EUREKA — The Yates Center Wildcats ran away — quite literally — with the boys championship at Thursday’s Eureka Invitational.
Sophomore Hadley Splechter was the top scorer for the Wildcats and ended up winning all four events he had entered.
The distance specialist took the 800 meters with a 2:06.65, then won the 1,600 with a 4:47.78. He capped his individual events by circling the track with junior teammate Colin Bedell in the two-mile race. Splechter won the event with an 11:11.07 and Bedell was second with an 11:11.28.
Bedell and Splechter shared the track again as they combined with Jordan Smith and Kobe Forsyth to win the 4×800 with a 9:02.96.
Forsyth showed his versatility in the relays by also joining the winning team in the 4×100 relay. The team of Forsyth, Quin Lowder, Thayne Smith and Levi Cooper ran a 45.95.
Cooper also won the 400 meters with a 53.25.
Yates Center took 11th as a team in the girls’ portion of the meet.
Freshman Jaylee Catron posted the best individual finish by taking third in the 400 meters.
HUMBOLDT
The Cub boys’ finished fourth as a team and saw their top finish come from high-flying Colin Gillespie. He won the high jump by clearing 6’2”.
Senior Joe Kline finished as the runner-up in both the 800 meters and mile — falling to Splechter in each event.
Freshman Luke Yokum also fell to Splechter in the two mile, but coach Eric Carlson was pleased with his third-place showing.
“Luke really impressed me,” Carlson said. “We told him before the race, to be an athlete and compete. He did just that and ran his best times. We had numerous other kids that had a good mental attitude and competed.”
On the girls’ side, sophomore Kaylie Johnson and freshman Bailey Goodell highlighted the performances for the Cubs. They took first and second in the 400 meters with Johnson running a 69.14 and Goodell running a 69.22.
The girls’ team took fifth overall.
“The girls did a great job of competing,” Carlson said. “The potential of this girls’ team is tremendous.”
