By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The Niles girls' track team shined Tuesday evening in Mattawan as the Lady Vikings claimed the Big 16 West Division title with a 108-52 win over the Wildcats.
Niles also took a 107-52 win over Benton Harbor.
"Coming into the season, we weren't expecting to win this, we just wanted to compete, so it's a very nice surprise," head coach Jami Foster said.
Niles ended the day with 14 first place finishes.
The 3,200-meter relay team of Sam Brawley, Madeline Rodts, Mariette Strauss and Gabrielle Ezell finsihed with a time of 11:23.33.
"This team is by far our strongest. They have not lost a divisional meet yet this year, so we're really going to be looking for them to continue to do strong for us," Foster siad of the 3,200 team.
The 800-meter relay team of Tairra King, Courtney King, Laighana Griffin and Charlene Griffin had a time of 1:58.32.
Nicole Horvath had a time of 17.01 in the 100-meter hurdles. Kaylynn Stephenson posted a time of 12.74 in the 100-meter dash and a time of 26.98 in the 200-meter dash. Brawley ended the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:52.31 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:39.54. Strauss had a time of 1:05.25 in the 400-meter dash.
In field events, Hannah Miller had a throw of 113-feet-6 1/2 in the discus. Baysia Cox ended with a 33-foot throw in the shot put. Horvath had a leap of 8-foot in the pole vault. Devyn Roberts cleared 4-8 in the high jump and Stephenson had a 15-3 leap in the long jump.
"Our mid-distance and distance runners have done a great job this season. They have outscored other teams by 20-30 points, and that's a huge sway in track," Foster said.
Foster said the next goal for the team is to be competitive in the Big 16 meet, which is taking place on Tuesday.
Foster would also like to see more girls head to the state meet, as Stephenson was the lone state finalist last year.
"We hope to advance at least six this year," Foster added.
The SMAC Meet will take place on Tuesday.