Wayland, IA- Six days later and an abbreviated team list but the WACO Relays went off without a hitch, including a successful defense of their home turf for the girls’ team in a close finish of team points.
Girls’ Meet
Of the original eight teams that were scheduled to make the trip to WACO high school back on April 7th, only the Van Buren County and Springville girls’ teams were able to travel last night. The final podium had WACO on top with 70 points followed by Van Buren County with 65 points and Springville not terribly far behind with 52 points.
WACO dominated the individual events, which included a couple of repeat champions. Ryan Pepper demonstrated her speed, winning the 100-meter dash in 13.54 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 26.83 seconds.
Josie Dykstra’s long strides came through in the 400-meter dash with a gold medal time of 1 minute and 2 seconds and the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1 minute and 10 seconds. Of the multi-time winners, Macie Carter outpaced the field in the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter runs with times of 5 minutes and 26 seconds and 11 minutes and 49 seconds, respectively.
The Warriors also had winners in Carlee Lunsford and Madelyn Farmer. Lunsford grabbed the victory with a time of 2 minutes and 32 seconds in 800-meter run, while Farmer leapt to the win the long jump, covering 15 feet and 5 inches.
Van Buren County generated team success, snatching wins in four of the seven relay events—4×100, 4×800, sprint medley, and distance medley relays. Individually, Briley Losey swept the throwing events with a heave of 31 feet and 1 inch in the shot put and toss of 90 feet and 6 inches in the discus.
Boys’ Meet
The boys’ teams were a bit more eager to attend with six of the nine teams busing out to Wayland yesterday and it was Iowa Valley that finished atop the standings with 163 points followed by Van Buren County with 131 points and Washington with 117 points.
Like most of the season, Van Buren County was led by their seniors as Kayden Simmons claimed the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in 11.6 seconds, while Lincoln Bainbridge claimed 1st place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.63 seconds and the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 53.63 seconds.
The lone junior to finish atop the leaderboard for the Warriors was Landry Loeffler in the 3,200-meter run, as he paced himself to a time of 10 minutes and 39 seconds.
Washington had two winners in their 3rd place team finish with the 4×800 crossing the line in 8 minutes and 17 seconds, and Sawyer Tschantz securing a time of 4 minutes and 42 seconds in the 1,600-meter run.
WACO finished in 4th place as a team with Jude Dykstra’s lone 1st place time of 2 minutes and 2 seconds in the 800-meter run leading the Warriors. Fairfield ended up in last place with only 31 team points. The 4×100 managed a victory, while Blake Burnett tied for the gold in the high jump with Josh Read of Iowa Valley as they each clear 6 feet-even.
Up Next
WACO will compete in the Co-Ed Lisbon Opener today, while most of the girls’ teams will head to Fort Madison for the Pen City Relays today and the boys’ teams travel to Fairfield for a meet.