NILES — Portage Northern may have won the war, but the host Niles track team won more than its share of the battles against the Huskies in SMAC track Monday, especially junior Kaylee Thompson and senior Jordon Brown, both of whom won four individual events for the Vikings.

Thompson won four of the toughest races in a track meet — 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

The junior was almost a one-person distance crew for Niles, literally running the 1,600 and 3,200 meters as the only Viking in the field.

She had never run a 400 meters in her career, but posted a time of 1:07.24 in winning the event.

The 400 came one event after her winning the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:38.00. Her 800-meter time was 2:38.35. The 3,200 meters is run back-to-back with the 800. She won her final race of the night with a time of 12:37.698.

“The standout of the night once again goes to Kaylee Thompson,” said Niles coach Rikki Jones. “She won all four events that she competed in. She is a force to be reckoned with.”

Portage Northern defeated Niles 96.5-66.5 in the girls’ portion of the race, while the Huskies won the boys meet 103-60.

“Coming into this meet, I was a little uneasy because we were missing some key people due to grades and other sports, but after seeing the performances tonight I am very pleased with the progress and grit that some of the girls are showing,” Jones said. “While no one likes losing, I see our team score and like the improvements we are making, especially against a team that is at least twice the size.” 

Niles not only dominated the distance events with Thompson, but continues to display their domination in the field events.

The Vikings won the high jump with Marika Ruppart (4-10), the pole vault with Sophie Hover (9-0), along with the discus and shot put.

Morgan Warren swept those events with a toss of 85-3 in the discus and 31-8.75 in the shot put.

“Once again, our field events came up big,” Jones said. “Morgan Warren won both shot put and discus, while Sophia Hover won the pole vault. Marika Ruppart won the high jump and tied for third in the pole vault. Natalie Lucero has personal bests in the long jump and 400 run, which were good enough for second in both events.”

Jordon Brown won a mixture of events.

He leaped 20-4 in winning the long jump, ran 11.93 in winning the 100 meters before winning the 800 and 200 meters, which are separated only by the girl’s 200 meters.

Brown had never run an 800 meter before. His times in the final two events were 2:09.85 and 24.58.

Javon Ball was a double winner for the boys team as he captured the 400 meters with a time of 53.48 and was a member of Niles’ winning 1,600-meter relay team, which posted a time of 3:52.79.

Also on that relay team were Da’Quan McClean, who captured the high jump (5-10), Andrew Smith and Adam Shepherd.