All-Conference awards and new school records were among the spectacular results earned by Middle Park High’s track and field athletes at the Metro League Championships last Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.

Held at Holy Family High School near Broomfield, the Panther girls battled to a second-place finish in the team competition behind Holy Family’s Tigers. In the boys competition, a couple of Middle Park’s athletes picked up first-place results in individual events.

“Our kids really took care of business at the league meet,” said coach Christine Dubois-Miller.

Girls results
On their way to their second-place spot, the Panther girls earned a string of victories and other top places in individual and relay events.

“With only 14 girls, our girls team made quite a run,” Dubois-Miller said. “Everyone of them scored points and contributed to our runner-up finish.”

Topping the team’s individual results at the league meet was Samantha Berggren, who turned in impressive running performances. She finished first in the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter track events, which earned her All-Conference First Team honors.

On her way to those victories, Berggren raced to first place in the 800-meter dash after posting a time of 2:25.36. She also set a new school record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.81 seconds, and then did the same in the 1,600-meter run with 5:15.08.

Finally in the 400-meter dash, Berggren not only broke the new school record she set earlier this season but also set a new state 3A division record with a time of 55.55 seconds.

Joining Berggren on the All-Conference First Team was Panther teammate Quincey Pedersen, who earned two victories at the Metro League Championships. She won the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 10 inches and then gained a second victory in the triple jump with a distance of 33 feet, 1/4 inch.

Earning All-Conference Second Team honors at last weekend’s meet was Middle Park’s Elsa Krieg. She took second place in the discus with a throw of 101 feet, 2-1/2 inches.

A couple third-place finishes earned All-Conference Honorable Mentions for the Panthers’ Cheyenne Hickox. In the high jump, she took third place with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches. Hickox also took a third place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.04 seconds.

“And what makes these All-Conference awards even better is that all four of these girls are only freshmen,” Dubois-Miller said.

A couple of All-Conference Honorable Mentions were also earned by two Panther girls’ relay teams who took third places last weekend.

One of those third-place finishes was in the 4 x 800-meter relay. The team of Sarah Williams, Jessica Gleisberg, Kelly Little and Hannah Garcia raced the distance in 11:46.58.

The other Honorable Mention went to Middle Park’s 4 x 200-meter relay team. Amanda Lange, Melissa Plum, Cheyenne Hickox and Lihla Clancy sprinted around the track in a time of 2:02.36 to take third place.

Contributing points toward Middle Park’s runner-up finish at the league meet were:
Fourth place — Cheyenne Hickox, 300-meter hurdles, 53.12 seconds
Fourth place — Hannah Garcia, 3,200-meter run, 14:20.38
Fourth place — Elsa Krieg, shot put, 30 feet, 1-1/2 inches
Fourth place — Melissa Plum, Lihla Clancy, Jessica Gleisberg and Sarah Williams, 1,600-meter relay, 14:35.30
Fifth place — Amanda Lange, Katie Mattfeld, Melissa Plum and Quincey Pedersen, 4 x 100-meter relay, 57.36 seconds
Sixth place — Katie Mattfeld, Sarah Williams, Lihla Clancy and Melissa Plum, medley relay, 2:06.40
Seventh place — Jessica Gleisberg, long jump, 12 feet, 9 inches
Eighth place — Amanda Lange, long jump, 12 feet, 6-3/4 inches
Eighth place — Katie Mattfeld, discus, 68 feet, 11-1/2 inches
Eighth place — Kathy Childress, shot put, 26 feet, 5-1/2 inches
Eighth place — Kathy Childress, high jump, 4 feet, 4 inches.

Boys results
The Panther boys also picked up a couple of All-Conference First Team honors during last week’s league meet.

Ben Shipman earned one of those First Team awards by winning first place in the high jump. He went over the bar at 5 feet, 10 inches.

The other First Team award was taken by Mike Schmidt in the discus. He made a throw of 143 feet, 8 inches, which broke the school record he set earlier this season.

Mike Schmidt also earned a fifth place in the shot put last weekend. He the shot for a distance of 40 feet, 2-1.4 inches.

A fifth-place finish was made by Middle Park’s 4 x 100-meter team. Patrick Hutchins, Marc Schmidt, Conner Nicklas and Mitch Steffen sprinted around the track in a time of 51.31 seconds.

Marc Schmidt earned a sixth place in the triple jump with 31 feet, 10-3/4 inches. His teammate Patrick Hutchins finished seventh in that event with a jump of 33 feet, 1/2 inch.

Zach Peterson sprinted to a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.96 seconds.

Rounding out the Panthers’ results was the eight place taken by Marc Schmidt in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 53.66 seconds.