BERNE —The Berne-Knox-Westerlo track-and-field team is on a record-breaking spree.

A pack of Bulldog athletes have set school records, led by senior Ada Lauterbach who has set three marks.

The BKW boys’ and girls’ teams both finished in second place at the Western Athletic Conference meet at Fonda-Fultonville High School last Tuesday, May 6.

“The girls’ team came in second and that was a close race,” said BKW Coach Scott Hannay. “We were very competitive going into the meet. We did everything we could do. We had won it the past three out of four years.”

Both BKW teams finished behind the host team, Fonda.

“Fonda is a tough school in our league,” Hannay said. “They were right on it. They were a hair deeper. The guys haven’t contended in the past few years, but they did that this year. It came down to the last field events. We were neck and neck with Fonda. But they ended up beating us by 18 points.”

Hannay is just as proud of the school records some of his athletes have broken this season.

“It’s good to get a handful of records,” the coach said. “Now we are trying to get everyone headed towards the final weeks. The girls were undefeated in the league and the Southern Division. The guys were undefeated in the South. The girls also won all their invitationals.”

Lauterbach set three school records this spring. She beat the top mark in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:21.7. Lauterbach also set the record in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:32.7 and the 2,000-meter steeple chase with a time of 7:30.1.

Junior Greg Hannay set a record in the discus with a top throw of 147 feet, 2 inches.

Josh Glick set the school record in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 13 feet.

Tim David set the record in the pentathlon, accumulating 2,575 points in the 10-discipline event.

Winners

At the WAC meet, both the boys’ and girls’ team had some first-place finishers.

Eighth-grader Connor Devine won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.6.

“That was probably our most surprising result,” Hannay said. “We targeted him to run against older guys that were tired from doing other events. He came through with a great effort.”

Senior Jared Finke won the WAC championship in the 1,600-meter race. He ran the event in 4:52.

Jeff Moller continued the Bulldogs dominance in distance events. He won the 3,200-meter run in 10:39.6.

“We won all the distance races,” Hannay said.

The 4x100-meter relay team finished in first place. The team of Keith Cunningham, Pat Whitney, Matt Von Haugg, and Tim David finished the race in 46.9 seconds.

The 4x400-meter relay team also won their race at the league meet. David, Cunningham, Josh Glick, and Justin Shager finished the race in a season-best time of 3:38.6.

Glick won the league title in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 12 feet, 6 inches.

Hannay finished second in both the discus and shot put. Cunningham was second in the long jump and Whitney was third in the 200-meter sprint.

On the girls’ side, Lauterbach won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:11.2. She also won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:30.1.

Alyssa Wetterau was the WAC champion in the high jump, clearing five feet to win the title.

The Bulldogs had a strong showing in the 1,500-meter race. Lauterbach finished second, Christina Bartonicek was third, and eighth-grader Courtney Tedeschi came in fourth place.

“We did it with fourths, fifths, and sixths,” Hannay said of the girls’ team coming in second. “With the boys, we got a lot of firsts, but with girls, we came in second with our depth.”

Finish line

Hannay feels that both teams will continue to be strong in the final weeks of the season. The sectional meet will be later this month at Greenwich. Both teams will prepare for sectionals by competing at the Mayfield Invitational on Saturday.

“We’re looking for strong sectional runs,” Hannay said. “We’ll be away at Mayfield and that is a larger invitational. We want a first- or second-place finish there.”

Both teams have avoided injury this season.

“The wole team has been healthy,” Hannay said. “We have no injuries. We should do well at sectionals. The girls’ will vie for a top three-spot and the guys should as well.

“With the guys,” Hannay added, “we have the potential to get three guys to states, in the discus, pole vault, and long jump. They should make it to the state meet. Ada on the girls’ team should also make it as long as she continues to run the times she has.”