Eddies sweep Chieftains in season opener

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 30, 2022

By Scott Novak

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EDWARDSBURG — The conditions were less than ideal, but host Edwardsburg made the most of them as it swept Dowagiac in the Wolverine Conference track and field open for both schools Tuesday.

With temperatures around 40 degrees and plenty of wind, the Eddies girls team won its portion of the meet 89-40, while the Edwardsburg boys team cruised to a 120-13 win over the short-handed Chieftains.

Edwardsburg dominated the relays, with all four girls teams coming home in first place. The 400 and 800 meter teams consisted of Emmalee Hayden, Danni Purlee, Abby Hess and Amelia Colvin; the 1,600 meter team consisted Macy Andress, Claire Ritchey, Kaylee Barnes and Jessica Ferguson, while the 3,200 meter team consisted of Ritchey, Andress, Barnes and Charlie Drew.

Ferguson also won the 400 meters with a time of 1:04.27, Drew won the 3,200 meters with a time of 13:16.34 and Colvin won the long jump with a leap of 13-2.5.

“It was good to get the track season underway,” said Edwardsburg Girls Coach Kevin Bartz. “Even though it was a chilly evening for competing, it was important for our girls to run, jump and throw at a full pace. There are several new and young girls on the team this year that we need to figure out where they fit into the lineup to help us out. With only two returning seniors from last year’s team we will spend the first couple meets moving girls into different positions trying to determine their strengths. Relay teams especially are hard to put together at this time since we have so many girls with a lot of talent but not a lot of experience.”

For the Dowagiac girls team, Erin Beck was a double winner as an individual. Beck won the 800 meters with a time of 2:53.81 and the 1,600 meters with a time of 6:11.61. The Chieftains also got a first-place finish from Kenya Lee in the 200 meters (30.34) and Amelia Jones in the high jump (4-8).

“We had some nice individual performances,” said Dowagiac Track Coach Cory Hill. “A lot of kids PR’d [personal record], which was impressive in the cold weather, however, we are still not where we want to be numbers wise. Boys, we were able to field a much deeper pool of events than usual, and I think our young core did exceptional. The future is really bright there. Girls were led by our seniors. Those girls have been great for us and will continue to be.”

Isaiyah Swartz had a big day for the Edwardsburg boys team as he won the 100 meters (11.72), the 200 meters (25.31) and was a member of the Eddies’ winning 400 and 800 meter relay teams. The 400 meter team also consisted of Trace Milliken, Kya Bryant and Braiden Domer, which ran a time of 47.90. The other members of the 800 meter relay team were Luke Stowasser, Milliken and Domer, running a time of 1:42.94.

Stowasser also won the high jump (6-8) and the long jump (19-7). Dane Bailey won the 1,600 meters (5:16.34) and the 3,200 meters (11:53.20). Jacob Pegura won the 110 meter high hurdles (16.79) and 300 hurdles (43.90).

Dowagiac picked up its lone first-place finish in the 3,200 meter relay as Isaac Saavedra, Owen Saylor, Noah Green and Allex Hernandez ran a time of 9:30.50.

More results can be found in Daily Data at leaderpub.com.

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