Penguins fly in Whitewater

Lady Penguins

Though it was cold and windy, the Whitewater Penguins swept their home meet last Thursday, April 30. The girls were dominant in their win, scoring 146 points. Turner was second with 114 points. Saco was fifth with 17 points.

The Penguin boys had 115 points in their first place finish. Nashua was second with 89 points. Saco placed sixth with 23 points. Dodson was seventh with 14 points.

Girls

The Whitewater girls were led by Tatum Moore who won the 100 meter dash took first place with 15.05 seconds. Teammate Angel Tovar was third with a time of 16.46.

Moore also won the long jump with a leap of 13 feet, two inches.

"It definitely wasn't my best, but it won so that's good," Moore said.

The long jump was Moore's first win on the day and her first win at her home meet.

"It feels pretty nice," Moore said.

When asked if it was a precursor of the rest of her day, she replied, "I don't know."

Knowing that the wind was affecting nearly every event in a negative way, Moore and other students overcame it.

"I just thought in my mind that I have to push really hard when I run to get a good jump in," Moore said. "I couldn't slow down."

Saco's Bailey Funk took fourth in long jump with a leap of 12-01.

Moore completed a hat trick by winning the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 19.50. Tovar took second with a time of 21.91.

"I really enjoy it (track)," Tovar said. "I'm looking forward to other years."

Tovar said that her favorite event was the 100 hurdles.

"I feel like it's a good competition against other people, but I like having to run and jump at the same time," Tovar said. "It involves strategy."

The wind didn't slow Kourtney Simonson down, who won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:46.53.

"I just had to use it on the back stretch and then really lean into it on the other side," Ko. Simonson said. "It could've been better but with the wind I'm okay with my time, I guess."

Simonson was a part of the short relay with Moore, Keira Simonson and Larimie Scheffelmear. They were the only team present and ran a time of 58.47.

"It was kind of hard just because we didn't have anybody pushing us," Ko. Simonson said. "We stayed pretty consistent with our time."

Penguins

The Penguin boys weren't phased by the wind at the meet, instead they used it to their advantage, scoring most of their points in running events.

Leading the charge was young freshman Trey Simanton, who had the strongest meet of his season.

Simanton pulled a hat trick taking first in long jump, and both the 110 meter hurdles and 300 hurdles.

He admitted that the start of the event wasn't good. First he came off the blocks wrong and that slowed him down but he recovered.

"I didn't just nick the first hurdle, I ran into it," Simanton said. "I just speed up to my pace."

In his first time doing the long jump, Simanton had a leap of 15 feet and eight and a half inches.

"I just run and jump," Simanton said when asked about his form. "I don't really do technique."

Simanton had a time of 50.98 in the 300 hurdles and a time of 20.43 in the 100 hurdles.

Jeret Warren took first in the 3200 with a time of 11:33.19. Warren took second in the 1600, with a time of 5:40.

"It feels good to be able to win at a home track meet," Warren said.

Typically Warren would wait to "kick" (last burst of speed) at the last 100-150 meters of the race, but this time Warren kicked during the final lap of the race.

"I've been working on starting my kick," Warren said. "I figured at the 400 or 300 I'd pick it up and then sprint the last 200.

Up until the last lap Warren and Hays-Lodgepole's Tough Snow went back and forth. The wind also played a factor, though Warren shared his thought on overcoming the wind the rest of the meet.

"Just don't think about the wind," Warren said. "Try and use it as your friend on the back stretch and push into it on the straightaway."

Warren also placed second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:42.66.

Trace Simonson took first place in the triple jump with a length of 36-00. He also took second in shot put with a throw of 35-01

Simonson placed second in javelin after a throw of 120-01 and third in discus with a throw of 96-07.

Dodson's Trevor Banyai took first in the high jump after clearing 5-04.

Penguin Cody Scheffelmear took second in the high jump after clearing 5-02. With that came a leap and shout of joy.

"I finally cleared 5-02," Scheffelmear said noting that he learned his celebration from Whitewater senior Chance Love.

Scheffelmear took third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 52.50.

Saco's Chris DePuydt took third in the 400 with a time of