Union City girls track secures Big 8 conference crown, Quincy finishes in second place

MAPLE VALLEY – The seven teams of the Big 8 conference traveled to the confines of its newest member on Wednesday to crown a track and field conference champion as Maple Valley High School held the Big 8 League Meet.

(In an effort to give both the boys and girls the press they deserve, two separate write ups will be printed, one for each side of the league meet. This write up will cover the girls' side of the Big 8 conference tournament.)

Union City made it a clean sweep on Wednesday, in more ways than one, mirroring their counterparts from the boy’s competition to remain unbeaten in the conference on the year, riding an undefeated dual record and a dominant win at the league meet to a Big 8 conference title. Union City wrapped up the league championship for the first time since 2011 with a score of 145 points, followed by the Quincy Orioles who finished in second place with 115 points. Bronson finished in sixth place overall with a score of 37 points.

Union City wraps up Big 8 crown, wins five conference titles

Union City rode the wave of five conference championships and a whole of depth to the conference win on Wednesday.

Nevada Gillons continued her dominant junior season, winning multiple events throughout the night. Gillons captured gold in both hurdle events, winning the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.58 seconds and the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.80, both personal bests. Gillons also added gold in the long jump, winning with a jump of 15 feet, 8.75 inches.

Junior long distance runner Skyler Fraley also earned herself some hardware, winning the 3,200 in a time of 12 minutes, 53.88 seconds in addition to her second-place finish in the 1,600.

The final Big 8 title of the night for Union City went to the 400-relay team made up of Alaina Labar, Naomi Schwark, Attica Hoath, and Gillons who took first place in a time of 53.12 seconds.

Rounding out the Union City effort with a top six finish in their respective event was Schwark, sixth place in the 100 and second place in the high jump; Hoath, sixth place in the 200; Parker Williams, second place in the 400; Willow Austin, sixth place in the 400; Alissa Skirka, fourth place in the 800; Alli Gautsche, third place in the 1,600 and second place in the 3,200; Labar, fourth place in the 100 hurdles and fourth place in the long jump; Kylie Creech, fifth place in the 100 hurdles, third place in the 300 hurdles, and second place in the pole vault; the 800 relay team of Austin, Schwark, Addison Miller, and Hoath, third place; the 1,600 relay team of Austin, Hoath, Skirka, and Williams, third place; the 3,200 relay team of Skirka, Williams, Gautsche, and Fraley, second place; Kiera Taylor, third place in the pole vault; and Addison Miller, sixth place in the pole vault.

Quincy secures second place, places three atop Big 8 podium

The Quincy Orioles finished their season in second place overall thanks to three Big 8 conference champions.

Individual conference championships went to Kendyl Musielewicz who took first place in the 800 in a time of 2:31.83 while in the field events it was Brooke McVicker winning the pole vault with a vault of 8 feet, 0 inches.

Quincy also took one relay win as the 3,200-relay team of Raylee Fulton, Musielewicz, Sadie Miller, and Katharina Paschke won in a time of 11 minutes, 9.92 seconds.

Rounding out the Quincy runner-up effort with a top six finish was Elizabeth Craig, fourth place in the 400; Paschke, fifth place in the 800 and fourth place in the 1,600; Sadie Miller, sixth place in the 800 and fifth place in the 1,600; Charlotte Crabbs, third place in the 3,200; Fulton, fourth place in the 3,200; Libby Butchart, sixth place in the 3,200; Brookelynn Parker, second place in the 100 hurdles and second place in the 300 hurdles; the 400 relay team of Cheyenne Marske, Abby Tinervia, Kali Kugler, and McVicker, fourth place; the 800 relay team of Tinervia, Marske, Craig, and Kugler, fifth place; the 1,600 relay team of Parker, Marske, Craig, and Musielewicz, second place; Hallie Jones, fourth place in the shot put; Kyha Brewer, fifth place in the shot put; Emyleigh Burlew, sixth place in the discus; Coelie Smullen, fourth place in the high jump; Abby Leosh, third place in the pole vault; Piper Craig, fifth place in the pole vault; Tinervia, second place in the long jump; and Marske, third place in the long jump.

Bronson finishes sixth, Albarran brings home four medals

The Bronson Vikings finished in sixth place to cap their 2024 season on Wednesday night.

Although the team did not win any conference championships, the Vikings did bring some hardware home from Maple Valley.

Itzel Albarran led the Bronson effort with four total medals, including three individual and one relay. Albarran finished the day in third place in the 200, third place in the 400 and sixth place in the long jump to go along with a third-place finish as part of the 400-relay team along with teammates Addison Calloway, Miriam Sanchez, and Jaiden Hayes.

Also adding to the Bronson effort on the night was Miriam Sanchez, second place in the 800 and Skylar Smith with a fourth-place finish in the discus and a third-place finish in the high jump.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Union City girls track wins Big 8 conference crown, Quincy finishes 2nd