Based on the numerous first-place finishes in both the girls' and boys' events, the Donegal track and field squads truly impressed at the Battle for the Bridge Invitational, Friday, May 5.

"We had an exceptional night at the eight-team mini invite at Eastern York," Donegal coach Phil Koser commented. "We took first in nine of the 18 girls' events and an incredible 12 of 18 events on the boys' side."

The runners also went first and second in various events. For instance, in the girls' 100-meter dash Faith Garber and Sophia Floyd were first and second with respective times of 13.12 and 13.20. They thus combined for 18 team points. Peyton Mansfield was sixth in the spring.

Garber, incidentally, went on to win the 200-m dash in 27.83 seconds while Jayanna Morant finished fourth.

Molly Myers won the 800-m with a time of 2:25.49. She also joined Emma Myers, Kathryn Fernald, and Marleigh Ballard to win the girls' 4 x 800 relay. They posted a time of 10:11.89.

"Special congrats to the girls' 4x800 for the meet record," Koser noted. "Kathryn Fernald's second place [11:29.22] finish in the 3,200 was the fastest 3,200-m race in Donegal track history."

Also claiming first for the girls was Hannah Slobozien in the 300-m hurdles. She also took third in the 100-m hurdles, an event claimed by teammate Addison Houck, and was fifth in the high jump at 4-foot-6.

"We started winning a lot of events early in the meet," Koser continued. "Both the boys and girls won the 4x800 relays. Addison Houck then won the high hurdles and Brody Bonham and Faith Garber each won the 100-m race."

Dylan Lenhart, Brandon Marcelo, Micah Brydon, and Braden Bistline won the 4x800.

McKyla Bantum took fourth in the 800.

Nya Bantum took the shot put at a distance of 33-6.5. She was also sixth in the discus throws.

Sydney Snyder won the triple jump (32-9) while Slobozien finished first in the long jump.

In the boys' 1-2 punches you had Chad Rambal and Tim Stehman with measurements of 19-10.5 and 19-7.5, respectively in the long jump. Mark Overlander's 12-7 was tops in the pole vault. Noah Hinkel's 11-0 was a tie for second.

"Congrats to Mark Overlander for the second-highest vault in school history, bumping Coach Wittle back to third," Koser added.

Caleb Kendig and Keagan Cole caused havoc in the throwing events. Kennedy was number one in the javelin. His 143-3 was a far 8-1 farther than the second-place distance. Cole took fifth in the javelin and fourth in the discus.

Kendig won the shot put at 45-9.5. Brady Jackson won the 300-m hurdles with teammate Joshua Leidich taking fourth. Jackson also took second in the 110-m high hurdles with Leidich taking sixth.

"We had so many great performances," Koser said. Faith Garber, Braden Bistline and Andrew Myers were each part of the three gold medals."

With Garber winning both sprints and Fernald the 1,600- and 3200-m races, Donegal dominated Columbia in a Section Three girls' meet on Monday, May 8. The Indians won 137-7.

While Myers won the 400 and Slobozien hurdled to victory in the high hurdles, Jordyn Slattery took the 300-m hurdles. Sobozien also came on to win the long jump at 14-5.5.

Bantum's javelin toss of 94-2 and 33-9 shot put also highlighted the field events. Mahagony Hunter (82-3) won the discus.

Sydney Snyder, who won the triple jump (32-10) joined Myers, Morant, and Bantum for a win in the 4x400. The foursome of Lucia Angelos, Kara Nissly, Isabella Love and Aveline Bell made off with the 4x800 relay.

The Donegal boys defeated Columbia 121-27 at home on Monday.

Bistline, Marcelo, Nikita Galkin and Andrew Myers took the 4 400. Dominic Santiago-Vega, Cadel Barber, Thomas Dohl Blankenmeyer teamed up for a 4x800 winning effort.

Myers, Lenhert, and Brydon won the 800, 1600 and 3200 events, respectively. Bonham dashed off with a win in the 100.

Give Kending another shot put win while Brady hurdled to first place in both the 300- and high hurdles. Stehman's triple jump and Rambal's long jump also led the cause for Donegal while Overlander won the pole vault.

SOFTBALL

The Donegal offense rolled on, defeating Octorara 16-1 on the road, Friday, May 5. Starting pitcher Cara Biesecker had to only go four innings to make it a complete game, due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Biesecker also lined a triple and drove in three runs for the Indians. Ruth Myers, batting behind Biesecker in the lineup, also scored three times. Myers also tripled and had two RBI's.

Bella Mackison, one of the sluggers on this team, went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI's. She also had a double while Natalie Colwell had 3's wild - three hits and three RBI's.

Of the 16 runs, Grace Graham knocked in three more. She was 2-for-3 on the day.

Donegal blanked Garden Spot on Monday May 8 by a 15-0 score, taking advantage of six Spartan errors.

Three different batters - Biesecker, who also doubled, Garber and Kara Heidlauf drove in two runs each. Mackison also doubled and drove in a team-high three runs.

Esther Myers kept getting on base. She was hit by a pitched ball three times.

BASEBALL

The Indians improved their record to 13-7 on the year after blanking Octorara 6-0 on Friday, May 5, clobbering Solanco the following afternoon by a 10-2 score and hanging on to defeat Garden Spot 2-1 on Monday.

Coy Allman went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in versus Solanco. Landon Sexton also had a big day, knocking in two runs on two base hits. Cole Wheaton, Devin Bailey, Landen Baughman, and Landon Robertson each scored two runs.

The Indians somehow managed to edge the Spartans despite being outhit 6-2 by Garden Spot. Baughman scored both Donegal runs. The game was a pitchers' duel with Caden Evans picking up the win. He allowed a run on six hits, striking out two Spartan batters.

Caleb Zimmerman went the distance for Garden Spot, striking out six and walking two.

As the season winds down, the Indians find themselves in the hunt for a spot for the District Three Class 5A playoffs. With the top 16 teams qualifying from the district, the Indians were ranked 12th.

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