By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track squads spent last Thursday competing at the Section 3A True Team Track and Field Championships in Slayton.
The Patriots were unable to win their respective 15-team boys' and 12-team girls' fields to earn a berth in the state meet, but they did have a good day.
H-BC-E's boys compiled 567 points and placed fifth in team competition. The girls placed ninth with 366 points.
Seniors Chris Reid and Brad Haak won individual championships during the meet.
Haak, who cleared 5-6 to place eighth in the high jump and was second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:49.62, posted a win in the 800-meter run with a 2:01.79 effort.
Reid, who ran 200 meters in 23.47 to place fourth, won the long jump with a distance of 20-1 1/2.
Bev Wurpts turned in the best effort for the Patriot girls by placing second in the 1,600-meter run in 5:50.27.
Wurpts also ran with H-BC-E's fourth-place 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams, which recorded respective 4:24.67 and 10:45.8 times.
Mya Mann, Erin Boeve and Cassi Tilsra joined Wurpts in the 1,600. Tilstra, Brittney Rozeboom and Mann round out the 3,200 team.
Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-E's top-10 finishers and the team standings from the True Team meet.
Boys' standings: Montevideo 884.5; Southwest Christian 749.5, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 674.5, Fulda 601, H-BC-E 567, BOLD 521, Yellow Medicine East 515, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 495, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 448.5, MACCRAY 447, Renville County West 425, Murray County Central 400.5, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 369.5, Adrian 293.5, Lakeview 259 .5.
Girls' standings: T-M-B 663, A-C-GC 606, W-WG-RRC 576, SSC-SV-RL-B 505.1, Fulda 441, BOLD 397, RCW 397, RCW 397, MCC 377.5, H-BC-E 366, YME 332, Adrian 259, Lakeview 104.
H-BC-E boys
Third place: 3,200 relay (Lee Jackson, Greg Van Batavia, Kale Wiertzema and Tyler Bush), 9:06.62; Bush, 1,600, 4:55.47; 400 relay (Reid, Tyson Metzger, Cody Scholten and Jesse Leuthold), 47.25.
Fifth place: 1,600 relay (Bush, Adam Sieff, Greg Van Batavia and Haak), 3:45.22.
Seventh place: Scholten, high jump, 5-6.
Ninth place: Jackson, 800, 2:11.75; Leuthold, 200, 24.34.
10th place: Scholten, pole vault, 9-0; Bush, triple jump, 37-3 1/2.
H-BC-E girls
Third place: Boeve, long jump 15-3 1/2.
Fourth place: Tilstra, 400, 1:04.37.
Fifth place: Boeve, 100, 13.15; Boeve, 200, 28.22; 400 relay (LaDonna Sandstede, Danielle Fransman, Melinda Feucht and Amanda Connors), 56.66.
10th place: Sandstede, 200, 20.3; Rosie Lewis, shot, 29-3.