Southeast Iowa- It was a busy day for our local track and field teams, especially for the Mt. Pleasant locals with their second home track meet in less than a week’s time. Nevertheless, more meet records fell at Mapleleaf as athletes get ready for the upcoming Drake Relays
Panther Relays
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team has hit their stride as of late with back-to-back team meet victories, winning the Panther Relays by one point over conference foe Washington; moreover, the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team joined their counterparts in winner’s lane for the second time this season, dusting Mediapolis by 30 points.
While it was not quite on the same rate as the Denny White Relays, the Mt. Pleasant girls’ team did reset a new meet record and in an event that the Panthers did not get one last Thursday. This time, it was the distance medley team of Ellie Freeman, Taylor Williamson, Izzy Sloat, and Avery Fedler crossing the finish line in 4 minutes and 16 second, which was nearly three seconds faster than the record set back in 2002.
The Panthers also picked up wins in the shuttle hurdle, 4×100, and 4×200 meter relays, along with Sloat taking the long jump with a leap of 17 feet and 2.5 inches.
Danville’s lone win came in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 54 seconds by the team of Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, Delaney Newberry, and Alaina Gourely.
WACO’s Josie Dykstra grabbed the gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 23 seconds, less than a tenth of a second faster than second place. Allison Gillip had the lone win for New London in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds.
Mediapolis’s Avery Crear won the high jump with a leap of 4 feet and 10 inches.
Lastly, Washington’s Jaedyn Moore claimed the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Lauren Drahota took the 400-meter dash. Leighton Messinger glided to the win in the 100-meter hurdles. Additionally, the Demons won the 4×400 meter relay with the team of Drahota, Brynnlee Flynn, Sawyer Manz, and Iris Dahl.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team strode to victory due, in large part, to six first-place finishers for the Panthers, including a new meet record. Mason Frueh has continued to step up in the discus ring, catapulting a new Panther meet record throw 139 feet and 9 inches.
Other Panthers to end up with the gold last night: Silas Hulett in the 3200-meter run, posting the only sub-10-minute time (9:55), Griffen Jones displayed his speed with a victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.44 seconds, Kaden Schadt in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet and 10 inches, and Jaymisen Rich helped sweep the throwing events with a toss of 44 feet and 11.5 inches in the shot put.
Additionally, the Panther team of Kayle Brown, Keegan Heaton, Gavin Kerr, and Kaden Schadt snatched the win in the shuttle hurdle relay.
Mediapolis may have finished in second place as a team, but the Bulldogs did walk away with more meet records than Mt. Pleasant. The team of Will Luttenegger, Brock Spears, Kyler Crow, and Henry Luttenegger broke both the 4×100 and the 4×200 meter relay meet records.
The Bulldogs ran the 4×100 in 43.34 seconds, which was 0.46 seconds faster than Williamsburg a year ago, and the 4×200 was completed in 1 minute and 30 seconds, which was nearly one second faster than Pekin’s run a year ago.
The Bulldogs were plenty busy elsewhere with Will Schmidgall outrunning the field in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.5 seconds and Gannon Gunn taking the 110-meter hurdles. Simon Wendel snatched the gold in the 1600-meter run with a mark of 4 minutes and 31 seconds. Larson Truett won the tiebreaker for the boys’ long jump with a mark of 20 feet and 10 inches.
Washington’s Kael Williams sprinted to the gold in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.42 seconds. Andrew Rees took the 800-meter run.
Danville’s team of Drake Bielser, Zaylan Wenig, Ty Frazier, and Noah Horn won the distance medley with a time of 3 minutes and 42 seconds and 4×400 meter relay with a mark of 3 minutes and 36 seconds.
Ottumwa’s Don Newell Classic
Fairfield traveled to the Don Newell Classic in Ottumwa last night and the girls’ team finished in 8th place, while the boys’ team grabbed the bronze medal with 100 points.
The boys’ team found victories in the 4×200 meter relay with a time of 1 minute and 33 seconds and the 4×800 meter relay with a mark of 8 minutes and 45 seconds. Moreover, Eli Zillman flew to a win in the high jump with a height of 6 feet and 6 inches.
Warrior Relays
The WACO boys’ team held the Warrior Relays last night with two divisions running. In Class A, Van Buren County snatched the title with 105 points with West Burlington/Notre Dame and Central Lee taking 4th and 5th place, respectively. For Class B, Winfield-Mt. Union ended up on top with 100 points, while New London, WACO, and Wapello made up 3rd through 5th place, respectively.
Staying in Class A, Lincoln Bainbridge continued his dominant march to the Blue Oval with a victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.05 seconds. Jace Duncan has continued turning heads as an underclassman with a winning time of 53.91 seconds in the 400-meter dash. Landry Loeffler was a step faster in the 1600-meter run with a mark of 4 minutes and 57 seconds and outpaced the field in the 3200-meter run by over 30 seconds.
Kayden Simmons won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.71 seconds. Additionally, the Warriors grabbed wins in the 4×100, 4×800, the sprint medley, the distance medley, and the shuttle hurdle relays.
West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Cavin Denney claimed the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 6 seconds. Kellan Porter shared the gold medal with Louisa-Muscatine’s Oscar Cline as they both cleared 6 feet in the high jump.
Central Lee managed to come out on top in a pair of relays: the 4×200 and the 4×400.
For Class B, Cruz Hagmeier led the Wolves to a gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles with a mark of 16.15 seconds. Parker Wilson continued the Wolves success in the 400-meter hurdles, leading to a sweep in the shuttle hurdle relay. Graham Haines took the high jump with a mark of 5 feet and 6 inches. Lastly, Colin Anderson swept the throwing events with a heave of 43 feet and 8.25 inches in the shot put and a catapult of125 feet and 8.5 inches in the discus.
New London is known for their speed, and they exhibited why as London Franklin took the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.36 seconds with his teammate Cale Westerbeck finishing right behind him. The 4×100 meter relay team, which will be competing in the Drake Relays also reeled in the gold with a time of 43.17 seconds.
The Tigers also snatched the 4×200 meter relay. Elijah Ingwersen sprinted to a win in the 800-meter by almost 15 seconds. Franklin would go on to leap 22 feet and 6.5 inches in the long jump for a nearly two-foot victory.
WACO had Hayden Shelman win the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.94 seconds. In the 400-meter dash, Jude Dykstra, by nearly two seconds, claimed the win with a time of 52.36 seconds over Shelman.
Up Next
If you are not participating in the Drake Relays, then most of our local teams will be competing tomorrow, April 23rd.
Central Lee, Columbus, Van Buren County, Wapello, West Burlington/Notre Dame, and Wapello will be heading to Louisa-Muscatine for the Gardner-Wilson Co-Ed Relays.
Winfield-Mt. Union will welcome Danville, New London, and WACO to the Co-Ed Pankoke Relays.
The boys’ teams of Mt. Pleasant, Mediapolis, and Fairfield will head to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, while the girls’ teams will travel to the Washington Invitational at Case Field.