05/26/2026
The Blackhawks Have Arrived: Westville Makes PCC History at Kouts
The black and orange wave rolled through Kouts High School on Saturday, and by the end of the Porter County Conference Middle School Championships, history had been written across the track, runways, and throwing circles.
For the first time in school history, the Westville Middle School boys team finished 4th overall with 57 points, while the girls team earned its highest finish ever with a 5th-place finish and 43.5 points at the PCC Championships.
Leading the boys charge was eighth grader Tobias “Tobi” Bradley, who closed out his middle school career with one of the finest championship performances in school history. Bradley broke his own school record in the 800 meters with a blazing runner-up finish of 2:16.76, missing the conference title by just one-tenth of a second despite battling painful side cramps during both distance races. He later returned to place third in the 1600 meters with a 5:10.04. Bradley also delivered a major breakthrough in the discus with a personal-best throw of 106-02, earning another third-place finish. He capped off the day helping the 4x400 relay team place third overall in 4:38.56.
Another rising star emerged in first-year track athlete Anthony Ahnefeld. The eighth grader continued his remarkable season by breaking his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles with a runner-up finish of 17.03. Ahnefeld also placed second in the 200-meter hurdles in 30.02 and added a sixth-place finish in the high jump by clearing 4-08.
Seventh grader Jaxon Egly delivered breakthrough performances in the throwing events with personal bests in both the shot put and discus. Egly threw 32-01 in the shot put for sixth place and followed it with a throw of 94-09 in the discus to place sixth overall.
The boys 4x400 relay team of Gavin Hutchison, Tobias Bradley, Anthony Ahnefeld, and Owen Ortt turned in one of the biggest improvements in school history, placing third overall in 4:38.56, a remarkable 17-second improvement from last year’s PCC performance.
Seventh grader Gavin Hutchison also delivered one of the most important all-around performances for Westville. Hutchison was the only seventh grader to make the finals in both hurdle races, placing seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 20.59 and seventh in the 200-meter hurdles in 32.08. He also placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 14-11, giving the Blackhawks valuable points across three different events.
Despite having only seven athletes on the roster competing at the conference meet, the Blackhawks had four athletes score the majority of the team points during the highest boys team finish in school history at the PCC Championships.
On the girls side, the Blackhawks continued building one of the most promising young programs in the PCC.
A talented group of sixth graders led the charge, including Adriana Mendez, Chloe Williams, Brooklynn Burger, and Lilly Jamieson.
Mendez delivered a historic day in the throwing events by qualifying for the finals in both shot put and discus. She placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 27-11 and fifth in the discus with a toss of 58-04, marking the highest conference placing ever by a sixth-grade Westville girls thrower.
Burger put together one of the strongest distance performances by a sixth grader in school history. She placed fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:45.60 and fifth in the 1600 meters in 6:03.61, finishing just seconds shy of both school records while recording the highest PCC placements ever by a sixth-grade Westville girls distance runner.
Jamieson added another personal best in the 800 meters, running 2:50.10 for seventh place, while teammate Tessa Musgrave achieved a personal record of 6:27.09 in the 1600 meters.
Eighth grader Lillianna Alvarez closed out her middle school career with a fourth-place finish in the discus with a personal best throw of 59-02, while fellow eighth grader Alyssa Hoffman earned an eighth-place finish in the long jump with a jump of 12-05 during her final middle school meet.
Meanwhile, seventh grader Isabella Popp continued rewriting the Westville record books. Popp broke her own school record in the pole vault with a clearance of 6-00 and also placed fourth in the high jump by clearing 4-02.
The girls relay teams also delivered strong performances. The 4x100 relay team of Alyssa Hoffman, Lily Barbahen, Alicia Hoffman, and Lilly Jamieson placed eighth in 1:02.85, while the 4x400 relay team of Lily Barbahen, Chloe Williams, Tessa Musgrave, and Brooklynn Burger finished sixth overall in 5:12.81.
What made Saturday even more meaningful was how young the Westville teams truly are. Sixth graders, first-year athletes, and developing competitors powered both programs to historic finishes while building a foundation centered on confidence, growth, and belief.
The future of Westville Middle School track and field is no longer approaching.
It has officially arrived.
