MENDOTA – El Paso-Gridley captured team titles for the boys and the girls in the Mendota Don Gooden Invitational track meet on April 6 at the MHS athletic stadium.

Only track events were held due to wet conditions in the field event areas.

The El Paso-Gridley boys piled up 109 points to easily outdistance second-place Sandwich, which scored 83 points. Harvard claimed third place with 41.5 points, while the Amboy-LaMoille boys’ team landed in fourth place with 34 points.

The Clippers’ best finishes on the day were two second-place efforts. Joel Billhorn raced to a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.18, which was less than one second off the winning time.

The other second went to the 4x100-meter relay team in a time of 45.92. Competitors were Billhorn, Josh McKendry, Ed Fry and Caleb Yanos. The A-L foursome was narrowly edged out by first-place Sandwich, which was clocked in 45.8.

In the girls’ meet, the Lady Clippers tallied 32 points to finish in sixth place. El Paso-Gridley took first-place honors with 89 points.

Elly Jones had the best finish on the day for Amboy-LaMoille, taking third place in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 17.9.

Maddie Althaus claimed fourth place in the 400-meter dash with a clocking of 1:06.03.

Don Gooden Invite at Mendota

Boys

El Paso-Gridley 109, Sandwich 83, Harvard 41.5, Amboy 34, Kewanee Wethersfield 33, Bureau Valley 30.5, Hall 30, Princeton 27, Somonauk 27, Newark 20, Fieldcrest 15, Mendota 11, Hinckley-Big Rock 11

A-L 2nd place: Joel Billhorn, 400m dash, 52.18; 4x100m relay (Josh McKendry, Billhorn, Ed Fry, Caleb Yanos), 45.92

A-L 3rd place: McKendry, 200mm dash, 24.57

A-L 4th place: 4x200m relay (McKendry, Tyler Huggins, Fry, Yanos), 1:40.04; 4x400m relay (Yanos, Fry, Huggins, Billhorn), 3:50.46

A-L 7th place: Yanos, 100m dash, 12.3

Girls

El Paso-Gridley 89, Kewanee Wethersfield 72, Bureau Valley 69, Newark 69, Sandwich 67, Amboy 32, Princeton 22, Fieldcrest 19, Harvard 15, Mendota 8, Somonauk 4, Ashton-Franklin Center 2

A-L 3rd place: Elly Jones, 100m hurdles, 17.9

A-L 4th place: Maddie Althaus, 400m dash, 1:06.03

A-L 5th place: 4x100m relay (Jones, Alexa McKendry, Lexi Ketchum, Bella Yanos), 54.9; 4x200m relay (McKendry, Jones, Stephanie Nave, Yanos), 1:56.27

A-L 6th place: Yanos, 200m dash, 28.91; McKendry, 300m hurdles, 56.02; 4x400m relay (Ketchum, Grace Althaus, Nave, M. Althaus), 4:50.93

A-L 7th place: M. Althaus, 100m dash, 13.89; Aubrey Wells, 800m run, 2:56.02