The Lincoln track teams wasted no time in ramping up the competition, as the Bulldogs opened the season at a very tough meet on Saturday, performing well in a host of areas to begin the spring schedule.

The Union Redhawk Season Opener was loaded with talent, mostly with larger classification schools in from the Tulsa metro.

But the Bulldogs held their own, as both teams finished 3rd in team scoring led by numerous impressive performances.

"I was very impressed with how we approached the meet," said Lincoln head coach Stephen Lewelling. "The weeks and days leading up to, our focus was outstanding. The team moral has been high all winter. It is a joy to coach this team and I hope you see that on the track and in the field."

As usual, the relays for both squads were in peak form, as the girls and boys 4x800 relay teams both took home gold medals.

The girls (Brynlee Durborow, Bentley Stewart, Baylee Woodrich, Tennyson Housley) ran 9:51 to win by five seconds, while the boys (Garner McAfee, Colin Pogue, Sammy Farris, Ty Brooks) ran 8:00, posting the second fastest time in school history.

"Our relays were in great shape," said Lewelling. 

The girls 4x100 relay team (Bree Barton, Graci Atkinson, Drue Froehlich, Abi Fullingim) ran 51.91 to take 5th in a loaded event, while the boys 4x100 relay (Darian Gertner, Caleb Peterson, Cameron Reed, CJ Wright) ran 43.21 to take home 3rd.

"The girls had incredible handoffs and set a very good starting point for the season," Lewelling said. "The boys, with three new members, set the 3rd fastest time in program history."

It was a perfect start for senior discus thrower Ellie Stine, as the Liberty-signee had a huge start to her final season, throwing 143-2 to easily win gold and break a school record in the process.

"There was a very special record broken by Ellie Stine," Lewelling said. "She crushed the 10-year-old discus record set by Shaelyn Ward, who would go on to be a 4-year thrower at Kansas State and NCAA qualifier. This put Ellie into the top 25 in the nation already this season."

Some other impressive performances on the boys side included McAfee and Farris in the 800.

McAfee ran 1:56 to take 2nd in the 5th fastest time in school history, while Farris ran 1:58 to take 4th in the 8th best time in Lincoln history.

Senior Elliot George was 2nd in the high jump at 6-2, as well as 4th in the pole vault at 13-feet.

Brooks took home 2nd in the 1600, running 4:30.

Cam Reed was 5th in the 200, running 23.03, good for 8th best in school history. Freshman CJ Wright ran 11.21 in the 100, finishing 6th as the top freshman and posting the 7th best time in program history.

Gertner won the long jump, posting a mark of 21-5.

Cason McDaniel performed well in both throwing events for the boys, finishing 6th in the shot at 44-4, good for 4th best in Lincoln history. He was also 6th in the discus at 132-3.

The boys 4X400 relay team (Gertner, Elijah Summerlin, Creed Nail, McAfee) was 5th with a time of 3:32.

Trevor Hacker was 5th in the 3200, running 10:20, while Noah Caughey was 6th at 10:27.

On the girls side, Ally Huxtable started her senior season in strong fashion, as the ORU-signee took 3rd in the 400 with a time of 58.71.

Drue Froelich was 3rd in the long jump 15-9. Issy Dionne had a good start to her year in the 3200, running 13:13 to take 4th place.

Woodrich took 4th in the 1600, running 5:22. Stewart was close behind at 5:25, taking 6th place in the 6th best time in school history.

Housley was 6th in the 800, running 2:26. Kabry Kiger finished 6th in both throwing events, posting 30-5 in the shot and 108-9 in the discus.

The girls 4X400 relay team (Fullingim, Peyton Swindall, Barton, Atkinson) took 6th with a time of 4:25.

The teams will be in action next at Owasso on Friday.