Coming off a 2011 season that saw both the girls’ and the boys’ track teams win the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division, the Williamsburg Wildcats are off to a good start in their hopes to repeat as co-champions.

Through two meets, the Wildcats have finished towards the top of the field in both the Polar Bear Relays at Bethel on March 31 and the New Richmond Invitational on April 5.

The boys’ team had a disappointing first meet of the year at the Polar Bear Relays, finishing in eighth place behind SBC schools Western Brown, Georgetown, Bethel, Clermont Northeastern and Goshen, but they were able to turn it around finishing in fourth place at the New Richmond Invitational.

The guys got off to a good start with Jacob Edminsten finishing second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.33 as well as the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.86.

The relay teams had a solid showing, coming in third in the 4×100-meter relay and fifth in the 4×400.

However, the Wildcats scored their only first place finish in the field events. Williamsburg’s Clayton Scheidler won the Long Jump with a jump of 21-feet-10.5 inches.

The Wildcats had a solid showing in the throwing events as well with a second and third place finish. Michael Posey finished second in the discus throw with a toss of 147-feet-2 inches and a shot put of 45-feet-9 inches.

Conversely, on the girls side, the Lady Wildcats fared a little better in the Polar Bear Relays than they did at the New Richmond Invitational.

Williamsburg finished fifth at the Relays and eighth at the Invitational.

Ashley Jermer finished third in the 100-meter dash at the NRHS Invitational with a time of 13.19.

The girls’ relays were solid once again at the Invitational, finishing fifth in the 4×100-meter relay (55.74) and sixth in the 4×200-meter relay (1:58.83).

In the field events, Williamsburg’s top finisher was Elizabeth Meisberger in the discus throw and shot put. Meisberger finished second in the discus throw with a toss of 95-feet-6 inches and fourth in the shot put with a throw of 29-feet-4.5 inches. Gabby Press finished third in the pole vault with an 8-foot jump and Alexis Donthnier finished sixth in the high jump, clearing 4-feet-6 inches.

With both the boys’ and girls’ team returning a solid core of All-Southern Buckeye Conference selections from a year ago, there is no reason to believe that the Wildcats can’t repeat as champions in 2012.

Boys’ coach Chris Rolph believes his team is well-rounded and has a lot of depth and looks for sprinter Clayton Schidler to get some looks from college coaches. Also, field athlete Michael Posey has improved from last season to this year.

The girls’ coach, Karen Healey thinks that the strong contingent of sprinters that the girls have this year could lead to some good times and even some school records.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Thursday, April 12 at Glen Este as well as Saturday, April 14 at Georgetown.