Hawks finally arrive after third-place finish at Redbirds Invite
By Dave Mast
April 28, 2014
389
Having gone from a team of about seven to actually competing for meet trophies was a dream Hiland coach Mark Fowler has had for several seasons.
Saturday, April 19 at the Redbirds Invite in Loudonville, the Hawks found out they had arrived.
In a fight for the runner-up spot all day, the Hawks eventually settled for third, but the competition made it exciting for Hiland.
I was hoping it would happen at this meet, said Fowler of the Redbird Invitational. We have been in some meets against a lot of bigger schools with tons of talent. I felt like this one, Chippewa and River View were all meets in which we could go and compete very well as a team.
In the past, Hiland has faced some uphill challenges in meets with bigger schools, and Fowler said that while it did help to challenge athletes at the top like shot-and-discus man Brennan Coil, high jumper Collin Blochlinger, distance man Darian Pacula and the 4x800 team, it was often times rough on the rest of the team.
Now, as the team continues to grow, these bigger meets have shown them that they can compete, and when they finally get to the meets they know they can excel, that experience is paying off.
You have to go up against a higher level to challenge yourself, said Fowler. We have done that, and it seems to be a good strategy that is paying off.
For the Hiland boys, the third place finish was both exciting and a little disappointing, since Fowler said that they had set their sights on the runner-up spot.
Still, to go compete and being the top three is a thrill, and beating both Loudonville and Fredericktown by one-half point for third was a great experience.
I kept telling the kids that every single point mattered, and it turned out that it definitely did, said Fowler.
The Hawks actually led after the field events, with Coil winning the discus with a throw of 138-09, and Blochlinger capturing the crown in the high jump by clearing 6-02.
Javan Yoder grabbed third in the discus with a throw of 124-07, and Coil and Yoder took third and fourth in the shot put to earn Hiland plenty of points.
Once the sprints began, Fowler said it became quickly evident that Chippewa was going to be the cream of the crop on this day, so Hiland set its sights on second place.
Their sprinters were absolutely dominant, said Fowler of the Chipps.
Garrett Snow earned a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, then burned his way to third in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a time of 45.34.
Then Fowler turned loose his 4x800 relay team, which completely destroyed the field in the 9:04.48. That team, consisting of Joe Wengerd, Matt Troyer, Hunter Yoder and Pacula, would help the Hawks inch toward second place.
Pacula and Yoder teamed up to go seventh and eighth in the 1600, with Wengerd tacking on two points with a seventh place finish in the 400.
Troyer earned fifth in the 800 and Pacula grabbed fourth in the 3200, with Brady Conn just missing out on scoring points for the Hawks.
By the time the Hawks 4x400 team of Wengerd, Snow, Troyer and Coil cruised home to fourth, Hilands hopes of catching Revere for the runner-up spot were gone. Chippewa sprinted to victory with 125 points, trailed by Revere with 101 and Hiland at 84. Danville, Coshocton, East Knox and Rittman rounded out the teams in attendance.
For the Lady Hawks, it was an eighth-place finish in the nine-team field.
Hilands group of Isabelle Fowler, Cherokee Wells, Alex Troyer and Nikyta Engstrom raced to fourth in the 4x800. In the 4x200, a sixth-place finish was in line for Michaela Kandel, Brooke Stutzman, Nikki Overholt and Fowler. Stutzman, Kaufman, Overholt and Troyer grabbed seventh in the 4x100.
Menuez scrambled to sixth in the 400, while Melissa Hostetler ran extremely well in capturing third in the 300 meter hurdles.
Sarah Menuez earned an eighth-place finish in the 100, and just missed out on qualifying for the 3200 finals. Alex Troyer snapped up a point for her eighth-place finish in the 800, while she joined teammates Fowler, Menuez and Hostetler to place fourth in the 4x400 relay.
Hostetler also cleared 4-02 in the high jump to earn seventh, and Kandel duplicated that finish in the long jump.
