Des Moines, IA- After sprinting through events Thursday in an attempt to avoid a round of strong storms, the Blue Oval enjoyed a pristine spring day in the second day of high school competition. The result was four of our local athletes earning a medal, including a 1st place finish in boys’ shot put.
Boys’ 100-Meter Dash
It has been an ongoing clash of talent between Keokuk’s Ryan Bair and West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Landry Haberichter, as the two finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively at state last season. In the preliminary, it was Haberichter who finished on top, in fact, the Falcon flew to the best time of 10.69 seconds, while Bair’s 10.71 seconds was enough for 5th place and to advance to the finals. London Franklin of New London took 28th place with a time of 11 seconds.
In the finals, Bair regained his edge and shaved nearly two-tenths of a second off his time, cruising to a silver medal time of 10.55 seconds. Haberichter fell back to 4th place with a mark of 10.72 seconds.
Girls’ 100-Meter Dash
Despite her hiatus from the track, Burlington’s Mylee Stiefel roared to a 5th place time of 12.08 seconds in the prelims to qualify for the finals. The Grayhound would stay consistent with another 5th place finish, this time with a mark of 12.16 seconds.
Washington’s Jaedyn Moore claimed 23rd place with a time of 12.51seconds, while Hillcrest Academy’s Rya Scott’s time of 12.53 seconds was good enough for 25th place.
Boys’ 400 and 800-Meter Events
Lincoln Bainbridge of Van Buren County had a busy day. In his first event, the Warrior stayed near the top of the pack in the 800-meter run and snatched the silver medal with a time of 1 minute and 52 seconds.
Near the end of the night, Bainbridge would go on the full-lap sprint in the 400-meter dash and submit a time of 48.32 seconds for 5th place. A solid day for Bainbridge, but he’s not done yet with the 400-meter hurdles Saturday afternoon.
Girls’ 400 and 800-Meter Events
In her second of three events of the day, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler displayed her speed and stamina with a 5th place jaunt of 2 minutes and 11 seconds in the 800-meter run. As the only freshmen in the 400-meter dash, Fedler claimed 12th place with a time of 57.57 seconds.
The Panther will look the set the pace in the 1500-meter run early Saturday evening.
Boys’ 110-Meter Hurdles
It was not the showing Columbus’ Lamar Ceant, last year’s Class 1A silver medalist, wanted at the Blue Oval as the Wildcat finished in 20th place with a time of 14.71 seconds. His teammate Alex Rees claimed the 10th best time of the meet at 14.36 seconds.
Boys’ 4×200 Meter Relay
The team of Kurt Joy, Jackson Bair, Jadyn Burton, and Ryan Bair for Keokuk finished in 21st place with a time of 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Girls’ 4×200 Meter Relay
Washington had the team of Jaslyn Villa, Lauren Drahota, Leighton Messinger, and Jaedyn Moore run and the quartet clocked a time of 1 minute and 45 seconds for 20th place.
Girls’ Sprint Medley Relay
Mt. Pleasant’s Delaney Anderson, Kynlee White, Alex Scott, and Avery Fedler nearly reset their school record time set just over a week ago at the Denny White Relays. Yet, the Panthers were just six-tenths of a second short as they claimed 8th place with a mark of 1 minute and 47.9 seconds.
Boys’ Shot Put
A pair from the Southeast Conference (SEC) made an appearance in the ring with Uriah Brooks of Fort Madison taking 19th place with a toss of 49 feet and 5.25 inches. But the showstopper was Washington’s Greyson Hartman as his first throw of 61 feet and 8.75 inches would’ve been a winner.
Yet, the Demon added on to it in the finals with a heave of 65 feet and 0.5 inches, which was more than five feet further than Morgan Cooley of East Union Afton’s 2nd place throw of 59 feet and 11 inches. Hartman will look to add another gold medal in the discus Saturday morning.
Girls’ Discus
Pekin’s Anna Hadley and Burlington’s Kylee Hill both qualified for the finals and this time it was the Panther finishing on the podium and the Grayhound one spot away from the bronze medal. Hadley’s first throw of the finals was her best at 147 feet and 7 inches, just three inches short of the silver medal.
Hill never was able to reach the height of her first throw of the day at 140 feet and 9 inches, as she finished in 4th place. Still, Hill walked away with the gold in the shot put in Thursday’s field events.
Girls’ High Jump
Unfortunately, Quin Smith of Winfield-Mt. Union was unable to clear the starting height of 5 feet and 1 inch, resulting in no ranking.
Up Next
Stay tuned to KILJ for a recap of Saturday’s events for our local athletes!