Spartans win 4x800 relay at IPTT

BLOOMINGTON — Between you and me, I think 2009 is going to be a successful season for track and field at Unity and St. Joseph-Ogden.

The Spartans opened their season in grand fashion Friday, winning the girls 4x800 relay at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center. The SJ-O team of Jolee Paden, Lauren Cessna, Sidney Long and Chelsea Blaase finished the race with a time of 10:00.56.

To open the season with a victory in the indoor state championship is a huge boost for the talented and young Spartan girls' team. Coach Jerry Hewerdine was impressed with his team's talent during early practices when I talked to him a few weeks ago, and I have to imagine winning a state race couldn't hurt that.

Lydia Mitchell and Ashlee Schroyer led the Unity girls at Friday's meet. Mitchell took fifth in the 55 hurdles and Schroyer was sixth in the 55 dash. Both Rockets have been favored among the top performers in their events this season, and validated their rankings with their great performances at IWU.

I think there are a lot of talented runners on both girls' teams this season. Both Unity and SJ-O have larger teams than they've had in past years, and both squads are competitive in a lot of areas. They should be very competitive when outdoor season arrives this week.

And the boys' teams at both schools are great, too.

Zebo Zebe and Chris Ault both took top 10 finishes for the Rockets' boys in the 400 meters Friday, while Nick Blakey was ninth in the triple jump and Caleb Ball and Tom Jean were in the top ten in the pole vault for SJ-O. The two teams also combined to place in five of six relays.

Along with Monticello, I think the Spartans and Rockets are the three best teams in this season's sectional. The teams will battle each other at invitationals and open meets for the next six weeks, and in that time there will be a lot of room for improvement. It should be an entertaining year.