led the Bulldogs with a big effort in the 800-meter run. Frey took first place (2:26.14) and Hubbard placed second in the race (2:31.96). “Peyton did good. She got first and we had a freshman get second, which is awesome as well. Peyton has been balancing soccer and track, so for her to come out and perform at that level is awesome to see.”

Highland got another solid showing in the 3,200-meter run as Rowan Passmore placed third at 13:15.89 and Layna Powers got fourth place with a time of 14:01.67.

Highland’s 4 x 400 relay team led the way in the relay races as the quartet of Julianne Lindsco, Maya Pollard, Sophia Thomas, and Frey placed second with a time of 4:11.41.

In the throwing events, the Bulldogs got top-shelf efforts in the shot put and discus. Senior Larissa Taylor and Kylee Sowers placed second (9.35 meters) and third place (9.23 meters) in the shot put. Taylor took fifth place (27.75 meters) and Sowers placed sixth in the discus (27.24).

“This is all while it was a swampy mess out there, so them coming back after the rain delay and their competing at this level is awesome,” Schaible said.

Lindsco and Pollard also contributed well to the jumping events. Lindsco, a freshman, won the long jump with a leap of 4.57 meters. Pollard claimed second place in the triple jump with a distance of 9.50 meters.

Both squads return to competition on Friday as the Highland boys travel to Triad High School on Friday for the Triad Invitational and the Bulldogs girls will visit Collinsville on Friday.