Throwers lead Palmer girls' to Borough Championship title

PALMER -- The Palmer girls have a strong track and field squad.

Depth is one of Palmer's strengths.

Strength is also a strength.

The strength of the Palmer throwers helped the Moose capture the girls' team title of the 2003 Mat-Su borough Championships track and field meet at Palmer High this week.

The Moose earned 148 points in the event.

The Moose swept not only the throwing events, but captured six of the top 10 places in the two events. Toni Cox continued her quest for the region title with a win in the discus. Cox notched a throw of 112 feet to win.

Cox was second to teammate Denise Stanley in the shot put. Stanley had a throw of more than 34 feet, about two feet further than Cox's high.

Stanley finished third for the Moose in the discus.

Jayme Irvine won both the long jump and triple jump for the Moose. The junior was the lone athlete at the meet to break the 15-foot mark in the long jump and the 30-foot mark in the triple jump.

Mary Brown (300-meter hurdles) and Emily Bolling (400-meter dash) also won events for Palmer.

Colony finished a close second to Palmer in the team standings. The Knights tallied 138 total points.

Colony's Stevie McDowell was named the girls' most outstanding runner of the meet after winning the 100 and 200-meter events.

McDowell won the 100 in 13.23 seconds and the 200 in 26.79 seconds.

Dominique Colberg and Shelby Beairsto each won a pair of events for Colony. Colberg won the 800 and the 1,600-meter runs and Beairsto won the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump.

The Knights also won the 400 and 1,600 meter relays.

The track squads are now preparing for the region championships held at Skyview High School next week.