Middle school records shattered

Two long-standing middle school track records were broken Thursday during the Green River Middle School Invite.

Lincoln Middle School seventh grader Jade Arnell broke the girls 1,600 meter record by four seconds Thursday, when she finished with a time of 5:55. The previous record was held by Dawn Ash, which was set in 1987.

Thursday's record-braking meet culminated when Lincoln eighth grader Carly Kettering broke the long standing eighth-grade girls 400 meters record, which was previously set by Cheryl Harmon in 1994.

Kettering broke Harmon's record of 63.44 seconds, finishing in 63.16 seconds.

"For her to break her record is an impressive feat, because Cheryl's the best," middle school track coach Wally Cantrell said. "She was the best female track athlete in the history of Green River."

Cantrell said Harmon earned many gold metals at state while attending Green River High School, and went on to be an all-American track athlete in Nebraska.

Cantrell said he expects great things from both girls who broke records last week.

"I see them breaking more records before the year is over," he said.

Arnell's goal for the week is to break the girls seventh grade 800-meter record. Kettering's goal is to break the eight-grade girls 1,600-meter record this week.

"Both are very capable of doing that," Cantrell said. "She'll (Arnell) come back next year and try to break Carly's record."

Thursday's track invite was good for the school as a whole as well, with good results across the board. Cantrell said both girls teams took first place, the seventh grade boys took second place overall to Mountain View, and the eight-grade boys earned third place.

"We had a good meet," Cantrell said. "A lot did well, there were personal bests; good performances."