By Dan Hardenbrook
Conditions were not ideal when the Engadine track teams headed outdoors to launch their season by competing in the Manistique Kiwanis Invitational.
The outdoor event brought back the more traditional 100M Dash, as well as full distance hurdle races and the addition of the pole vault and discus, all events that were not held indoors at LSSU the previous day.
The Lady Eagles were again led by freshman Bianca Briggs, who has had a very strong start to the season. One day after winning the sprints at LSSU, Briggs went back to work, and finished second in both the 100M and 200M dashes.
Leah French was fifth in the high jump and sixth in the 3200M for Engadine. Derrek Clark had another strong day in the throwing events, taking fourth in the shot put and was the runner up in discus. Conrad Spieles took third in the high jump, just two inches shy of joining a three-way tie for second.
The Eagles had several scratches during the event, which featured several much larger schools from the west and central Upper Peninsula that the Eagles do not typically compete against.
The powerhouse Pickford boys continued their perfect start to the season, dominating the competition again with 184.33 total points, nearly 50 better than the host Emeralds (138.17). Engadine’s boys finished seventh out of eight with 21 points.
The Lady Eagles also finished seventh, and Escanaba barely edged Manistique for the girls team title.
