Wildcats Running in Friday State Track Meet

While the postseason doesn't start for the majority of teams for about two weeks, several Wilmington athletes will participate in a playoff atmosphere on Friday night.

The boys and girls indoor track and field teams will have representatives at the Division 3 state meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center thanks to strong performances during the regular season.

First, for the Lady Wildcats, Savannah Hubbard qualified for the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 9.68 seconds. Entering the preliminary round, she is ranked as 20th in the division.

A pair of Wilmington runners are slated to participate in the 300-meter dash. Cali Peffer is ranked at No. 16 thanks to a time of 44.08 during the regular season. Also in the event is Alex Bischoff, who snagged a 20th best time in the division to qualify at 44.56 seconds.

Rachel Alatalo's time of 1:42.80 in the 600-meter run has her ranked in the top half of the field in Friday's meet. There are 43 entries, and Alatalo has the 14th best time.

Kelly Hartsough could be in for a good night in the 1,000-meter run. She's ranked just out of the top ten with a time of 3:12.00, good for 11th out of 35 runners.

Sydnee Russo is in the mile ranked at No. 33 while Nichole Lunt is in the shot put, rated 21st out of 27 participants. The 4x400 team is

Peffer, Alatalo, Bischoff and Hartsough team up for the 4x400 relay, entering the evening as a highly rated unit. Wilmington is the No. 4 team in a field that includes 19 participants.

Wilmington's boys team will be well represented, beginning with Eric Jaeschke, who is the 31st ranked runner entering the 300-meter dash.

Steve Halas looks to make a move in the 600-meter run, where he is one of the top athletes competing. Halas enters with the sixth fasted time out of 30 runners, looking to leadfrog a few participants and improve on his best time of 1:25.87.

The remaining individual runners are distance athletes. David Swider and Andrew Sears enter competition in the 1,000-meter run rated back-to-back at 12th and 13th, respectively. The pair is separated by less than .10 seconds.

Erik Alatalo is hoping to improve on his No. 36 ranking in the one-mile run, entering with a time of 4:48.56.

Eli Jennings seeks a jump into the top ten in the shot put, as he enters Friday with a throw of 46 feet, 0.50 inches, in 11th place in D3.

A pair of relay teams hopes to represent the school well. The 4x800 team of Erik Alatalo, Andrew Sears, David Swider, Steve Halas, Pat Barry and Peter Warren has the sixth best time in the field of 14.

Finally, Barry, Andrew Fino, Colin Chase, Eric Jaeschke and Connor Townsend team up as a part of the 4x400 relay team.

Check back with Patch for results from the meet.