Going the Distance with Avery Track and Field

The Vikings track and field team continues its push toward the postseason meets with a competition at Mountain Heritage last Thursday afternoon, April 22^nd.

Several individuals and groups performed admirably as the team takes shape in advance of this week’s conference tournament. Avery took the track on a warm afternoon at Mountain Heritage High School for a three-team meet.

Many Avery athletes continue to improve on times and distances in order to better themselves for the regional tournament. Senior Kyle Griewisch bettered his season-best 11.1 second time in the 100 meter dash by two-tenths of a second at Heritage, finishing the race in a blistering time of 10.9 seconds.

Griewisch also ran the lead leg in the men’s 4x100 meter relay. He finished his leg in 10.8 seconds as the Avery boys ran its best group time this season at 45.4 seconds. Griewisch also ran in a third event on the day, the 200 meter dash, and completed the race in 22.6 seconds and a narrow second place finish.

“Based on what I saw last year and how Kyle’s continued improvement, I believe if he breaks the 11 second mark, he can win at Regionals,” Avery track coach Don Reinhofer said of the senior competitor.

Sophomore Alex Villanueva continues to raise the bar (pun intended) in the high jump competition. Villanueva cracked the 6’ barrier at the Mitchell meet a couple of weeks ago, but exceeded the 6’1” level at last week’s event.

“We also put together a 4x200 meter relay team at the meet, and the guys did fantastic,” Avery track coach Reinhofer stated. “The team ran the event in 1:40, their best time this season thus far.” The Vikings also put together a 4x800 m relay team and hopes to find the runners to produce a qualifying time.

A number of men’s distance runners had good showings, including Justin Gragg in the mile run, first-time runner Casey Mitchell as part of the aforementioned 4x800 meter relay group.

Avery has been playing catch-up for most of the season, thanks in large part to the weather. “The weather killed us at the start of this season, but the good thing about it is that we’re seeing our runners and sprinters really peaking right now at the best time,” Reinhofer stated. “With better weather I think some of our times might have been better and with a little more time we may have more participation in events like the triple jump and long jump.”

Avery was unable to take a large number of female student-athletes to Thursday’s meet due to school and other sports obligations, limiting participation in the relay events. However, the girls who made the trip to Heritage had a good afternoon.

Senior Caroline Crenshaw ran well in the 300 meter hurdles, shaving nearly two seconds of her career-best time with an astounding 50.7 seconds effort.

Crenshaw seems to be on a mission to make up for a stumble over a hurdle at last year’s state championships, running with great time and form.

“Last year when she ran in state and fell over the hurdle, Caroline still ran a decent time and was second-fastest going into that event,” Reinhofer said. “She remembers that and has been running well this year and improving time. It seems her competitors can keep up for the first two or three hurdles, but with her distance experience, she just pulls away from everyone at around that fifth hurdle.”

Sara Wiseman participated in the shot put and will compete for a conference tournament in that event.

“You can tell Sara is having a lot of fun out there. She was dominant and having a lot of fun in basketball, and she’s excited about her chances in the shot. She has a real chance to make the state tournament in that event, especially if she can bring everything together over the next week or so,” Coach Reinhofer added.

This past Wednesday the Vikings traveled to Polk County for the Western Highlands Conference meet. We’ll have more information on the event in next week’s print edition, but below are the team scores and individual winners. Congratulations to Avery’s Alex Villanueva, who brought home first in the 110 meter hurdles event.

BOYS Team Results:
Hendersonville 194.5; Polk County 169; Owen 86; Madison 56; Avery County 53; Mountain Heritage 44; Mitchell 41; Thomas Jefferson 28.

Individual winners:
Shot put: Casey Peterson (MH) 48-10; Discus: Ronnie Gosnell (Mad) 127-10; Long jump: Richmond Felton (H) 20-10; Triple jump: Richmond Felton (H) 42-10; High jump: Grant Rivers (H) 6-0; Pole vault: Bryan Lieberman (PC) 14-0; 3,200 meter relay: Hendersonville 8:51.52; 110 meter hurdles: Alex Villanueva (AC) 15.71; 100 meters: Daniel Orr (H) 11.39; 800 relay: Hendersonville 1:32.79; 1,600 meters: John Spencer Wolfe (PC) 4:49.64; 400 meter relay: Hendersonville 44.27; 400 meters: Valentin Santos (PC) 52.09; 300 meter hurdles: Kayce Martin (PC) 43.44; 800 meters: John Spencer Wolfe (PC) 1:56.04; 200 meters: Daniel Orr (H) 22.45; 3,200 meters: Thomas O’Connell (H) 10:48.94; 1,600 meter relay: Polk County 3:33.26;

GIRLS Team Results:
Polk County 169.5; Owen 153; Hendersonville 123; Madison 72; Mountain Heritage 62.5; Mitchell 53; Avery County 22; Thomas Jefferson 11.

Individual winners
Shot put: Hailey Cook (H) 36-10,5; Discus: Hailey Cook (H) 105-8.5; Long jump: Letoya Twitty (PC) 15-4; Triple jump: Cheyenne Miller (PC) 34-3; High jump: Maggie Conner (PC) 5-0; Pole vault: Savanna Mitchell (PC) 7-6; 3,200 meter relay: Owen 10:58.99; 100 meter hurdles: Penny Lane Buckner (MH) 16.44; 100 meters: Danica Huskins (Mit) 13.04; 800 meter relay: Owen 1:54.35; 1,600 meters: Kristen Stout (H) 5:25.34; 400 meter relay: Owen 53.80; 400 meters: Danica Huskins (Mit) 1:02.41; 300 meter hurdles: Maggie Conner (PC) 48.45; 800 meters: Alesia Reece (Mad) 2:28.54; 200 meters: Danica Huskins (Mit) 26.94; 3,200 meters: Cynthia Griffin (Mad) 12:34.14; 1,600 meter relay: Polk County 4:19.47.

The Vikings travel to Cherokee High School for the 1A Western Regional meet next Saturday, May 8^th.