Mike Vukovcan The Hopewell Track and Field teams traveled to New Castle Tuesday to open competition in their new AAA section.
After 8 years in AA, and 15 sections titles (8 for the girls and 7 for the boys)- the Vikings will be facing stiffer competition, and New Castle was certainly a tough matchup.
The Hopewell Girls were able to handle business and come away with a 72-54 victory. The Lady Vikings have not lost a section meet since 2016!!
Hopewell’s Emma Palmeri
Emma Palmeri led the way with victories in the 100m (13.08), 400m (62.80), and anchored the winning 4×100 and 4×400 teams. Also taking victories were freshman Skylar Elias in the 1600m (7:09), Caylee Sundy in the 800m (3:14), and Marlee Page (80’2″) with the javelin, and Mia Blakeslee in the high jump (4’6″). Mia was joined by Tessa Burgess and Lahna Murray, who both cleared the bar at 4’4″ to combine for a sweep of the Hurricanes.
The Hopewell Boys had a number of strong performances, but also a few near messes, and dropped a close decision (87-63).
The highlight on the track was senior Zach Lucas’ commanding victory in the 110m hurdles with a fantastic personal best time of 15.89 seconds. Sophomore Luke McGrail also ran a massive personal best to finish second in 16.54. Zach also won the 300m hurdles with a smooth 44.94, and Julian Baldwin took second in his debut over the intermediate barriers with 46.18.
Hopewell’s Zach Kovell
Other event winners were Zach Kovell in the 400m (52.82), and freshman Jack Biega in his 800m debut (2:19).
The Boys 4×400 relay also won (3:39) with their best time in many years.
The strong performances show a lot of promise, but there is still a lot of work to do for this talented team to meet the high expectations they have for themselves.
The Vikings team will spend the next week doing the necessary work to be at their best for their first home meet on April 1 against Blackhawk.
