Pawhuska athletes show promise at early season meet

Pawhuska’s varsity track teams saw action for just the second time this season at the annual home meet April 1, and the Huskies turned in some promising performances.

All-around athlete Mason Gilkey took a first place in the 400-meter dash, a second place in the 100 meters and a fourth place in the high jump (an event in which he normally does not enter).

Fellow sprinter Jack Long was third in the 100 meter dash and sixth in the 200 meters. Tell Richardson was third in the 400.

Distance runner Ryck Quillen took first in the 3,200-meter run. He established a commanding early lead and successfully defended it. Quillen was also second in the 1,600-meter run, and he ran a leg of the 3,200-meter relay in which Pawhuska finished third.

In the girls portion of the meet, Kelsi Seiger showed promise, finishing first in both the shot put and the discus throw.

“She did pretty well,” Coach Mark Frye said, noting that he thinks Seiger will improve over her performances last week. Also among the Pawhuska girls, Eleanor Walker finished third in the 100-meter hurdles, and several team members placed in sprint events. The sprint placers included VaShae Housely, Caroline Perrier, Nevaeh Taylor, Fallon Bowman and Jayden Sloan.

Micah McNeil placed fifth for Pawhuska in both the girls 800 meters and 1,600 meters.

Among the boys, Tyrel Richardson was fourth in the long jump, Jamar Goff was third in the shot put and fourth in the discus throw. Todd Drummond was third in the discus throw. Tehi Chibitty finished third in the 3,200-meter run.

“We didn’t look like we were doing that great,” Frye said, acknowledging the Pawhuska teams didn’t look as impressive yet as fans might have anticipated. He explained that some important relay teams were not in competition yet on April 1. Among the reasons for that was injury prevention. He noted that it was important to avoid more serious injuries early in the season by holding out athletes with relatively minor injuries at this point.

Frye said he was impressed by the performances of athletes who stepped forward and made contributions in a number of events. He pointed out that A.J. Soliano, who ran a leg of the boys 3,200-meter relay, was new to the boys track and field team.

Frye mentioned that two girls who had just returned to school were able to participate and turned in good performances.

Things are coming along slowly with the athletes still getting in competitive shape, and significant improvements should be coming in the first half of April, he said.

The next meet will be April 10 in Vinita, Frye said. It will be a combination meet, which the junior high team will also attend, he said.