This past Friday, the FHC track and field team faced off in one of its most anticipated events of the year: the Battle of the Hills meet. This showdown between Forest Hills Northern, Central, and Eastern is one of the most competitive events in the district. Every year, one school is crowned King and Queen of the Hill and Forest Hills Central has taken the title yet again this year.

The mens’ and womens’ 100-meter dash both played a pivotal role in this Central victory. Junior Max Meadow and senior Conner Milton clocked in at 11.59 and 11.60 seconds to take third and fourth. Lucy Yoder and Lauryn Gaskin also notched times of 13.59 and 13.74 seconds to secure second and third place.

Forest Hills Central dominated the 3200-meter dash, securing first and second place in both the mens’ and womens’ events. Parker Ludwig had a time of 10 minutes and 10.62 seconds with Ethan Krampe right on his heels with a time of 10 minutes and 17.21 seconds. Sophomores Clara James-Heer finished with a time of 10 minutes and 53.36 seconds, followed by Mia Bateson with 12 minutes and 4.17 seconds.

The pole vault competition helped FHC secure first place with sophomore Brooke Bowers’ astounding 10-foot vault. Senior Matt Burns took second place with a dominating 9-foot and 6-inch vault. 

These drastic improvements from the first meet have caught multiple team members’ and coaches’ attention.

“We’ve really taken special focus in the techniques of a lot of our events, and for hurdles specifically, I feel like we’ve all really focused on the form as opposed to speed and it’s helped us win more races overall,” senior pole-vaulter and hurdle-runner Alex Kaufmann said.

Forest Hills Central track and field is proving to be a dominating force across the region. Be sure to see the Rangers in action at Byron Center on Tuesday, April 19, at 4:15 PM.