Whoever is in charge of updating the sports banners in the high school gym is going to need to break out a ladder, because the ladies of the track team have just added “2016 Division III State Champions” to their list of accomplishments.

Over the weekend, the Falcons took part in the two-day state track meet, with a trio of guys and about a dozen girls going on to compete in the final event of the season.

Head coach Todd Brecto said going into the event that he felt very confident in the local ladies’ chances to bring home the gold this year and, amassing 91 team points from May 6-7, that’s exactly what they did.

“I could not be more proud of the FHHS lady Falcon track team,” Brecto said, pointing out that, after two seasons of finishing in the runner-up position, the local ladies proved that the third time really is the charm.

“They rose up to the challenge, persevered through injuries and illness and exceeded all expectations to capture the 2016 state track championship,” Brecto continued. “We were able to score in every event we entered except one; truly amazing.”

Representing the ladies after qualifying in multiple events were Alaina Olmstead, Erika Yost, Leah Carillo, Trista Smith, Kelsey Schultz, Amara Feyrer-Melk, Madi Blaes, Tiffany Frasca, Madison George, Alexandra Coons and Danica Kerr. The boys were represented by Tiger Elwood and Sam Aker in the pole vault and Michael Ogawa in the 110m high hurdles.

Leading into the meet, Brecto said he and his staff had to start crunching numbers, as many ladies qualified for more than the max number of events they were able to compete in. Whatever equation they came up with seemed to do the trick, as the Falcons finished up the state meet with enough team points to finally bring home the gold.

Still, you know things are going well for a team when they’ve already got one state champion after just a single day of competition. Trista Smith took the gold medal in the pole vault this year, besting the rest of the competition with a launch of 11’6”.

Madison George also finished strong during day one of the state meet, taking fifth place in the pole vault with a launch of 9’3”.

“She gave an incredible, gutsy performance, as she had only cleared 8’6” one time in the previous meet,” Brecto added.

Competing on an injured ankle in the triple jump, Leah Carillo came home with the silver medal after her jump of 34’11.5”. This was also good enough to break Carillo’s own school record.

“Also jumping her personal best of the year was Tiffany Frasca, who reached 34’2”,” Brecto added. “That jump put her in fourth position and on the top medal podium.”

And then there was Sierra Jarriel who, after battling back from an ACL surgery last year, went on to run one of her best races of the year. Jarriel claimed bronze in the 800m event amidst what Brecto referred to as a “super impressive field of runners.”

Into Saturday and the Falcons weren’t done earning big finishes.

“Kelsey Schultz was first to strike Saturday with a second place finish in the 100m hurdles, improving her own school record to 16.41,” Brecto said. “That fired up the team and we were ready to compete.”

Next up was the 4x800 team of Alaina Olmstead, Alexandra Coons, Danica Kerr and Sierra Jarriel, who took sixth with their time of 10:17, another fastest for the year.

Over to the 100m dash and both Erika Yost and Trista Smith were ready to compete. Yost came in at 12.84, good enough for fourth place, with Smith taking ninth at 13.45.

The 4x100 team earned another state championship, with Alaina Olmstead, Leah Carillo, Trista Smith and Erkia Yost taking first and breaking the school record again at 50.43.

In the open 400, Erika Yost took sixth despite being sick and having just completed the 4x100 event.

In the long jump pit, Leah Carillo took second overall with her jump of 16’9” while Amara Feyrer-Melk came in sixth at 16’3”.

Earning another top finish for the Falcons was Kelsey Schultz in the 300m hurdles, bringing home the gold with her record-breaking time of 46.07.

Finishing up for the Lady Falcons was the 4x400 team of, taking second place with another record-breaking time of 4:04.

In the end, the local ladies amassed 91 team points, good enough to earn the girls track program’s first state championship.

Over to the boys and both Tiger Elwood and Sam Aker competed in the finals for pole vault. Elwood ended the day with an 11’ jump while Aker went 12’, besting his previous personal record by a full foot and finishing in 11th place overall.