Over the past few seasons, the Bellefonte track and field team has seen improvements, and those improvements were put on full display on Tuesday, May 9 at their home track meet here at Bellefonte, when they competed in the annual Mountain League track meet. 

This season, both the boys and the girls teams have had progress and together as a whole team they have been putting on a show. Both squads have winning records with the season coming to a close. Currently, the boys group is sitting at 9-2 on the season, winning all of their dual meets, with their only two losses coming at invitationals. In their final dual meet they claimed the Mountain League season title. The girls group sits at a respectable record of 7-4. 

During this league championship meet, individuals saw success along with the two teams as a whole. The boys group came  in second place, closely following class 3A Hollidaysburg. The girls group came in third, following both Tyrone, who claimed second, and Hollidaysburg, who claimed first, in both team categories.

A handful of Red Raiders placed highly or took home the gold. Bellefonte juniors Sara Proctor, Alex Crist, and Sherman Lowry all took home gold; Sara in the long jump, breaking the previous Mountain League record, Alex in the 800 meter dash, and Sherman in the 110 meter hurdles. The boys relay teams also took home gold in the 4×400 meter and 4×800 meter relays.

“My favorite memory of the day was when our 4×4 relay team took first place. It is the last race and the most competitive and is a relief when it’s over,” Alex said.

The two teams captured many silvers and bronzes as well, to go along with all their gold. Seniors Gabrielle Deitrich and Chase Ebeling, along with juniors Collin Sharp and Logan Proctor and freshman Madison Miller, all claimed silvers in individual events, with the boys 4×100 relay teams also capturing a silver.

“My favorite part of the day was when all the teams were running back and forth on the infield to cheer for the boys and girls 4×4 teams,” junior Josie Underwood said.

 Third place Bellefonte finishers include senior Wyatt Lowry, junior Caleb Vinnedge, sophomores Zabe Hummel, Ruthann Smoyer, and freshman Victoria Schellenberg, along with  Ebeling, Sara Proctor and Sharp. The girls 4×800 meter relay team also earned a third place finish. 

“Even though we didn’t win the meet as a team, every athlete on our team individually had great performances competing at a high level and should be proud,” Alex said.

The team’s next meet was at Mansion Park in Altoona on May 16 and 17 for the District 6 meet. Many Bellefonte athletes competed in Altoona and some even qualified for the state meet, which occurred on May 26 and 27 at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University. The athletes that competed in the state meet included senior Chase Ebeling along with juniors Grady Garrison, Alex Crist, Sherman Lowry and sophomore Zane Hummel.

The team went on to states at Shippensburg University but had no place winners but overall a solid meet for both teams.