The annual Conrad Nightengale track meet at Halstead traditionally has been a good midseason gauge of how teams and athletes are shaping up, and after Friday’s edition Hillsboro coach Dennis Boldt felt good about his team’s performance.

“I was extremely proud of our track and field team,” he said. “We had some excellent performances, many personal bests, and placed well in many events.”

Among those were pole vaulters Marah Franz and Sienna Kaufman. Franz equaled her best performance in winning the event with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches, while Kaufman set a personal best of 9-0.

“This is extremely encouraging to have both jumpers at their personal best at this point in the season,” Boldt said.

The boys entered the season looking for breakout performances from underclassmen, and freshman Wes Shaw delivered, placing second in discus and third in shot put.

“This is a tough meet and he should be extremely proud of his effort, but I know he is not satisfied,” Boldt said.

On the track, Abby Sechrist placed third in the 800 meters, the anchored the 4x800 relay to a fifth-place finish.

Jonathan Hinerman took fifth in the 1600 and knocked more time off his season best.

Boldt said some athletes have been held back by poor training weather, and that coming off “a tiring prom weekend” could have affected others. Still, the meet served its purpose, he said.

“I felt they competed and now know not only what they are capable of, but that they need to focus on getting better as we enter the last few weeks of our season,” he said. “We have a ways to go yet to get everyone to the performance level we aspire.”