HOIC Meet

In just one year, through hard work in the weight room, on the track, and in the hallways (getting other kids to come out for track), our boys team has gone from a 10th place finish and 25 points in 2013, to 93 points and HOI Conference runner-up!

Gabe McKinley won both the Long Jump and the 100, our only individual winner in the Conference. Connor Stoller placed 3rd in the 100, our highest scoring event.
The EPGTF Distance crew managed to divide and conquer as eight different guys contributed to their five assigned events:
In the 4x8, Marc Hartness, Andy Layden, Luke Barnard and Tyler DeMarb cruised to a first place finish, beating all teams by almost 100 meters.
Two events later, in the 3200, Jacob Ludy and Hunter Cobbley ran a brilliant race, staying with three-event winner Caleb Imig of Tremont (he also won the 800 and 1600 to complete the mythical distance trifecta), and out kicking all other athletes to place 2nd and 3rd for 14 points.
In the 800, Tyler DeMarb came the closest to defeating Imig as he ran within two seconds of the talented Turk, placing second in a 2:06. Andy Layden also kicked down the stretch to place sixth in 2:12.
In the 1600, Jacob Ludy faced off yet again against Imig as Imig and teammate Wilson Pflederer led laps 1, 2, and 3, before Imig tried to break the pack on the bell lap. Of all the HOI talent on the track, only Jacob and freshman brother Adam Ludy were able to hang with Imig down the backstretch. As the others fell off one by one, Imig opened his lead followed by the two EPG Ludys. Their places held as they crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd, earning another 14points for the Titans.
Finally, in the 4x4, the distance crew borrowed 400 specialist Ryan Skare to move up from their 5th seed to place third, earning the final six points to push us over the 90 threshold and secure second place.
Other points were earned by the 4x1, 200, and our 4x2 placed second.
In the throws, Austin Ahnafield surpassed the 100' benchmark in the discus, and freshman Ethan Jenkins lengthened his school record shot put out to 42'6", which earned two points for fifth.

On the girls side, Michelle Bigger inched closer to the school record in the triple jump with a 33' which placed second behind Fieldcrest phenom Tessa Holland, and she also placed second in the long jump behind Tremont standout (and IWU recruit) Amelia Glueck. Michelle's jump from Friday night at Eureka was indeed 16'5.5" and that stands as the current school record.
EPG's only other medal also came in the field events as Miranda Reeves bested her own discus record, extending out 116'5".
The girls rode those field event points to a seventh place finish, earning 37 points (one behind sixth place Lexington).

Our kids consistently placed higher than they were seeded. Everyone dug deep to help the team out: the Laurens came back from injury to help the 4x2; Allie Paradies ran all three sprint relays despite painful shin splints (and ran a jaw-dropping two-second PR in the 4x4); towards the end, after having been out in the sun for six hours, both Courtney and Autumn managed big season PRs in the 1600; Beks came back after a nasty fall in the 300s on Friday to run a low 50 for four points; and Gracie Feeney managed to keep her lunch down long enough to run both the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles for the team. It was a true team effort and the coaching staff couldn't have been more proud of the way our kids stepped up.