YATES CENTER – Altoona-Midway eighth grader Chance Mustain continues to shine in the long distance events, adding another gold medal to his growing total at the Yates Center Invitational here Tuesday.
Mustain finished first in the 1600-meter run Monday at Yates Center, claiming his fourth gold medal in as many meets so far in the 2024 spring season.
Meanwhile, three other AMMS tracksters earned top six finishes in a total of nine individual events, while two Jet relay teams also finished high enough to add points to the team standings.
"We had a fabulous day at the track today,” said David Batzer, co-coach of the Altoona-Midway track team along with Chary Weilert. “Considering the windy conditions, we had quite a few personal records.”
Mustain crossed the tape in the 1600 in 5:51, a new personal record. It was his third gold medal this year at that distance, and he also has a first-place finish in the 3200 meters.
Mustain also placed in two other events, finishing fifth in the 800 and sixth in the high jump.
Sandra Morales also had a great day for Altoona-Midway, earning points in four categories – three individual events and a relay.
Morales notched a silver medal in the 800 meters with a time of 3:09, and finished third in the discus with a throw of 77-2. Both were personal bests. She also placed sixth in the shot put.
“Sandra is placing at meets and she’s only doing a standing-release throw, which is pretty impressive,” Weilert noted. “She’s been working on the spin and the goal is to have her doing the full spin by next week. Discus is tricky and technical, but I have no doubt that Sandra will be able to pull off some great throws with a spin.”
Other individuals earning points for AMMS were Katherine Tindle, fourth in the 800-meter run (new PR) and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles; and Eliot Ard, sixth in the 1600-meter run (also a PR).
The AMMS boys’ and girls’ spring medley relay squads both also earned points.
The girls’ squad of Ashlynn Sicka, Emily Burch, Sophie Sweigart and Morales set a PR with a fourth-place finish of 2:32.53, while the boys’ unit of Zak Wilkerson, Zach Good, Jase Stacy and Ard earned points for sixth place.
“Our boys and girls sprint medley relay teams gutted out points in the last event of the day. I give a big shout out to Zak Wilkerson who ran his first ever running event in order to fill a team for our sprint medley relay,” Batzer noted. “Sandra Morales continues to get stronger and stronger and she ran a PR of 3:09 for a silver medal finish in the 800, and seventh grader Eliot Ard got a PR in the 800.”
Weilert pointed out the squad was missing the services of Chance Carter, who has had high finishes and picked up points in previous meets.
“In throwing events, we missed having Chance Carter,” Weilert noted. “He was injured this week (pulled muscle) but we hope to have him back for next week.
“I also want to mention Emily Burch, who had a PR in the discus,” Weilert added. “Even though it wasn’t enough to place her in the top six, I’m still very proud of her for the six-foot improvement.”
The AMMS track squad will be in action twice next week, traveling to Flinthills on Tuesday (April 23) and Oswego on Thursday (April 25).