Sports : Leonard sets new school record in 400 as Vikettes win own Invitational

Payton Leonard set a new VS school record in the 400M event on Tuesday.

Alyssy Root finished in 2nd place in both the 100 and 400M hurdles at the Vikette Invite.

Senior Payton Leonard reached one of her goals on Senior Night, setting a new school record in the 400M dash as the Vinton-Shellsburg girls track team won its own Vikette Invitational.

Although she finished 1/100th of a second behind Benton Community's Shelby Hulsebus, Leonard's time of 59.08 was the fastest in Vinton-Shellsburg school history.

Leonard also ran on the 4 x 800 and sprint medley relay teams, which finished in first on Tuesday, and placed third in the 200M dash.

The Vikettes continued their success in relay events.

The 4 X 800 team of Bristi Gerber, Payton Leonard, Lily Horst and Annika Schmidt placed first, 28 seconds ahead of the 2nd place team.

The sprint medley team (Hannah Kalous, Dawne Schminke, Sydney Robertson, Payton Leonard) and 4 x 100 team (Hannah Kalous, Dawne Schminke, LaDorshae Mull, Sydney Robertson) also finished in first. The 4 x 400 team (La Dorshae Mull, Bristi Gerber, Hannah Kalous and Maci Griffith) finished second.

Gerber finished first in the 800M, followed by Schmidt.

Griffith also placed first in the long jump; her distance of 15',8" was more than a foot better than second place.

The Vikettes' only hurdler, Alyssa Root, finished second in both the 100 and 400 meter events.

Senior Night honored the three Vikettes who will graduate next month: Leonard, Schminke and Robertson. The Vikettes won their home meet with a total team score of 149; Marion was second and Benton, third.

See complete results HERE.

See more photos HERE.