The Highland Hawks girls track and field team delivered a dominant performance at the Aztec Invitational, finishing 1st place overall with 161 total points, winning the meet by more than 25 points over the next closest teams. With strong performances across distance races, hurdles, relays, and field events, the Hawks showed their depth and balance throughout the competition.
In the 100m dash, Highland placed 8th, 18th, 21st, and 22nd, gaining valuable points for the team standings. The Hawks found more success in the 200m dash, where they finished 2nd, 5th, and 17th, led by freshman Alyha Morgan, who ran a personal best 25.89 seconds to take 2nd place and continue her strong early season performances.
The Hawks dominated the 800m run, placing 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 10th. Ella Bonnette led the charge with a personal best time of 2:20.02 to win the event, while teammate Katelyn Anderson followed closely behind with a PB of 2:22.01 to secure 2nd place, giving Highland a powerful 1-2 finish.
Highland continued its distance dominance in the 1600m run, finishing 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. Natalia Morris claimed 1st place with a time of 5:25.45, while teammate Lily Oplinger finished 2nd with a personal best 5:26.16, adding more key points to the Hawks total.
In the 3200m run, Audra Huempfner delivered another victory for Highland, winning the race with a strong time of 11:04.88.
The Hawks were also dominant in the hurdle events, led by Kate Hester. In the 100m hurdles, Highland finished 1st, 4th, 8th, and 13th, with Hester winning the race in 15.04 seconds. She followed that performance with another victory in the 300m hurdles, where Highland placed 1st, 5th, 13th, and 17th, and Hester again took 1st place with a time of 47.40 seconds.
In the relay events, the Hawks continued to perform at a high level. The 4x100m relay team finished 4th place with a team personal best of 49.72 seconds. Highland then captured the win in the 4x400m relay, running a team PB of 4:00.00 to secure another first place finish. The Hawks were even more dominant in the 4x800m relay, winning the race with a team PB of 9:20.19, finishing over a minute ahead of the competition.
In the field events, Highland added more valuable points. The Hawks placed 7th in shot put, 5th and 21st in discus, and 13th in javelin. In the high jump, Highland placed 1st and 9th, led by Janie Brower, who won the event with a jump of 5-02 (1.57m). The Hawks also excelled in the pole vault, finishing 1st, 4th, and 6th, with Maibri Bland clearing a personal best 11-03 (3.43m) to take 1st place.
In the long jump, Highland athletes placed 19th, 20th, 24th, and 26th, but their strong performances across the rest of the meet secured the overall victory.
With standout performances from athletes like Ella Bonnette, Katelyn Anderson, Natalia Morris, Alyha Morgan, Kate Hester, Audra Huempfner, Janie Brower, and Maibri Bland, the Highland Hawks girls team proved they are a force to be reckoned with this season, using their depth and talent to claim the Aztec Invitational championship.
