For The Daily Journal
COLUMBUS
Conventional wisdom says that track and field athletes are equipped to produce much better times and distances in 60-degree temperatures than in 40-degree weather.
But Wednesday’s cool temperatures didn’t stop some Whiteland boys and girls from improving their performances over Monday’s outdoor season opener against Perry Meridian when they competed in their second meet at Columbus North.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“We saw quite a few better performances in the running events and even in the throws,” Whiteland coach Brandon Bangel said. “A couple of our kids did pretty well down (in the throws). We saw a few improvements despite the weather.”
The Warriors, who won the boys meet and lost the girls meet against Perry Meridian, came up a little short in both meets Wednesday. The Bull Dogs won the boys competition 83-49 and the girls meet 82-50.
Whiteland was led by the Emberton siblings. Senior Ryder Emberton, the defending state champion in the shot put and third-place state finisher in the discus, swept those events, throwing 52 feet, 4½ inches in the shot and 154-4 in the discus.
Sophomore Reagan Emberton swept the girls shot (34-10) and discus (101-11).
“We know that the throws with Ryder and Reagan are a strong point of ours, and they do a good job,” Bangel said. “We figured that they’d have a good chance to come down here and win, which always helps us out in the team points.”
The Warrior boys also had wins from Preston Phillips in the 100 meters (11.4 seconds) and David Ryan in the 800 (2:07.0). Ryan, Micah Long, Jake Dougherty and Bailey McMahon took the 4×800 relay in 8:53.
Other winners for the Whiteland girls included Chloe Sanders in the pole vault (9-0), Kerrigan Miller in the 100 (13.3), Taylor Latham in the 400 (1:04.0) and Taylor Morowski in the 300 hurdles (51.4).
“I was really pleased with how we competed,” Bangel said. “Obviously, the weather is not ideal for a track meet, but our kids responded well and prepared well, and we had some really good performances despite the cold temperatures.”