Hazen Union’s Aster Watkevich placed thirteenth in the long jump at the
U-32 Invitational this week.
by Ken Brown
LYNDONVILLE – The Hazen Union track and field team tackled another busy week with the varsity team traveling to Lyndon Institute and the middle school team competing at the U-32 Invitational.
Lily Castle led the Cats’ high school team with an eighth-place finish in the javelin event last Tuesday, with teammates Elizabeth Molina and Finn Burgess finishing twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Lyndon Institute’s Streeter Middleton took home first place honors. Ella Considine finished ninth in the 200m for Hazen behind event winner Indie Haney of Lake Region. Aster Watkevich also posted a thirteenth-place finish in the event. Considine also finished fifteenth in the 100m and Watkevich seventeenth, with Izzy Groff of Lake Region taking home the title.
Colin Gray continued to lead the Wildcat middle school team with a fourth-place finish in the 400m behind Northfield’s Jackson Wheaton over the weekend. Daniel Pougnier also had a strong seventh-place finish for the Wildcats in the event. Gray also finished fifth in the discus behind U-32’s Corey Wiseman. Gray capped off his stellar day with a fourteenth place finish in the 100m and thirteenth place finish in the 200m respectively. Winooski’s Jaymin Lyman-Cobbs captured the title in both events. On the girls’ side, Hazen Union’s Eliza Bunten finished sixteenth in the shot put, with Harwood’s Isabella Pockoski besting the field. Bunten also posted twenty-first place finishes against large fields in the 100m and 200m events. Mollie Mislak of U-32 took home the hardware in both events.
“We attended two track meets again this week, with our high school team competing at L.I. I was very proud of Lewis LaPierre and Jenna Thomas, who competed for the first time in the long jump. It is always a bit intimidating to try a new event and I am very proud that the two of them completed the task. The girls’ relay team cut another couple of seconds off of their 4X100m time and with some more practice I know they will decrease their time even more. The middle schoolers headed over to U-32 on Saturday and it was a very large meet with 14 schools in attendance. Again, another strong performance by our team. Every athlete who attended performed a personal best in at least one of their events. Colin added another eight feet to his best discus throw, Eliza added three feet in the shot put event, Evelyn Molina shaved off a bit of time in the 100m, and Daniel took a second off his 400m time. I continue to be amazed at the level of commitment these athletes show in their events. I look forward to our next meet to see what else they can achieve,” said head coach Kathy Fortmann.
Hazen’s varsity team was back in action on Tuesday as they traveled to U-32. The middle schoolers will compete in their biggest event of the season on Saturday at the Montpelier Invitational.
