Finally able to run against competition other than themselves, Owensville Middle School (OMS) track athletes welcomed competitors from Sullivan, Union and Pacific to Dutchmen Field last Monday night for their season-opening meet.

In the team standings, the OMS Dutchmen placed second with 72 points behind Union’s 107 while the OMS Dutchgirls took fourth with 27 points against athletic teams from Union (83), Pacific (66) and Sullivan (62).

Ashley Reed sprinted her way to a second-place time of 14.83 in the 100-meter dash for the Dutchgirls while Lily Barker also placed fifth in 15.20.

Reece Hampton placed eighth for the Dutchgirls in the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:23.71.

Jenna Breedlove showed the way for Owensville in the 800-meter run with a fifth-place time of 3:19.64.

Hannah Gehlert took fourth in the girls 1600-meter run in a time of 6:45.61.

Pacing the Dutchgirl relay teams with a winning time of 12:56.19 in the 4x800-meter relay was the OMS quartet of Chloe Tune, Makenzi Carpenter, Breedlove and Gehlert.

In field events for the Dutchgirls, Barker posted the best finish with a second-place throw of 8.77m in the shot put with Rylee Dare right behind her in third place (8.18m).

Lainey Moss also cracked the top 10 with an eighth-place throw of 6.64m.

Cameron Ryerson led five Dutchgirls in the top 10 of the discus with a third-place throw of 15.07m.

Dare (5th, 14.09m), Kaitlyn Lange (6th, 13.80m), Moss (7th, 13.20m) and Loretta Hawkins (10th, 12.15m) also cracked the top 10 for Owensville.

Payton Busenhart recorded the best finish in the girls long jump with an eighth-place leap of 3.08m.

Sprinting to a third-place time of 1:03.65 in the girls 4x100-meter relay was the Dutchgirl quartet of Lorelai McDaniel, Moss, Reed and Busenhart.

Edged by .03 in the boys 100m dash, Connor Wellman led the Dutchmen in the event with a second-place time of 12.84. Hayden Negretti also hit the top 10 with a ninth-place time of 13.93.

Cody Lenauer turned the corner for the best Dutchmen time in the 200m dash placing third in 26.81. Wellman also placed fourth with a time of 27.75.

Chase Crosby (8th, 1:07.00) and Logan Valley (9th, 1:08.84) both cracked the top 10 for OMS in the 400m dash.

Corbyn Hamann swept both distance events for the Dutchmen winning the 800m run in 2:34.58 and the 1600m run in 5:41.41. Zach Holtmeyer also placed fourth in the mile with a time of 6:12.89.

Brady Watson (7th, 20.59) and Liam Rasmussen (8th, 21.43) rounded out the top eight in the 100m hurdles.

Pacing the OMS Dutchmen relay teams with a second-place time of 10:46.66 in the 4x800m relay was the orange and black foursome of Kylen Menz, Maddix Lebish, Hamann and Holtmeyer.

Breaking double digits in the shot put, Dutchmen Cael Walker won the event with a throw of 10.29m followed closely in third place by teammate Henry Wood.

Walker also led six Dutchmen in the top nine of the boys discus with a third-place throw of 23.40m.

Zach Barch (4th, 23.26m), Wood (5th, 21.17m), Kadyn Grannemann (6th, 20.00m), Rasmussen (7th, 19.85m) and Hunter Miller (9th, 18.13m) all posted top-nine marks for OMS in the boys discus.

Coleton Connor, Cody Lenauer and Brady Watson each cleared 1.40m in the high jump to finish as part of a five-way tie for second place.

Keigan Glaser, Bryce Kramme, Menz and Lebish all cleared 1.25m to finish as part of a six-way tie for eighth place.

Watson led four Dutchmen in the top ten of the boys long jump with a fourth-place leap of 4.21m.

Fellow orange and black boys in the top 10 of the long jump included Wyatt Lewis (6th, 4.07m), Colton Echols (7th, 4.00m) and Kramme (10th, 3.80m).

Lewis rounded out the top 10 in the boys triple jump for the Dutchmen with a leap of 7.52m.

Taking third place in a time of 2:04.19 in the boys 4x200m relay was the Dutchmen quartet of Connor, Negretti, Rasmussen and Walker.

Sprinting to a fourth-place time of 57.46 in the boys 4x100m relay was the OMS team of Grant Huebler, Lenauer, Lewis and Watson.

OMS track was scheduled to close the month of March at a meet in Bourbon but it was canceled due to inclement weather and wet field conditions. They are scheduled to run today (Wednesday) in St. James beginning at 3:30 p.m.