MORRISVILLE — The Green Hope-Panther Creek rivalry made its way to the track for the first time this season Thursday afternoon as athletes braved chilly winds to square off against friends and foes from across Highway 55. The Panther Creek boys team edged Green Hope 74-72, while the Green Hope girls put forth a more dominant 82-63 win over the Catamounts.

For the Panther Creek boys’ team, the victory was a statement win for a program that has struggled since the school opened, according to associate head coach Chip Shea.

“We are so happy with how our men’s team has come along. We really struggled the first two years, and finally won a meet last year,” Shea said.

“We’ve had some seniors who have really stepped up. We have some new guys that are great additions to the team. And we’ve worked hard with the distance crew, with the cross country and winter track teams and are real pleased with how well they are running in the early season.”

Notable performances for the Catamount boys included a sweep of the 100m dash, led by Ben Shea, who ran an 11.6. The Panther Creek boys also won three of the four relays to help clinch the win, as well as dominating the 1600 (mile run) with Ryan Polli and Ryan Kane taking first and second in the event with times of 5:01.0 and 5:01.3, respectively.

“We knew coming in that we were going to compete with them in the sprints,” Shea said. “And with Green Hope’s fantastic pedigree, to have our kids do this well, it says something about the work they put in cross country and winter track.”

According to Green Hope coach Roger Collins, the Falcons did not race several of its boys’ participants. Several distance runners, in particular, will likely not race until later in the season, as they are likely contenders for regional and state championships.

“I’m pleased with the performances we had,” Collins said. “We held some guys out in the distance events and one of our better sprinters, building for down the road. Sometimes it gives other kids a chance to step in and be the point scorers for us. It builds up the whole program.”

Despite missing several key distance runners, the Falcons kept things close with its field events. Bryce Palmer, in just his second track and field meet ever, won both the triple jump (39’9.5”) and the long jump (20’0”) events. Green Hope’s Pete Rehder dominated the pole vault, jumping a personal best 12’0”.

On the women’s side, Green Hope took control of a seemingly close meet by dominating the relays, winning the 4x200 (1:53.7), the 4x400 (4:20.1), and the 4x800 (11:03.5) events.

Notable performances by the Green Hope girls included that of the Enright sisters, Cara and Olivia. Cara won the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.5, took 2nd in the 300 hurdles, and led the winning 4x400 relay. Olivia set a personal record in the 3200 (two-mile) with a time of 11:23.0.

“I wanted to get some points for my team and I wanted to push towards my goal of a [personal record],” Olivia said.

Green Hope’s Madison Keesling also put forward an impressive multi-event performance, winning the 200 with a time of 27.2, taking second in the long jump (15’9.5”), and leading the winning 4x200 relay.

In field events, Green Hope’s Alex Appleby won the long jump with a distance of 16’0.25” and qualified for regionals in just her second meet ever competing in the event. Panther Creek’s Cassie Crawford, the indoor state champion in the pole vault, won the high jump and pole vault.

Though Panther Creek’s boys team came away with a statement win, the girl’s team didn’t have firepower to match Green Hope. Still, coach Shea says he his pleased with both teams’ overall improvement.

“What we’ve told the girls is every week, we need to see one thing that they can build on,” Shea said.