Tippecanoe Valley’s DJ Heckman takes off on the second leg of the 4×100 relay Tuesday night at Valley. (Photos by Mike Deak)

AKRON – On a night when the action inside the painted track lines was much hotter than the weather outside them, Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester made the most of it. The Lady Vikings won the trio against Rochester and Triton while Rochester’s boys held off Tippecanoe Valley and Triton in well contested track meets Tuesday at Valley.

Yet another day at the windswept campus saw runners and field competitors really struggle with the brisk wind coming from the west. Even with the straightaways heading north and south, the push from across the football field made the finishes a grind rather than a glide. The competition was close, notably the girls competitions, where Valley scored 61 points to Rochester’s 59 and Triton’s 46. In the boys race, Rochester held on for a ten-point win, 66-56, while Triton scored 35 points.

Valley makes the exchange in the 4×100 relay against Triton.

On the girls slate, Valley used a double win in the 100 and 200 by Sarah Tucker, going 13.59 and 28.95, to own the sprints and the Valley distance relay going 12:35 and the final 4×400 relay finishing at 4:45.

Triton used a pair of wins from Abigail Powell in the 100 hurdles (16.56) and 300 hurdles (50.87) to maintain her stronghold on the events this spring as well as helping the 4×100 relay to a 55.77 win, barely holding off Valley at the line. Baylee McIntire won the 400 at 1:05.31 and Triton’s duo of Mariah Musilli and Briana Wilhite tied in the long jump, each at 13-1.5 to earn the split points.

On the boys side, Valley had Dakota Parker sprint to an 11.89 in the 100 and 53.84 in the 400 for wins, and anchored the 4×100 to a 47.96 win. The Vikings also won the 4×400 relay at 3:47 and had Will Hassenplug take shot put at 43-6 and Jameson Baker take discus at 115-2.

Triton claimed a pair of wins, one by Malachi Greene in long jump at 18-3 and Marcus Brown sprinting to a 24.09 in the 200 dash.

Pole vault was not contested due to the high winds.

Tippecanoe Valley will visit Culver Thursday and Triton will host Lakeland and LaVille also on Thursday.