By Dan Hardenbrook
The Newberry girls and boys varsity track teams took center stage at the first meet of the season last Friday in Cadillac. The host Vikings welcomed schools big and small from all around the top half of Michigan for a fiercely competitive early season event.
Outnumbered and certainly outsized, both Newberry teams battled, and several individuals broke through for big finishes on Cadillac’s brand-new track in one of the state’s new top-caliber facilities.
Both the girls and boys cracked the top 10 overall in the team standings, and were among the best groups among the smaller schools for the invite only event. Newberry’s boys earned 18 points while the ladies picked up 20 against a field of 14 total teams that competed.
Leading the way for the Lady Indians was Abby Taylor, who took a first-place finish in the 400m for the small school division, with a time of 1:06.70. Taylor’s final time was good enough for 5th place among all runners. Taylor also earned points by placing second in the 800m run. Sister Samantha Taylor got her season off to a strong start, finishing third in the 1600m run and fifth in the 200m.
Lucie Rabochova shined in her first race with the Lady Indians, also taking a top spot in the 100Mm for small school runners. Rabochova finished in 13.96 seconds and was 8th overall. The versatile Rabochova also picked up points in multiple events: She was second in the 300m hurdles and finished 5th in long jump.
“It was a cold day and a late night, but definitely worth it to be able to compete against larger schools on a brand new track at a beautiful facility,” said Lady Indians Coach Cori Canfield. “I want to congratulate all of the athletes who participated. We were very impressed with everyone and we cannot wait to see what the rest of the season brings!”
The Newberry boys also had a pair of event wins—one on the track and the other on the field. Garrett Lewicki finished first in the men’s 800m run with a time of 2:13.20. His time placed him in the top three overall, just seconds shy of the fastest time of the day.
Newberry throwers had a dominant day, too. Liam Nalette was the top small school thrower in the discus, tossing 132 ft, 10.5 inches, a top five overall score for the meet. Nalette’s fellow throwers put up big numbers, especially in the shot put where Ethan Pavey (4th) and Gabe Luck (5th) picked up points for Coach Drew Schultz’s team.
“Our Throwers had a great day with Ethan and Gabe each throwing over 40 ft and Jude Taylor having his best throws so far. They set a solid standard for the season,” Schultz said.
Top sprinter Kennedy Depew was second in the 100m and fourth in the 200m. Liam Rao wasn’t far behind in the 100m, earning a fourth-place finish. Sam Rahilly finished sixth in the 1600m run.
Multiple relay teams finished high, with the 3200m Relay (Lewicki, Rahilly, Sebastian Patterson, and Oliver Sevarns) taking third, and the 400m Relay team of Nalette, Luck, Brien Nelson, and Rao coming across in fourth.
Schultz said it was a good taste of what’s to come for his team.
“We got a lot out of our trip down there and we were able to compete while young guys got their first taste of good competition at a beautiful facility,” Schultz said.
