The Panther boys and girls track teams traveled to Oregon on Saturday to compete in the 13 team Gebhardt-Worley Invitational.
The meet featured three 3A, four 2A and seven 1A schools on a perfect weather day for the annual invitational.
The Lady Panthers took runner-up at the meet racking up 121 points behind champion Rockford Guilford (163.5) and well ahead of third place Oregon (89).
Kennedy Buck led the Panthers, scoring in three events. She took second in the 200m (27.52), the 400m (1:05.00) and the shot put (10.65), all season bests.
Freshman Aubrey Huisman had a big day as she took second in the pole vault with a 2.59m effort and finished just behind Buck in the 200m (1:06.33). Throwing specialist Brianna Neumiller took first in the discus with a PR toss of 35.84m and placed third in the shot with another PR of 10.56m.
Junior Jillian Norman led a 1-2-3 Panther sweep in the 3200m winning in a PR time of 14:38.17. Clara Ashdown was second with a PR in 14:40.55 and Brooke Lalley was third with 15:10.62. Norman also took fourth in 1600m with a 6:35.92.
The Lady Panthers got third place finishes from Claire Reymer in the discuss (29.80m), Olivia Purvis in the pole vault (2.44m), and freshman Ellie Johnson in the long jump (4.50m).
Gracelyn Abell took fourth in the pole vault (2.13m) to complete a 2-3-4 finish for EP in the event.
Women’s Varsity Team Results1. Rockford (Guilford) 163.5 2. Erie 121 3. Oregon 89 4. Freeport (H.S.) 80 5. Lena (L.-Winslow) 61 6. Forreston 50 7. Genoa (G.-Kingston) 40 8. Marengo 38 9. Dakota 24 10. Poplar Grove (North Boone) 16.5 11. Rockford (East) 16
The Panther boys took sixth as a team with 70 points. Dixon won the title with 129.
EP had one event champion as Parker Holldorf won the pole vault clearing 3.66m. Teammate sophomore Aidan Jepson took second in the event with an effort of 3.05m.
Caleb Naftzger brought home second in the discus with a heave of 36.94m and Caleb Eads finished fourth in the triple jump leaping 11.75m.
Charlie Link had a PR and finished third in 1600m coming in at 4:48.08. He was also part of the fourth place 4x800m Relay with a group of Gus Schultz, Lucas Dreisbach, and Wyatt Beck in 8:57.08.
Zeke Weidel and Tyson Skinner each grabbed fourth place finishes as Weidel posted a PR in the 400m with a 56.14 effort and Skinner did likewise with a 11:29.43 mark in the 3200m.
Men’s Varsity team Results1. Dixon (H.S.) 129 2. Rockford (Guilford) 107 3. Lena (L.-Winslow) 98 4. Rockford (East) 90.5 5. Forreston 73 6. Erie 70 7. Poplar Grove (North Boone) 52 8. Oregon 33 9. Dakota 16 9. Freeport (H.S.) 16 9. Genoa (G.-Kingston) 16 12. Pearl City 1.5
The boys will take part in the Fulton Relays on Tuesday with the girls traveling to Kewanee for a multi-team meet.
