By JOHN ANDERSON
In track and field, a lot can be pre-determined based on how individuals finished in events, right down to the last second. Looking at numbers from 2025, the Wellsville Lions girls’ track and field team was predicted to place 11th out of 13 teams.
Over the course of three months, each member of Coach Larry Peacock’s team improved with sectionals lurking.
During the sectional finals, the team jumped up the ladder and finished fourth with 64 points behind champion Haverling, second place Hornell and third place Aquinas Institute.
Wellsville finished ahead of Way-Co, Dansville, Midlakes, LeRoy, Penn Yan, Livonia, Young Women’s Prep, Mynderse and North Rose-Wolcott.
“We were predicted on the lower end of our section, but we had a really great push,” said Wellsville Girls’ Track and Field coach Larry Peacock. “All year, we talked about doing better at the clock. It’s not about being first, it’s not about being second, it’s always doing better. And those girls showed up across the board. Everyone who participated. I know I would forget someone because there are so many that I’m not going to name names, but we had kids in the 100 hurdles, our 4×800, somehow, someway, our kids placed, they got us points and we kept on fighting. At the end, our 4×400 knocked it out of the park.”
The pole vault was a dominating event for Wellsville. Jaden Dunbar won the Section V title with a jump of 10 feet while Selah Ader was second at 8-6.
“Jaden — what a great sectional run for her — to grab the sectional title, and then to really compete at the state qualifiers. Jaden always stepped up, she is a relentless vaulter and disciplined to her craft,” Peacock said.
Another factor for the success overall as a team was Piper Metro who had a 5-foot high jump, good enough to tie for second and finish an inch off a title.
Talia O’Connor took third in the 400 meter hurdles, and third in the 400 meter hurdles at 1:16:00 Olivia Bowen had a strong 3,000 meter run and 2,000 meter steeplechase.
Kylie Phelps picked the biggest stage for her personal best, with a fourth place finish in the triple jump at 31=-04.00 and at 17.92 in the 100 meter hurdles, also good enough for fourth place. Talia O’Connor was fifth at 18.04.
Addison Schible had strong place finishes in the discus (third) and shot put.
Major points for Wellsville came in the 800 meter pentathlon, as Raegan Vogel, Emily Stuck and Clara Dean took second, third and fourth respectively ahead of Addy Clark.
In the 100 meter hurdles outdoor pentathlon, Emily Stuck was second, Vogel fourth ahead of Dean and Clark. Emily Stuck was second in the high jump pentathlon ahead of Clark and Dean.
Addy Clark was second in the girls long jump pentathlon and Vogel was second.
Meanwhile Clara Dean won the shot put pentathlon with mily Stuck taking second. Stuck was third in the outdoor pentathlon while Dena was fourth ahead of Clark and Vogel.
“We had a couple of kids who did really well in the pentathlon, we have some great athletes, and that’s how it ended. I was very excited and the team was very excited,” Peacock said.
To have a great sectional finish, the team had to improve and deal with setbacks.
“It was a climb for the whole season. There were peaks and valleys … and there were valleys,” Peacock said. “As an independent, there are not other teams like us in Allegany County andwe don’t match up with other teams in Allegany County because of sheer numbers. But now, we are going up against the Cal-Mum’s, now were going up against the Bath’s, the Letchworth’s, the Warsaw’s, the LeRoy’s, and we are there. We are right there. A little bit more, we have to fill in a couple of spaces, we have to develop our mid-distance a little bit better, our (pentathlon) is going to be really strong and the girls are going to do really good next season.”
Photos by Ella Green and Samuel Robinson (see sectional results after photos)
