On Friday, Apr. 28, the LHS track teams competed in the Metro Conference track meet. This conference consists of LHS, WHS, RHS, OGHS and BVHS, so there is a huge amount of competition between track athletes. Despite a high amount of competition, both LHS boys and girls took home gold.

These championships mark the third consecutive year the boys have won the conference and the second year the girls have. This was possible with incredible performances by all the LHS athletes, including four athletes who broke conference records. Senior Eric Looby broke the long jump record, junior Ryley Heier broke the conference record for the triple jump, Nathan Popkes broke former LHS athlete Evan Hieber’s high jump record of 6’4” and senior Courtney Klatt broke the Metro Conference records in both the 1600 and 3200 races.

The boys team had outstanding performances, with many athletes placing in the top five. First place finishes included Nathan Popkes in high jump, Eric Looby in long jump, Malik Redd in triple jump, Colin Brison in both 100 and 200, Gabe Peters in the 1600, Henry Klitzke in the 3200, and the boys 4×800 relay team won first as well. It should also be noted that many of these athletes also placed in their other events and earned significant points to lead the LHS boys to a 126-106 win against the next closest team in BVHS.

The girls side also had impressive performances, with first place finishes from Senior Becca Bindert in the discus, junior Ryley Heier in the triple jump, sophomore Josephine Dal in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, junior Jasmyne Cooper in the 800, junior Courtney Klatt in the 1600 and the 3200, as well as the 4×800 relay team winning it all. Like the boys, many other LHS girls runners placed top five in order to help the girls side to a 140-128 win over the next closest girls team BVHS.

Overall, the Metro Conference championship says a lot about the LHS track teams as they look forward to the Howard Wood Relays and even on to the State Meet on May 26-28. Make sure you get out to watch the LHS track teams and athletes compete before the season ends.