NILES — The Niles track team opened up its 2019 season against visiting Portage Central on a day that was a bit cold and windy.

None of the athletes seemed to mind as the meet moved along smoothly with the Mustangs picking up the sweep.

Portage Central defeated Niles 103-60 in the girls’ portion of the meet and 99-64 in the boys’ half of the SMAC West Division match-up.

Niles did much of its damage in the field events as the girls swept the four events while the boys team won the high jump and long jump.

Kaylee Thompson was a double winner for Niles as she captured the 800- and 1,600-meters.

“Last night, I learned that we are strong in our field events,” said Niles coach Rikki Jones. “All of my athletes had good performances, but Sophia Hover, Morgan Warren and Marika Ruppart stood out. With my distance runners, I was reaffirmed that Kaylee Thompson will be a force to contend with. In sprints, I saw a good start to know that we can build with from Tiyana Outlaw and Natalie Lucero in the 400. We definitely need to build our sprints, but we did have some athletes out due to prior commitments or ineligibility. I am looking forward to a great season — we are young with a lot of potential.”

On the boys’ side, Jordan Brown was a double winner as he captured the 100- and 400-meters.

More results are available in the scoreboard section on page 11.