BUFFALO – Altoona-Midway Middle School’s Chance Mustain earned gold and silver medals in the “A Division” distance events while three Jet track athletes claimed gold in the “B Division” when AMMS hosted the annual Mineral Belt League Track Meet here Monday at the Frank Kennedy Field and Track.
Mustain capped off an outstanding spring track season, breaking the tape against all other MBL entrants in the 3200-meter run, and finishing second in the 1600 meters.
Individual champions for Altoona-Midway in the “B Division” at the league meet included Sandra Morales in the shot put; Eliot Ard in the 3200 meters; and Zack Good in the 200. While those were the top finishes for AMMS, while Jet athletes had several other finishes that earned team points. While the host squad was unable to finish in the upper half of the team standings among the talented MBL competition, Altoona-Midway boys and girls still racked up a total of 40 points in the “A Division” and 58 points in the “B Division.”
“It was a beautiful day for a track meet and a wonderful meet to end our season on,” noted Chary Weilert, co-head coach of the AMMS track squad along with David Batzer. “What a great way to end the season,” Batzer added. “We had several PR's (personal records) and lots of points and medals.”
Mustain, who was exceptional at the distance runs all season long, claimed the MBL championship in the 3200-meter run with a time of 13:08.78 and also set a personal record of 5:54.19 in his silver-medal finish in the 1600-meter run.
Both distance races included exciting finishes. Mustain broke the tape in the 3200 less than a second before the St. Patrick’s duo of Christian Zapatero and Mark Mall Jr. Meanwhile, Thayer’s Trey Raida foiled the Jet star’s attempt for double gold in the 1600, nipping Mustain by just over a second after four laps.
“What a spring Chance Mustain had for us,” Batzer noted. “He ended the year strong with another win in the 3200 and a gutsy runner-up performance in the mile. “His future is very bright.” This track season, Mustain collected two golds and two silvers in the 3200 and three golds, two silvers and a bronze in the 1600 (those totals do not include the Flinthills Invitational).
Other top finishes for AMMS boys in the “A Division” were turned in by Chance Carter and the Jets’ Medley Relay squad. Carter earned a bronze medal in the shot put, taking third with a new PR of 37-06. He also placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 93-0.
The AMMS medley relay team of Eliot Ard, Chance Carter, Zach Good, and Jase Stacy placed fifth with a PR of 2:24.74. Morales played a part in all three league events in which Lady Jets secured points in the girls’ “A Division.”
Morales earned a bronze medal in the discus (70-6.5) and fifth in the 1600-meter run (7.02.62). She also joined Emily Burch, Ashlynn Sicka, and Katherine Tindle to earn a third-place finish in the 4x400 relay (6:11.49).
Morales picked up her gold medal in the “B Division” shot put with a heave of 26-5. Burch, a seventh-grader, also picked up points for the Lady Jets in that division, taking second place in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 3:37.37.
In addition to being part of the medley relay unit that earned “A Division” points, seventh-graders Good and Ard had outstanding placings in the boys’ “B Division” of the MBL meet. Good claimed a gold, silver, and bronze in “B” events. He finished first in the 200-meter dash with a PR time of 32.02; placed 2 nd in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 21.93, and 3rd in the 100 meters with a time of 15.32.
Ard out-ran the “B” field to win the 3200 meters with a new PR of 2:24.74, and also placed third in the 1600 with a time of 6:48.96. Eliot had an incredible PR time in the 3200, knocking almost 50 seconds off of his previous best,” Batzer said. “He also anchored the medley relay and, after finishing his lap, had to immediately step onto the track for his mile run and still placed third.”
Oswego swept both the boys’ and girls’ championships in the “A” division. Thayer and Altamont tied for second place in the boys’ A bracket, while Altamont and Mound Valley finished second and third on the girls’ side.
In the “B” division, Thayer boys topped the team standings, followed by Oswego and Meadowview. Oswego headed the girls’ totals, with Meadowview second and Altamont third.
Altoona-Midway’s point totals placed the Jets ninth in “boys’ A,” eighth in “girls’ A,” fourth in “boys’ B” and sixth in “girls’ B.” Overall, this was a great season. Some of our Jets will be joining the high school ranks next year, and I'm excited to see what they continue to do,” Batzer said. “I'm also looking forward to another year of improvement from this year's seventh graders. Our middle school tracksters have a bright future in front of them.”
Weilert noted: “I am extremely proud of all of our tracksters … not only for their dedication to the practice workouts but for sticking it out all season. No one quit, no one gave up, and everyone improved. I hope to see all of them out for track again next year.”