As the clock neared 10 last night at the Estes Athletic Center at Fork Union Military Academy, and before any of the team could start thinking or whining about the early start to the next school day or a bus that would return to HHS after midnight, Indoor Track & Field Captains Celia Ehrenpreis, Rebekah Good, Julie Raab, and Mikaila Williams, with arms locked, bounced up and down. Their heads rose repeatedly in front of the sea of teammates behind them, who all waited for a ritual played out 3 years in a row in the Valley District, and now once in Conference 23: it was time for our captains to tear the “Delayed” label off of the word Gratification and Go. Get. Our. Trophy.

The Lady Streaks surged ahead early in the meet, and held a 34 point advantage after 7 of the meets 15 events. There was never much in doubt after that point, as the color of the meet was painted in thick coats of True Blue.

Junior Mikaila Williams was the star of the meet, placing in 5 events. She was champion of both jumps, which included an HHS #2 all-time 33-6 in the triple. She added a 3rd gold as the anchor of the 4×200 relay (Senior Camille Cummings, Sophomore Faith Runnells, Sophomore Olivia Yutzy), a silver in the 55, and scored 5th place points in the 300.

Her relay teammates had big nights of their own, as Yutzy also won gold in the 55 hurdles and scored points in the HJ. Runnells was the Bronze medalist in the 55 hurdles and scored 5th place points in the TJ. Cummings added points to the team with 2 bronzes (55 and 300).

Rebekah Good was champion in the Shot Put.

Brooke Cobb had two silvers, each behind a teammate’s gold, in the 55 Hurdles (9.35 #4 HHS all-time) and triple jump. She would also earn a bronze in the long jump.

The Dynamic Distance Duo of Juniors Laurie Serrell and Brenna Cowardin had a pair of 3-4 finishes in the 1600 (#2 & #5 all-time HHS) and 1000. They would also be part of the silver medal 4×400 team (Ehrenpreis and Lexi Eberly) who got the loudest cheers of the night from teammates, as the celebration was underway.

Sophomore Eberly also scored 4th place points in the long jump. Senior Ehrenpreis added points in the 500 (6th) and the 4×800 (Nicole Downey, Hannah Purcell, Lydia Ligouri). Ligouri would run 5th in the 3200 later in the meet.

While the boys depth did not afford them the opportunity to contend for a team title, there were many medalists and qualifiers to the Region meet.

Gold: John Weiss, High Jump

Silver: Abrahm Amine, 3200; 4×400 (Weiss, Devin Medley, Isaiah Hartzler, Chris MacAdam)

Bronzes: Amine, 1600; Macadam, 500; Jake McDaniel, 1000; Boys 4×800 (Yogesh Aradley, Derrick Chirrinos, Nick Deutsch, Orion Chirney)

Qualifiers: Hartzler, TJ; Tim Zepp 55H; McDaniel, 1600; Yusuf Aboutabl, 500; Nathan Wood, 3200

The next level of competition is the Region 4A North Championship, next Saturday, at treid and true Liberty U.

Go Streaks.