GIRLS GOSHEN RELAYS: Goshen brings home the title in one-class showdown

GOSHEN — With all the teams in one class, Goshen fended off each one to win the Goshen Relays title in the 82nd running of the event, the 35th running of the girls version, and second-straight of the boys and girls meets combined.

In total, the meet lasted approximately six hours and 30 minutes, nearly under two hours from last year. While chilly to start the day with temperatures in the low 40’s and an overcast sky above, the sun found a way around the clouds and presented a warmer finish as several patrons discarded their coats for the spring-like and sunny finish.

It was just in time for Goshen to celebrate its victory at home.

“Definitely didn’t expect it because we’re facing some teams that we’ve never seen before here, especially at the Relays,” Goshen head coach Graham Clark said following the trophy celebration. “Looking at what we did last Saturday over at Northridge and at their relays, we knew that we could change a little bit of the lineup and that we had a chance last week to win that and maybe should have.

"We kind of worked some things around this week and focused on what we could do to do our best without knowing what those schools actually had.”

Goshen was narrowly in front of new Goshen Relay participants Oak Hill and Kouts, as well as mainstay Fairfield. A win by the RedHawks in the intermediate medley relay put the RedHawks in front for good.

A late addition clinched the victory.

“That’s good,” Eliza Herber said after finding out the RedHawks may have clinched the win following her last leg of the IMR. “I was pretty stressed out before the race but I feel pretty good now.

“I didn’t know I was going to run until a few minutes beforehand,” she said.

Herber, a seasoned distance runner was thrown in last minute to the shorter relay and was tasked with running the 800-meter portion of the event. She has just come off appearances in the 4x800-meter relay and the distance medley relay as the mile runner.

“I take it one race at a time, just focusing on the one thing I’m doing right now,” Herber said about her mental state during the race. “It also helps to know that I can kind of compete at longer distances so an 800 isn’t that much.”

“In the intermediate we did pluck her in,” Clark said. “We had two choices and we went with her and knew she would get the job done because we also knew she had a good lineup in front of her.”

The team of Lilly Clark, Kristina Petkova, Destiny Sanchez, and Herber won the event handidly. Petkova, a junior, and Sanchez, a freshman, are both top sprinters for the RedHawks this season. The two finished in second and third respectively in the final heat of the 100-meter dash.

Both were beat by Fairfield’s Emma Walter, a sophomore. An error in the new Goshen timing system meant no official times were scored in only that race. Tape of the finish certified placements correctly. By the naked eye, Walter held on despite a late push from Petkova. It was Walter’s second win in the event in as many seasons.

“I just run my race,” Walter said. “I don’t think, I run.”

Walter also led a strong comeback in the Falcons heat of the 4x100-meter relay to place first. The Falcons were then topped by four other teams, including Goshen and NorthWood, in the second heat. Before official times were released, she described her leg.

“Before our race we were just kind of debating whether we were going to win or not,” Walter said. “We weren’t sure. I was just going to go with the flow and [Angola grabbed the lead] so when I got close to her, I caught up and just let the rest of it take me.”

Fairfield also featured individual winners in the pole vault (Jalyn Stofleth) and in the high jump (Claira Foust).

Some of the competition from (and outside) the coverage area were either not competing or elsewhere Saturday. Fairfield and Goshen featured much of their top runners. NorthWood also had most of their top group in attendance.

“I think that we have a really good balance on the track,” Clark said. “We were working from last year to improve our performances in the field events and we really did that last week and today. We scored a lot more points than we had at really any point of the season last year and so we knew we had some strength on the track.”

Ray Hedstrom was this year’s honorary referee. He is in the midst of his final season of being a track and field official, marking 50 years of service. Saturday was his 30th time working the Relays.

12 teams made up the one-class of the girls Relays this year. That was down from 16 teams and two classes last year.

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2025 GOSHEN RELAYS — Event winners and final team standings

Honorary referee: Ray Hedstrom

4x100-meter relay: Bremen (Kila Foster, Sara Sahlhoff, Elle Libey, Emma Kincaid; 50.13 seconds)

4x400-meter relay: Kouts (Bella Birky, Jenna Hood, Jenna Twedt, Alyssa Twedt; 4:04.90 minutes)

4x800-meter relay: Kouts (Adylinne Oldham, Jocelyn Byers, Alyssa Twedt; 10:20.89 minutes)

Intermediate medley relay (200, 200, 400, 800): Goshen (Lilly Clark, Kristina Petkova, Destiny Sanchez, Eliza Herber; 4:36.93 minutes)

Distance medley relay (1200, 400, 800, 1600): SB St. Joseph (Rebecca Anatolios, Michelle Carter, Ella Trenerry, Izzy Frabutt; 13:25.00 minutes)

100-meter dash: Emma Walter (Fairfield, no official time recorded)

100-meter hurdles: Hannah Pezzuto (Bremen, 16.93 seconds)

1,600-meter run: Kate Kincaid (Bremen, 5:26.57 minutes)

Long jump: Ellie Campbell (Oak Hill, 17’0”)

High jump: Claira Foust (Fairfield, 5’2”)

Pole vault: Jalyn Stofleth (Fairfield, 10’0”)

Disus throw: Kendall Stultz (Angola, 103’10”)

Shot put: Kendall Stultz (Angola, 36’6”)

Final team standings:

1. Goshen (78)

2. Oak Hill (73)

3. Kouts (66)

4. Fairfield (62)

5. Bremen (58)

6. NorthWood (38)

7. Angola (36)

8. LaVille (31)

9. Trinity Greenlawn (29)

10. SB St. Joseph (28)

11. Lighthouse CPA (5)

12. Mishawaka Marian (3)