This year marked the 72nd year Sterling has hosted Sterling Night Relays. Sterling High School has hosted this meet since 1950. Due to the weather, the meet was held on Thursday, April 26, instead of the traditional Friday night. This year, the girls’ team walked away with first place for the third year in a row, and the boys finished in third place.
Our relay teams showed up and worked hard to earn us those spots. The varsity boys 4×100 team running juniors Kaedon Phillips, Joseph Holcomb, and sophomores Ryan Gebhardt and Maurice Delacruz placed second with a time of 43.86. The varsity girls 4×100 team of senior Anna Aulwes, and juniors Presley Winters, Finley Ryan, and Taah Liberty placed first with a time of 50.76. The girls freshman/soph 4×100 came in second place with a time of 53.44. The girls 4×100 shuttle team (junior Addison Robbins, Aulwes, A.Ryan, and Johnson) came in first.
The varsity 4×200 team (Delacruz, Holcomb, seniors Jordan Britt and Carter Chance) finished in first place with a winning time of 1:31.81. “The meet didn’t have the same usual vibes because it was on a Thursday, but the energy was still there and it was fun,” says Holcomb.
The girls 4×200 team (Ryan, Liberty, Winters, and Aulwes) placed second with a time of 1:49.11. The fresh/soph relay, running sophomores Abby Ryan, Sage Ryan, Alivia Gibson, and Isabella Slyvester, placed first, with a time of 1:55.42, and the boys fresh/soph team (Gebhart, and freshmen Aidan Lacy, Emmanuel Areola, and Quincy Mass) came in first as well. Bringing an end to our relays, the boys 4×400 (senior Owen Anderson, Britt, Mass, and Delacruz) placed first with a time of 3:23.81. The girls’ team (senior Rhylee Delgado, Winters, Liberty, and Gibson) placed fourth with a time of 4:25.01. Lastly, the boys 4×800 (seniors Dale Johnson and Parker Janssen, Anderson, and Britt) placed first with a time of 8:02.91, and the girls’ team (freshman Jaz’Mya Casteneda, junior Connie Ibarra, sophomore Laney Zuithof, and Delgado) placed fourth with a time of 10:32.21.
Johnson says, “The team did really well, and specifically the 4×400 really set the stage for what is going to be possible later on in the season.”
Our individual runners did excellent as well. Sophomore Anessa Johnson placed third in the 300 meter hurdles. D. Johnson took the win in the 1600, with a time of 4:29.78. Following behind him, junior Aalin Schmidt placed fourth with a personal best time of 4:39.09 in the 1600.
In the field events, senior Andre Klaver and Phillips placed first and second in high jump, jumping 1.90m. F. Ryan placed second in the pole vault by jumping 3.12m.
Girls Head Coach Tyler Gaumer says, “I am incredibly proud of our team. It is an awesome accomplishment to win the Night Relays and for our seniors to go out and win three years in a row is a testament to our hard work and dedication.”
Overall, this meet was a success for both the boys and girls team, and it’s a fun tradition to carry on through the years.
