By Heather Smith

Special to the Leader

Oxford’s Girls Track & Field team had an awesome day conquering the Rochester Falcons on April 25 at Oxford High School.

The 4x800m relay of sophomore Maddie Lukens, senior Bridget Cusick, and freshmen Ellie DiMalanta and Lauren Schiller led the path to the 70-58 victory by placing first (10:27).

Sophomore Antonia Vackaro was formidable at the sprints taking first in the 100m (13.08), the 200m (26.94) and the 400m (1:02).

The Wildcat girls racked up more points by having fellow sophomore Megan Bouren place 3rd in the 200m (28.38) and 3rd in the 400m (1:06) while junior Ashley Hershman placed 3rd in the 100m (13.49) setting a new personal record.

The Oxford hurdlers dominated the Falcons as senior Micah Dymond claimed 1st (17.34), junior Fiona Corcoran 2nd (18.31) and junior Ashley Peck 3rd (18.59) with a new PR in the 100m hurdles. Dymond also had a standout finish in the 300m hurdles placing 1st (50.85) while freshman Jordyn Beebe placed 2nd (55.25).

The 4x100m relay featuring Hershman, freshman Lauren Braza, and sophomores Emma VanLoon & Mattie Johnson ran a close 2nd (55.75) to Rochester and the 4x200m team of Vanloon, Braza, Hershman & Dymond also came within a heartbeat of the Falcons finishing 2nd (1:53). Senior Ashley Vican placed 1st (12:16) in the 3200m with freshman Emma Long running a new PR (12:57) placing 2nd.

Vican also pushed her Rochester opponent in the 1600m as Vican placed 2nd (5:35) setting a new PR while senior Bridget Cusick placed 3rd (5:38). Sophomore Aleah Dymond scored for the distance crew as ell placing 3rd (2:38) in the 800m.

Freshman Jordyn Beebe led Oxford girls’ field events with a leap of 15’2″ to take 1st place in the long jump while sophomore Jillian Hagberg placed 2nd with a 4’6″ jump in the high jump. Senior Jessica Campbell took 1st (100’9″) in the discus and 3rd (29’2″) in the shot put while teammate sophomore Gihon Maxwell placed 3rd (81’4″) in the discus and 2nd (29’3″) in the shot put.

The Oxford Track & Field boys edged out the Rochester Falcons 68-60.

Wildcat throwers continued to have great success against their Region 9 rivals as senior

Rick Galbraith set another PR in the shot put placing 1st (46’6″) while fellow senior Ben Krause placed 2nd (44’8″). Krause took first in the discus (140’4″) while Galbraith took 3rd (116’6″).

Sophomore Trey Townsend was a formidable opponent for Rochester as he placed 1st (5″10″) in high jump and 1st (18’10″) in long jump. Freshman Jack Volvo jumped to a new PR with a 17’0″ leap in the long jump.

The Oxford boys relay teams swept their competition at the track garnering 20 points.

The 4x800m relay featuring sophomore Scott Masterson, senior Zachariah Smith, junior JJ Bagans, and senior Dominic Bruce cruised to 1st place (8:50) while the 4x400m relay ended the meet on a high note with Bruce, Masterson, and sophomores Shane Ross and Simon Arnold edging out Rochester to place first in 3:32.

The 4x100m team ran a great race defeating Rochester with junior Ethan Benson and senior Dakota Birr being joined by freshmen Barrett Coleman and Jack Thompson to place 1st (47.53). The 4x200m team of Ross, Masterson, Townsend and sophomore Robert Abbott also placed 1st (1:34). Sophomore Shane Ross set a new PR in the 300m hurdles placing 1st (40.55) and managed to take 3rd (15.96) in the 110m hurdles. Sophomore Simon Arnold continues to shave seconds off his 400m time placing 2nd in 54.24s.

The distance events featured junior JJ Bagans setting a new PR in the 3200m race placing 2nd (10:20) while sophomore Zach Allion placed 3rd (10:45) also shaving seconds off his best time. Senior Dominic Bruce placed 2nd (4:26) in the 1600m while fellow senior Ulises Rodriguez placed 3rd (4:38). In the 800m Masterson edged out Bruce placing 2nd (2:04.09) against Bruce’s 3rd place finish (2:04.76).

Overall the coaches were very encouraged as the boys had 70 personal best finishes while the girls team had 47. Oxford Track & Field hosts Clarkston on Wednesday, May 2.