Besides the individual performances, the girls team finished fourth out of more than 100 teams that competed, he said.
When Borger was hired as the boys and girls track coach after graduating from Fenwick in 2018, he said the teams had 16 athletes. He expects close to 60 student-athletes to compete on the teams this spring.
Of the seven who qualified for the indoor state championship, Borger said five are underclassmen.
“We have a very bright future,” he said. ”This sets things up perfectly for us (in the spring)."
Borger said Fenwick’s track program has been having a lot of success lately, but this is the first time it has had a state champion or state runner-up in track and field since the 1990’s.
The girls 4X400 meter relay team of Sam Long (junior), Hailey Yontz (freshman), Sophia Tebbe (freshman), and Makenzie Fallon (senior) won the state title with a time of 4 minutes, 6.84 seconds.
Long and Fallon ran in the same event last year when the Falcons placed sixth, Borger said.
Tebbe, who also runs cross country, placed 26th in the state meet last fall, he said.
The girls 4x800 relay team of Lucy Tipton (freshman), Lulu Hong (sophomore), Yontz, and Fallon placed second with a time of 10 minutes, 22.86 seconds.
Long placed fourth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.49 seconds and 14th in the 200 meter with a personal best time of 26.87.
Ben Abbott, a senior and the lone male who qualified for the state, placed fifth in the weighted throw with a distance of 58 feet, 9 3/4 inches.
Borger said Abbott joined the track and field team last season and started throwing the weighted throw in November.
Borger said he always knew the team had the “potential to do this,” and this success was due to the athletes’ dedication and support from their parents.
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The Journal-News will profile a local high school athlete or team on Sundays. If you have a suggestion, please forward the athlete’s name and high school to Rick McCrabb at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.
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