Hornets Sprint Past Skyline

Turns out, the biggest challenge the Saline girls track and field faced Thursday was getting to Skyline on time.

Saline’s girls won all but a single event and swept the top three spots in five events as the Hornets defeated Skyline 119-18.

Coach Mike Smith was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Our athletes took advantage of the good weather and performed very well against an ever-improving Skyline team,” he said. “The team seemed very ready to compete — especially after having our meet against Monroe postponed on Tuesday because of the weather.”

Among the biggest challenges was just getting the 240 Saline Hornets to Skyline. The team took three buses at 3 p.m. Two other buses filled with track and field athletes arrived at Skyline at 4 and 4:30 p.m.

“Fortunately everyone arrived on time, and we are thankful that our transportation department is willing to be flexible and work with us. Having the numbers that we do is great but sometimes it's difficult to get all of them to where they need to be and to get them there on time.”

Once on the track, though, the Hornets girls team was usually where it needed to be and better than on time.

In the 200, Sam Richart won the 200 (26.18) and Alina Luurtsema was right behind her in second (26.33).

Alina Luutsema won the 100, with her sister Amanda finishing behind her in second place.

The Hornets swept the 400 dash, with Richart winning another event (61.8). Alexa Ross was second and Samantha Cannell was third.

Saline also went 1-2-3 in the 800, with Eliana Shwayder taking first (2:23) and Emily Reyst (2:25) and Samantha Rathfon (2:29) coming in second and third.

Amy Creutz took first in the 1,600 (5:23) with Kristin Green taking third. Creutz also captured the 3,200 (11:43).

Saline’s other double winner was Bethany Eason, who won the 300 hurdlers (49.7) and 100 hurdles (16.8). Wendy Szuminski and Samantha Dicks took second and third as the Hornets swept the 100 hurdles event. Szuminski and Sara Palmerton finished tied for third in the 300 hurdles.

Szuminski also had success in the field, where se was first in the pole vault and second in the long jump. Her sister, Samantha, was second in the pole vault and third in long jump. Shelby Harris took third in the pole vault as Saline swept the event.

The Hornets also swept the high jump, with Rachel Paxton clearing 5’0 to win the event. Richart (4’10) was second and Lindsey McQuade (4’8) was third.

Another sweep came in the discus, where Emily Everett threw 120’3 to win the vent. Randi Bennett ((87’4) was second and Jessica Brown (85’3) was third. In the shot, Bennett was first (35.1) and Everett was second (31’8.5).

Saline swept the relay events. Green, Shwayder, Samantha Szuminski and Devan Wetzel won the 4-by-400 relay. Creutz, Schwayder, Rathfon and Green captured the 4-by-800 relay.

Even when the Hornets weren’t in the right place, they finished in the right time. Richart started from the wrong line in the first leg of the 4-by-200 relay. Despite running an extra 10 meters, her team finished first. Joining her were Ross, Alina Luurtsema and Katrina Ezeinyi.

The Hornets are home again Tuesday for the junior varsity invitational