The Niles boys track team started its season Wednesday with a significant 89-74 win over St. Joseph.

It’s a special win because the Bears have handled the Vikings in recent seasons.

“This means a lot,” said Niles boys track coach Tony Todd. “They’ve kind of handed it to us the last couple of years because their distance runners are so incredible and their still incredible. They’ve got one of the better distance programs around. But I knew we could beat them as a team if we pulled together and broke it up a little bit. Our mile (relay) and half mile (relay) were really good.”

Triple winners for the Vikings were Joe Avance (long jump-22-2 3/4, 800 relay-1:33.65, 400 relay-44.52), Larry Lamb (110 hurdles-16.28, 300 hurdles-44.67, pole vault-10-6) and Josh Buckingham (800 relay-1:33.65, 400-54.98, 300 hurdles-44.67).

“It was an excellent jump,” Todd said about Avance’s performance in the long jump. “It’s the longest jump we’ve had since Otis West did it roughly 10 to 12 years ago. Joe had an excellent day.”

Double winners for Niles were Conner Amberg (800 relay-1:33.65, 400 relay-44.52), Elijah Thompson (800 relay-1:33.65, 400 relay-44.52) and Jalen Alexander (800-2:07.27, 1,600 relay-3:45.16).

“Jalen Alexander turned in an excellent day and a lot of our sprinters did really, really well and our field events came through big-time.”

In the girls meet, St. Joseph beat Niles, 99-60. Maya Brookins was a triple winner (long jump-15-3 1/2, 100-13.19, 800 relay-1:54.25) for the Vikings.

 

Boys results

NILES 89, ST. JOSEPH 74

3,200 relay: 1. St. Joseph (Tanner Rydleski, Drew Hedstrom, Kurt Egelhaaf, Skyler Arthur) 8:51.55; 110 hurdles: 1. Larry Lamb (Niles) 16.28; 2. Robbie Thomas (St. Joseph) 18.30; 3. Sheldon Mudd (Niles) 18.36; 100: 1. Clayton Bertog (St. Joseph) 11.52; 2. Conner Amberg (Niles) 11.63; 3. Joe Avance (Niles) 11.64; 800 relay: 1. Niles (Conner Amberg, Joe Avance, Josh Buckingham, Elijah Thompson) 1:33.65; 1,600: 1. Skyler Arthur (St. Joseph) 4:48.13; 2. Erik Edwards (St. Joseph) 4:55.46; 3. Tanner Rydleski (St. Joseph) 4:57.09; 400 relay: 1. Niles (Conner Amberg, Joe Avance, Cameron Haines, Elijah Thompson) 44.52; 400: 1. Josh Buckingham (Niles) 54.98; 2. Nick Jewell (St. Joseph) 55.02; 3. Jordan Dorry (St. Joseph) 57.19; 300 hurdles: 1. Larry Lamb (Niles) 44.67; 2. Sheldon Mudd (Niles) 46.21; 3. Deryk Atkins (St. Joseph) 48.14; 800: 1. Jalen Alexander (Niles) 2:07.27; 2. Tanner Rydleski (St. Joseph) 2:12.72; 3. Kurt Egelhaaf (St. Joseph) 2:14.04; 200: 1. Clayton Bertog (St. Joseph) 23.41; 2. Elijah Thompson (Niles) 23.58; 3. Conner Amberg (Niles) 24.23; 3,200: 1. Skyler Arthur (St. Joseph) 10:24.79; 2. Erik Edwards (St. Joseph) 11:16.33; 3. Tanner Rydleski (St. Joseph) 11:29.63; 1,600 relay: 1. Niles (Jalen Alexander, Devonte Gaskill, Ben Florkowski, Josh Buckingham) 3:45.16; high jump: 1. Ra’Quon Glenn (Niles) 6; 2. Nick Jewell (St. Joseph) 6; 3. Drew Hedstrom (St. Joseph) 5-8; pole vault: 1. Larry Lamb (Niles) 10-6; 2. Aidan Reed (St. Joseph) 9-6; 3. Sage Mueller (St. Joseph) 9-6; long jump: 1. Joe Avance (Niles) 22-2 3/4; 2. Cameron Haines (Niles) 19-8 3/4; 3. Ra’Quon Glenn (Niles) 18-11; discus: 1. Baulio Sosa (Niles) 108-5 1/2; 2. Anthony Younger (Niles) 100-3; 3. Justin Roney (St. Joseph) 96-10; shot put: 1. Darius Powell (St. Joseph) 44-4; 2. Anthony Younger (Niles) 42-4 1/4; 3. Baulio Sosa (Niles) 40-11

 

Girls results

ST. JOSEPH 99, NILES 60

3,200 relay: 1. St. Joseph (Samantha Mumper, Emily Perrin, Kaitlin Newton, Madisyn Estkowski) 11:11.41; 100 hurdles: 1. Dajah Bogan (St. Joseph) 16.48; 2. Kayla West (Niles) 18.66; 3. Jenna Rydleski (St. Joseph) 19.78; 100: 1. Maya Brookins (Niles) 13.19; 2. Asiah Brookins (Niles) 13.37; 3. Alexis Preston (Niles) 13.60; 800 relay: 1. Niles (Maya Brookins, Asiah Brookins, Alexis Preston, Tytianna Johnson) 1:54.25; 1,600: 1. Anna Fischer (St. Joseph) 5:43.64; 2. Vanessa Veersma (St. Joseph) 6:03.91; 3. Kaitlin Newton (St. Joseph) 6:04.37; 400 relay: 1. St. Joseph (Harneet Singh, Kailee Siemans, Alexcia Bennett, Dajah Bogan) 53.99; 400: 1. Samantha Mumper (St. Joseph) 1:06.73; 2. Ashli Bryant (Niles) 1:09.71; 3. Katie Bergman (St. Joseph) 1:09.99; 300 hurdles: 1. Dajah Bogan (St. Joseph) 53.07; 2. Jenna Rydleski (St. Joseph) 54.16; 3. River Jorgensen (St. Joseph) 57.40; 800: 1. Madisyn Estkowski (St. Joseph) 2:34.76; 2. Kaitlin Newton (St. Joseph) 2:43.41; 3. Emily Perrin (St. Joseph) 2:51.73; 200: 1. Alexcia Bennett (St. Joseph) 29.18; 2. Katie Bergman (St. Joseph) 30.08; 3. Tytianna Johnson (Niles) 30.52; 3,200: 1. Anna Fischer (St. Joseph) 12:52.74; 2. Vanessa Veersma (St. Joseph) 14:10.54; 3. Megan Buckingham (St. Joseph) 14:10.58; 1,600 relay: 1. St. Joseph (Samantha Mumper, Dajah Bogan, Emily Perrin, Madisyn Estkowski) 4:45.15; high jump: 1. Jazmin Brann (Niles) 4-4; 2. Deshanay Alexander (Niles) 4-4;  3. Leslie Shorter (Niles) 4-4; pole vault: 1. Lania Young (St. Joseph) 7; Chloe Powell (St. Joseph) 6; long jump: 1. Maya Brookins (Niles) 15-3 1/2; 2. Alexis Preston (Niles) 15-2; 3. Suzanna Costanza (St. Joseph) 13-4 1/4; discus: 1. Lajan Mitchell (Niles) 82-4; 2. Vanya Ruppert (Niles) 74 1/2; 3. Amber Franklin (Niles) 72-11; shot put: 1. Ella Jones (St. Joseph) 29-7 3/4; 2. Tammea McNeal (Niles) 29-4 3/4; 3. Mya Robinson (St. Joseph) 28-9 3/4.