Rye High School’s outdoor track and field team recently completed a whirlwind week in which its members competed in two large meets that launched them into the busiest stretch of their season.

First up was the annual Panther Palooza at Rye Neck High School on April 13, the first meet of the outdoor season to have all the usual individual events.

The coed Garnets performed spectacularly. Erin Ball, in particular, was a force to be reckoned with on the girls squad, in both the track and the field events: she finished fourth in the girls 100-meter dash, in 13.78 seconds; first in girls long jump, with a distance of 16 feet, 1⁄2 inch; and a strong second in girls discus, with a throw of 81 feet, 11⁄2 inches.

Noteworthy efforts also included: Claire Curran’s second-place finish in the 400-meter dash at 1:05.45; Aine Kenelly’s third-place result in the 1500-meter run at 5:26.82; and Sophia Shoemaker’s eighth place in the 200- meter dash, at 29.76 seconds. Sophia Bubeck and Riho Fukudome clinched the top two spots in the girls 100-meter hurdles with times of 17.46 and 18.82 seconds, respectively.

On the boys’ squad, Will Squarek finished second in both the 400m sprint and the 800m run, with impressive times of 52.89 seconds and 2:07.91, respectively. Harrison Kaplan was a huge presence in the throwing events, placing fifth in discus with a throw of 103 feet, 1 inch; and sixth in shot put, reaching 36-0.

Six days later, after a quick league meet on Monday, April 15, the team traveled over the Hudson to Mountie Madness in Suffern – a colossal event that attracted 38 participating teams, many of which compete in Class AA, making it one of the season’s high-profile meets, primed for new individual records.

Notable achievements for Rye track included commendable performances by both the girls and boys 4×100-meter sprint relay teams, which finished 14th place and 15th place, respectively.

Historically, Rye’s girls 4×100-meter relay team has been a powerhouse; last year’s foursome broke the school record. But three of those four runners graduated last spring, leaving Shoemaker as the sole veteran this year. Shoemaker expressed confidence in the new lineup, which consists of her, Ava Hoogstra, Ball and Joy DeSanto, saying “we need to solidify the lineup and work on our handoffs, but we have the potential to be great.”

Additional highlights from Mountie Madness included Ball’s first-place finish in high jump, reaching 5-01.00; Rory Russo’s 25th place in the 400m at 1:07.98; and Akachukwu Udeagha’s 23rd place in the 200m with a time of 24.41.

Rye Track and Field will compete again Saturday, April 27, in their own Rye Relays at Nugent Stadium.