HOUGHTON — The Dunkirk and Fredonia indoor track 9th and 10th graders competed in the 9th and 10th grade championships at Houghton College this past Friday and with it, the Marauders and Hillbillies had several impressive finishes.

“With there being no true JV program for track, there is always a championship meet for 9th and 10th graders to let them shine and get in a meet for once,” said Dunkirk coach Adam Woelfle. “For some larger schools this may be the only meet some athletes are in, and for others, it gives them a chance to at least finally compete in three events”.

Dunkirk’s Jesus Cuevas opened up the meet placing third in the 10th grade 55 meter hurdles while Miracle Berakah took fourth for 10th graders in the 55 meter dash. Berakah came back in the 600 to take sixth and then second in the 300, while teammate Angel Rios took fifth in the 600 and third in the 300.

On the girls side, Kylie Procknal took fifth in the 300. Dunkirk also put up solid relays with Procknal, Jessica Vasquez, Siera Porpiglia and Katie Castaglia taking second in the 4×4 and Procknal, Vasquez, Castaglie, and Emma Romanick taking second in the 4×2.

Romanick also placed second in the pole vault and Alina Beadle took second in the shot put.

“I was very impressed with all of our underclassmen,” said Woelfle. “They all had great races Friday night and really worked hard all season. The future is looking bright if we can keep them all coming back for the next few years.”

For Fredonia, Jack Carlson won the 1,600 meter run in the 10th grade category, running a personal best 4:38.01 while doing so.

The 4X2 relay ream of Oliver Madariaga, Andrew Camp, Brenden Nero and Mauricio Corando placed fourth while Camp also finished sixth in the 55 meter dash.

Madariaga also placed sixth in the 300.

“It was great to see the younger members of the team a chance to see how they stack up against athletes in the same grade as them,” said Fredonia coach Thomas Stokes. “Our kids have worked hard and it is nice to see them rewarded for their efforts.”

For the girls, Kelly Lucas placed sixth in the 600 and second in the high jump while freshman Ashlynn Ambrose placed eighth in the 1,000.

On Saturday, the Dunkirk varsity team took place in the Varsity Select meet at Fredonia State College.

Dunkirk’s Efrain Santiago improved his time in the 3,200, running a 11:31.79 while taking fourth place. Emma Romanick came back to run the 55 in 8.13, good enough for sixth place.

On the boys side, Jonah Rosas clocked in a 7.10 to take scond in the 55. In the 1,000, Anthony Ruiz took fourth and also came back to take first in the 1,600 in a race that took him right to the line.

The relays is where Dunkirk came to shine. The team of Juliana Flick, Ellie Decker, Sierra Jacques, and Jericha Petrella knew they were going to be put to work running all three relays as a team back to back to back, but they had heart and won all three.

They took the 4×8 in 10:17.57, setting a new season-best and record time from when they set in two weeks ago at R.I.T, they then won the 4×4 in 4:38.41, and finally finished their day with the 4×2 winning in 2:07.21.

On the boys side, relays were still very strong as Nelson Rosairo and Miracle Berakah were in the same boat as the girls having to run all three relays. In the 4×8, they ran with Ethan Yannie and Santiago to a second place finish in 9:22.10. They joined Hanlon and Rios in the 4×4 to take second in 3:52.70 and they had Rosas and Ruiz join them in the 4×2 to win in 1:43.80

In the field, Alina Beadle threw again for a third place finish and Romanick vaulted to third place finished as well. Devin Eddy had the lone placement for the boys with a third place long jump finish.

I was very impressed with the varsity team,” said Woelfle. “We took this meet as a hard training day knowing you don’t usually improve your times coming to a shorter track where you can’t wear spikes. The athletes all ran hard knowing what they were supposed to do and it provided tremendous results. Our last two weeks are championships with team championships next weekend, and the Sectional meet a week from Thursday. These athletes are ready to drop some solid times over those next two weeks, and this meet showed it.”