Track and Field league championships held despite pandemic

The Bellarmine Lions Track and Field team participated in the League Championships April 29-May 1. Many athletes had been waiting two years for this meet to happen. They will likely have to wait one more for the meet to return to “normal.”

This year’s meet featured 12 teams, three more compared to the 2019 league championships in which there were only nine teams. (Because of the pandemic, there were no league championships in 2020.) The increase in competition did not mean an increase in fans as Sumner adopted no spectator policy inside the stadium. Of course this did not stop people from gathering outside the fence to watch elite SPSL athletes like Olympia’s Ethan Coleman (the 4th best 3200 meter runner in the nation) and Bellarmine’s Ella Borsheim (the 13th best 1600 meter runner in the nation).

Bellarmine came in 9th place for the boys and 7th place for the girls. There were some great individual performances from Matthew Hillyer, Ella Borsheim, and Ella Salam. Gig Harbor ended up winning for the boys, and South Kitsap ended up winning for the girls.

Senior javelin thrower Jacob Hanigan said,  “It was a great way to end my sporting career at Bellarmine.” He took 6th in his field event.

Freshman Andrew Johnson said, “I was very glad to have a meet that mattered. It was a lot of fun being able to compete with the best in the league.”

Senior Eric Tufts said, “I loved every second of my time during track. And although it is sad to leave it behind, this weekend was a lot of fun.”

As Track and Field coach Matt Ellis would say, it was definitely a great day to be a lion.