Dan Eyrich AP Sports
Both EP Panther track teams competed in a triangular meet at Westwood on Monday competing against Sterling and Foreston. The Panther boys took third, scoring 37 points behind Sterling with 56 and Foreston with 46. The Lady Panthers took second, scoring 25 points, well behind Sterling with 101 but ahead of Forreston with 15.
The Lady Panthers collected one first place finish winning the 4x 400 relay in a time of 4:31.85 with Ellie Johnson, Alexus Kapple, Lauren Punke, and Sarah Link. The 4x 200 relay placed second with Saige Froeliger, Johnson, Punke, and Kapple in 1:57.22.
Other top three finishes included Saige Froeliger taking third in the 60 meter dash in 8.74, along with Sarah Link and Jessie DeNeve finishing second and third in the 800 meters in 2:36.21 and 2:44.33, both PR’s.
In the field events sophomore Navona Lopez took second in the shot put with a PR toss of 9.88 meters. The Lady Panthers scored third place finishes in the pole vault with Gracelyn Abell clearing 2.74 meters, the long jump with Kapple setting a PR of 4.41 meters, and Punke in the triple jump with a leap of 9.01 meters.
The boys collected two first place finishes winning the 4x 400 relay in a time of 3:55.43 with Elijah Franzen, Nathan Punke, Aidan Jepson, and Braeden Punke carrying the baton for EP. Nathan Punke also won the pole vault clearing 3.66 meters.
2nd place finishes were recorded by Justin Wainscott in the 800 meters finishing in 2:11.36 and was followed by Braeden Punke in 2:14.48 both PR’s. Schultz led a 2, 3, 4, finish in the 1600 meters as Schultz finished with a PR of 5:06.73 followed by Wainscott in 5:28.96 and Jakob Brooks in 5:53.49.
Elijah Franzen finished third in the 400 meters in a PR time of 55.55 and third in the long jump with a leap of 5.61 meters
In other field events Aidan Jepson placed second in the pole vault with an effort of 3.51 meters and Elijah Foster took second in the triple jump leaping 10.05 meters.
Three Panthers will compete in this Friday’s Illinois Top Times Meet at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. Pole vaulters Gracelyn Abell, Nathan Punke, and Aidan Jepson have qualified ranking among the top 12 efforts during the indoor season in Class 1A.
