By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Not many teams in the past few years have been able to do what the Niles varsity boys track and field team did Thursday evening.
The Vikings beat Lakeshore, a perennial powerhouse in southwestern Michigan, 89-65 to open the season.
Despite the Lancers dominating the field events, Niles fought back on the track by sweeping all four relay races and winning all but two running events.
With the exception of Otis West's jump of 19-10 to win the long jump, the Vikings were shut out of the field events.
The Vikings opened the running portion of the meet with a convincing victory in the 3200-meter relay. Niles senior Dane Ford, who did not run track last year, then finished first in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 17.16.
Niles senior sprinter Lonnie Jones did not compete Thursday due to an injury, but that did not seem to hinder the Vikings' performance in the 100-meter dash.
Isaiah Glaze finished first with a time of 11.32 and Quinton King took second at 11.38.
Niles captured the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:35.27 before taking two places in the 1,600-meter run. The Vikings also won the 400-meter relay with a time of 44.76 before Ford won his second event of the night with a time of 54.74 in the 400-meter run.
Ricky Phillips grabbed another first place for Niles with a time of 45.09 in the 300-meter hurdles. Josh Mann won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.77.
West won another even with a time of 23.57 in the 200-meter dash. Glaze and King took second and third, respectively, to sweep the 200-meters.
Niles earned another two places in the 3,200-meter run before the 1,600-meter relay team won with a time of 3:43.44.
The Niles girls track and field team suffered an 87-75 loss, but not without putting up a fight.
Ashley Austin won the shot put with a throw of 30-9 and Ashley Spriggs won the discus with a throw of 83-10. Tasha Webster won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.92. Niles won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:57.87.
Freshman Kristin Lamarre took first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:08.63. The Vikings swept that event as Amber Peters and Mariette Strauss took second and third, respectively.
The Niles teams will take part in the Sturgis Relays Saturday.