"Team Effort:" McGivney Catholic Girls, Boys, Join Forces To Claim Track and Field Conference Crowns

BELLEVILLE - The Father McGivney Catholic High School Griffins captured both the girls and boys' titles at the Gateway Metro Conference Track and Field Championships, held Wednesday, May 7, 2025, marking the first time the school has won both championships in the same year.

The girls team amassed 184 points to outpace Belleville Althoff’s 132, Alton Marquette’s 89, Edwardsville Metro East Lutheran’s 46, Centralia Christ Our Rock’s 6, and Maryville Christian’s 4. The field events set the tone with Zoe Oller winning the discus with a new school record of 32.28 meters and Mia Range claiming the high jump at 1.57 meters. Additional top finishes included runner-up performances by Sondra Nohl in discus (26.18m), Lily Terrell in long jump (9.16m) and triple jump (9.16m, a new school record), as well as Anna Moore’s bronze in long jump (3.92m) and Kiley Morgan’s sixth-place shot put (7.35m).

On the track, the Griffins secured victories in multiple events. Lilly Gilberston won the 100-meter dash in 12.73 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 25.60 seconds. Elena Rybak took first in both the 800 meters (2:12.3) and 1600 meters (5:09). The team also won the 4x200-meter relay (Mia Range, Caroline Rakers, Lily Terrell, Lilly Gilberston) in 1:51, the 4x400-meter relay (Allie Beltramea, Jane Cummins, Caroline Rakers, Elena Rybak) in 4:17.9, and the 4x800-meter relay (Bella Redenius, Isabelle Harris, Arabella Summers, Jane Cummins) in 11:11. Runners-up included Allie Beltramea in the 400 meters (1:04.3), Jane Cummins in the 800 meters (2:26), and McKenzie Jones in both the 3200 meters (12:56) and 300-meter intermediate hurdles (54.99). The 4x100-meter relay team earned bronze with a time of 53.68.

Boys Win With First In 4 x 400 Relay

The boys' championship was decided in the final relay event. Tied at 112 points, Father McGivney and Belleville Althoff battled closely throughout the meet. The Griffins secured victory with the 4 x 400 relay team of Gus Range, Liam Boeving, Liam Schmidt, and Will Rakers finishing in 3:36.9, beating Althoff by 31 seconds. The boys also claimed titles in all relay events: 4x100 meters (Lyle Biermann, Chris Marchetti, Lincoln Duffy, Owen Weissert) set a new school record with a time of 45.57; 4x200 meters (Biermann, Joey Seefeldt, Tyler Ahring, Weissert) finished in 1:35.9; and 4x800 meters (Liam Schmidt, Connor Schmidt, Eric Rybak, Tyler Ahring) completed the race in 8:34.11. Individual champions included Will Rakers in the 800 meters (2:03) and Liam Schmidt in the 1600 meters (4:43).

Silver medals were earned by Owen Weissert in the 200 meters (24.10), Gus Range in the 400 meters (53.88), Liam Boeving in the 800 meters (2:10), and Eddie Foppe in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (46.29). Bronze medals went to Connor Schmidt in the 1600 meters (4:48) and Joey Seefeldt in the triple jump (11.70 meters), which set a new school record. Additional notable finishes included Mason Roseman’s personal record of 11.67 meters for fourth place in shot put, Lyle Biermann’s fourth place in the 200 meters (24.42), Aidan Schmidt’s fourth in the 3200 meters (11:05), Will Rakers’ fifth in the 400 meters (55.87), and Owen Weissert’s fifth in the 100 meters (12.00).

Coach Jim Helton praised the team’s collective effort and cited the importance of personal bests and teamwork throughout the competition. “It was truly team efforts to pull together personal bests, and racing...digging deep when your teammates needed you,” Helton said.

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