LHS athletes earn personal bests at Rich Luther Invite

The Lennox High School track and field teams turned in a strong showing at the Rich Luther Invite on Tuesday, May 5, highlighted by numerous personal best performances and a long list of top-eight finishes across both the boys and girls divisions.

Leading the way for the Orioles was freshman Bergan Musser who delivered an exceptional performance, sweeping the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.88 and 200 meter dash with a time of 24.61, both personal bests and currently the top time in the state. Musser also won the long jump at the Invite with a leap of 17-9.5.

Senior Teegan Musser captured the boys 100-meter title in 11.08 seconds, a personal best that places him third in Class A this season. Musser added another first-place finish in the high jump, clearing 6-foot-4, and placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.69.

Jaxson Bittner also had a standout day, finishing second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.12 before winning the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.56. He also added a seventh-place finish in the long jump with a jump of 19-10.5.

Jayla DeCou contributed a pair of top finishes, placing fourth in the 100 with a time of 12.55 seconds and third in the 200 with a time of 25.75. Tori Gerdes placed sixth in the 100 (12.80)  and later claimed the 300-meter hurdles title in a personal-best 45.83. Gerdes also added a third-place finish in the triple jump, jumping a personal best 33-0.5. 

Wyatt Bult earned a runner-up finish in the boys 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best 15.87, while Cayden Huls placed fifth with a personal-best 16.70. In the 300 hurdles, Charley Bittner placed third with a personal best time of 42.97 seconds and Bult added a fifth-place finish in the event (44.95). 

Distance events saw strong performances from Lennox athletes. Drake Mikkelsen won the boys 800-meter run in a personal-best 2:01.78, while Isaak Booker finished second with a personal best of his own at 2:05.57. Aiden Hanssen took sixth with a time of 2:13.89 and Leo Aesoph added an eighth-place finish with a personal best time of 2:17.21. 

In the boys 1600, Landon Strasser placed second with a personal-best 4:45.09, and Aesoph followed with a fourth-place personal best. 

Cloy McVey had a big day in distance races, winning the 3200 in 9:53.82, a season best and second ranked in Class A this season. McVey also placed third in the 400 with a time of 53.64 in the event. Hanssen took fifth with a time of 54.51 and Isaiah Sayler placed eighth (56.38). 

For the girls, Adie McVey placed third in the 1600 with a time of 5:19.38, a season best. Kamille Schmidt took fifth in the event (5:50.81) and Finley Rops sixth (5:55.80). 

A. McVey finished second in the 3200 with a season best 11:43.02; this is among the top ten times in Class A. 

Sophia Johnson turned in a strong performance with a third-place finish in the 800 with her time of 2:32.25 and fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:03.99. Karlie Bosma took third in the 400 with a time of 1:03.18 and Kenzie Bosma placed fourth with a time of 1:03.99. Lucy Carlson placed seventh in the event (1:06.25). 

In field events, Addison Martz led the girls with victories in both the discus (129-5) and shot put (37-9.5), while also placing third in the javelin with a throw of 101-01. Sydney Johnson added a fourth-place finish in the shot put (31-03) for Lennox. 

The boys throwing events saw Jevyn Lefers place fourth in the discus with a throw of 130-10, while Leif Karlson added a personal best in the event (119-07) to take tenth. Karlson later placed eighth in the shot put with a throw of 42-09. 

In the girls high jump, Holly Gillick placed third with a season best clearing of 5-02. This marks the fourth best jump in Class A this season. 

In the boys high jump, Tate Gerdes placed second, clearing 6-02 and Maverick Stockwell finished fourth clearing 5-10, while Lukias Johnson added an eighth-place finish (5-06). 

The boys javelin featured three top-eight finishers, led by Eli Highum in third (146-04), followed by Brennen Juffer in fourth (144-08) and Scout Nelson in seventh (119-10). 

In the boys triple jump, Noah Sitter took eighth with a jump of 36-06.5.

The LHS boys 4x100 meter relay team of C. Bittner, Tate Gerdes, Huls, Juffer took third with a time of 46.21.