Westside sent over 40 athletes to its first track and field meet of the season, which took place Friday at Nebraska Wesleyan.

The boys came away with fourth place overall, earning 46 points, and the girls earned 31 points and got sixth overall. Both Millard North teams won the meet, with 114 points for the boys and 83 for the girls.

Sophomore Isaac Henson made it to the finals in the 55-meter hurdles and placed sixth with a time of 9.03. In the 200, sophomore Michael Merical placed sixth out of 16 with a time of 24.70 seconds. Sophomore Sam Frankel, who is new to track, placed sixth out of 24 in the 400 with a time of 55.60 seconds, and Jacob Militti was less than two seconds behind and placed eighth.

Middle-distance runner senior Max Knight ran a 2:13 in the 800 to place eighth out of 22. In the 1600 (mile) senior Stuart Willett ran a personal best of 4:43 and was fourth out of 19. It was a promising start to the season for Willett, who qualified for state in the mile two years ago and in the 800 last year, but suffered an injury during cross country in the fall, putting him out for much of the season. Junior Mitchell Coziahr also ran a personal best in the mile, placing ninth.

Westside had two boys medal in the 3200 (two-mile), where senior Jordan Wheeler ran a 10:24 and placed second, and sophomore Alec Reilly ran a 10:42 and placed fifth. Wheeler beat his previous best time by 39 seconds, and hopes to qualify for state after helping lead the boys cross country team to state in the fall.

Senior Tom Young won the shot put by almost two feet, throwing a distance of 52-08.50. He placed third at state last year. Junior Njali Kowa, who placed 10th in the long jump at state last year, was second at the Wesleyan meet and jumped a personal best of 21-08.00.

The girls also had strong finishers in the long jump. Junior Hayley Krumwiede, a two-time state qualifier, was second out of 20 with a distance of 16-06.75. Junior Regan Johnson was fifth, and senior Nyalot Momyjiak was eighth.

Krumwiede also won the triple jump, with a distance of 34-06.25. She placed sixth in the event at state last year. Sophomore Michaela Thompson, who qualified for state last year in the high jump, placed seventh out of 14 in that event.

Westside did not run any returning team members in the girls distance events, but the girls were moderately successful in some of the sprinting events. Krumwiede placed 11th out of 31 in the 55-meter dash. In the 200, Johnson, who looks to qualify for state for a second time this year, was fourth out of 23 with a time of 28.10. Junior Annie Bradford was eighth.

The next varsity meet is the Dan Lennon Invitational at the University of South Dakota, which will be held today, Monday, March 24.