Hopkins Girls Track And Field Takes Eighth At Nationals

Just a few weeks removed from winning the Class AA state championship, the Hopkins girls track and field team made its second-straight appearance at the Nike Track Nationals competition Saturday in Hayward, OR.

"It was a great way to wrap up a historic season," Hopkins head coach Nick Lovas said. "It was something pretty special to be a part of."

The Royals were seeded 12th out of 12 teams competing in the meet, yet scored 7,362.32 points to finish eighth in the final team standings.

"We actually scored 117 more points than we did last season, when we finished fifth," Lovas said. "I think the squad did great."

Two Hopkins girls claimed all-time personal-best performances on Saturday, as graduated senior Hannah Borowsky closed out her high school career with her top time of 5 minutes, 3.51 seconds to take fourth place in the 1-mile run and incoming senior Mariah Witt ran her best result of 15.29 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles to finish eighth in the event.

One other Royal, graduate Kayla Goeman, missed a personal record in the 800-meter run by 2/100ths of a second with a fifth-place time of 2:17.36.

Bridget Sweeney earned Hopkins' top event placement at the meet as the graduate took third in the 400-meter run in a time of 56.27.

Also competing for the Royals were: 

• Mary Tanoe, sixth-place in the 100-meter run (12.37)
• Jill Greefield, seventh-place in the shot put (34 feet, 5.75 inches)
• Bria Raines, seventh-place in the discus (98-6.5)
• Julia Wiemer, 11th-place in the long jump (16-2.75)
• Therese Bredemus, eighth-place in the pole vault (9-3.25)

"It put a nice finishing touch on a great year," Lovas said.