Eagles, Clovers in track, field action

Cloverdale welcomed South Putnam and Owen Valley on Monday night for a three-way track and field meet that did not lack for close calls.

The Eagles' girls' squad narrowly edged past the Patriots 54-53 with the hosts not far behind on 44 points.

A meet so closely contested had perhaps one of the best races of the season after South Putnam's Ariel Higgins eked out a victory in the 300-meter hurdles over Cloverdale's Bailee Stevens.

Among the winners for the Eagles included Higgins in the 100-meter hurdles, Kim Cheatham in the 400-meter dash, Madie Egold in the 3200-meter run, Deborah Cheatham in the high jump and Amanda Barnes in the shot put, along with a win in the 3200-meter relay.

Eagle girls' head coach Brandon Welti said that the hurdle race was one of a number of good finishes for the squad.

"I loved how close it was," Welti said. "It was definitely closer than I expected. The 300 hurdles was definitely the most exciting race to watch.

"We had great results with Deborah (Cheatham) jumping 5'3" this early in the season. Amanda Barnes had a pretty great night in the discus with another PR.

"We have a small team but everyone is doing their jobs and stepping up when it matters and ultimately that's what carried us through tonight."

Cloverdale picked up wins through Tori Szaley in the 1600-meter run and Laura Worthington in the discus competition, while a third win was picked up in long jump.

The Clover boys' added wins through Nick Blundell in the 400-meter dash, Wade Warren in the 300-meter hurdles and Jake Waycott in the 800-meter run, as well as a win in the 3200-meter relay.

Those wins would not be enough to get past the Eagles for second in the boys' meet. Owen Valley won the boys' event comfortably while South Putnam pipped the hosts with a 68-45-43 scoreline.

Cloverdale head coach Andy Tyler said both squads put in a good evening of races.

"I thought things went well tonight," Tyler said. "The good thing was having the girls come out and run PR's tonight and we had several of those.

"The 300 hurdles race was unbelievable. Those two will probably go into the sectional as the one and two seed over girls from bigger schools like the Terre Haute schools, which will be great to see.

"We're fighting the injury bug on the guys' side," Tyler added. "Our 3200-meter relay team looks strong. Coach Waycott has been working with them and our mid-distance looked strong tonight.

"Wade was strong in the hurdles against a kid that was lightning quick. We've got some work to do with the some spots but we're looking to be quicker as we go into some of the later meets."

South Putnam grabbed wins through Wes Riner in the 100-meter dash, Kieffer Vittetow in the 3200-meter run, Klayton Vittetow in the high jump and Joe Masters in the shot put.

Eagle boys' head coach Carl Coons said the squad came out of the weekend and performed well overall.

"I think we had a solid team effort," Coons said. "The people that needed to step up, even if they didn't win, still got points for us.

"We picked up some thirds and fourths that got points for us. For coming back from the weekend, I felt we had a decent effort and decent times."