The great thing about track and field is that a losing day for the team can still be an accomplishment day for a lot of team members.

That was the case for the Fruitport boys track team, which lost 107-29 to Allendale at home on Wednesday.

Senior Nathan Carlisle certainly had a big day, winning the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.66.

Freshman Ryder Merkins also had a victory, winning the long jump with a personal record distance of 19 feet, 2.5 inches.

Fruitport’s Nathan Carlisle, who won the 800-meter run. 

Levi Glynn and Alex Wilber took second and third place, respectively, in the pole vault, each clearing nine feet.

The Fruitport 800-meter relay team – Levi Bol, Merkins, Vincent Pollock and Wilber – finished a very close second in its race.

Seniors Payton Flores (40 feet, .5 inches), Andrew Fielstra (39 feet,10 inches) and Kaiden Bell (39 feet, 8.5 inches) all set personal records in the shot put. Flores also set a personal record with a throw of 111 feet, 7.5 inches in the discus.

“Huge shoutout to Ryder Merkins and Nathan Carlisle for winning the 800-meter and long jump,” said Fruitport Coach Tim McKeeby.

Fruitport’s Payton Flores, who set personal records in two events. 

“Starting the season off against a tough team is never easy,” he added. “We have many great athletes on our team and we’re determined to get better daily. The first meet is over, we know what changes have to be made and how to intensify our training in order to succeed.

“I am very proud of our strong underclassmen core. They are at every practice training hard, and showed up to this meet ready to start their Trojan track careers.”