New track and field season gives Minerva sprinter Kyleigh Lippincott a fresh start
BREWSTER — Kyleigh Lippincott already feels a big difference.
The proof came Saturday when the Minerva High School sprinter notched win after win after win at the Fairless Tri-County Track and Field Invitational.
Lippincott swept the 100, 200 and 400-meter sprints to help the Lions win the girls team title in their opening meet of the season. She had a hand in half the first-place finishes for Minerva, which beat runner-up Sandy Valley by 46.5 points.
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The Lions are known for their great boys and girls distance program. You couldn't fault the girls if they're still beaming after winning a second cross country state title in three years last fall.
There's more to Minerva than what you see in the longest races of the day.
There's Lippincott, for example. The sophomore's big start to the 2024 outdoor season comes a year after a soccer injury slowed her track progress. She eventually qualified for regionals.
"Knowing that I'm starting the season off this strong feels pretty good," Lippincott said. "I had a rough start last year. I had some knee problems. I ended up in physical therapy for awhile, and it just delayed my season a little bit."
Lippincott was able to end her freshman season on a better note. She made it to regionals in the 100, 200 and as a member of Minerva's 400 and 1,600 relays. The closest she came to the state meet was on the 1,600 relay, which finished fifth.
Starting a season healthy makes a world of difference.
"Just my times," Lippincott said. "They're what I was running at the end of last year. I'm already picking back up running those times."
In the rainiest part of the meet, Lippincott won the 100 in 13.33 seconds. She won the 400 in 1:04.63 and took the 200 in 27.24.
"She's strong and healthy," Lions head coach Olivia Scott said. " ... She's going to help us a ton this year. She's going to help up us score points at invites where we've lacked before."
The Lions have their distance events covered from wire to wire. It's a deep unit where multiple members from multiple families can make an impact on a given day. Their success fuels teammates such as Lippincott who also want to have a deep postseason run.
"It motivates everyone to push themselves to be better, too," Lippincott said. "That's obviously a great feeling to have."
Host Fairless wins boys team title at the wire
Fairless was able to keep one of the championship trophies after a tight boys meet that went down to the wire.
A win by the 1,600 relay team of Camron Carl, Bradlee Keehn, Kai McBride and Conner Smith helped the Falcons edge runner-up Northwest by 7.33 points. Fairless outlasted Northwest by three one-hundredths of a second in the 1,600 relay.
The team title came four days after the Falcons suffered their first dual meet loss in five years at Northwest. Fairless is a team that suffered heavy losses, including Division II 800 state champion Brody Pumneo. He runs at Walsh University.
"We came into this year with some question marks," Fairless head coach Ben Russell said. "We told our younger kids it's up to you guys to step into the shoes of the kids who have come before you and continue the tradition. They have. They've stepped into it."
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Keehn is in line to run the 800 for the Falcons this season. The sophomore has been nursing a hip injury suffered at the end of the indoor season. Russell thinks he has the potential to have success at state, maybe as early as this season.
One Falcon who has a shot at a big year is distance runner Andrew Hearn. The sophomore came in sixth in the Division II-III 1,600 at the indoor state meet. On Saturday he won the 1,600 and was runner-up in the 3,200.
"I'm pumped for his outdoor season," Russell said. "I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves with anybody, but I think he has a chance to go into that regional meet and really compete for a berth at the state meet."
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Minerva, Fairless track and field teams win at Falcon Invitational
