Wayland, IA- The WACO Relays were originally scheduled to be run last week, but the rain dictated otherwise as it has for most spring events to start the sport season. Nevertheless, WACO hosted Van Buren County and New London girls’ and boys’ teams and the English Valleys boys’ team yesterday.
Van Buren County came out on top on both the girls’ and boys’ sides with the girls’ team putting up 145 points and the boys’ team managing 97 points. The WACO girls’ team scored 85 points and the boys’ team grabbed 80 points, both finished in second place.
Starting on the girls’ side, here’s all the first-place finishers for Van Buren County. Caylin Schmitt took first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.16 seconds. Ava Loeffler raced to a time of 30.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Rylee Caviness finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds.
In the 1500-meter run, Rylee Philips took gold with a time of 5 minutes and 48 seconds. Ashley Fennel grabbed first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 13 minutes and 59 seconds. Libby Bainbridge took first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 21 seconds. Van Buren County finished in first place in five of the seven relays: 4×100, 4×200, 4×800, Distance Medley, and the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle.
Marlee Mertens leapt 4 feet and 10 inches in the high jump for the gold. Caylin Schmitt also won the shot put with a heave of 30 feet and 1 inch. In the discus, Lexie Wiley won with a throw of 85 feet and 2 inches.
WACO finished first in five events as the Warriors won the 4×400 meter relay and the 800-sprint medley. Carlee Lunsford took first in 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Zoey Dennler won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.84 seconds. Lastly, Natalie Wagler jumped 14 feet and 1 inch to win the long jump.
New London’s top finisher Marlianna Woodsmall with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds. The Tigers finished with 28 points.
On the boys’ side, Van Buren County won seven events with Bryce Moquin sprinting to a first-place finish in the 100-meter dash. Lincoln Bainbridge grabbed first place in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4 minutes and 52 seconds, which defeated Riley Raines of New London by 0.6 seconds. Landry Loeffler took first in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11 minutes and 24 seconds. Tyler Stoltz won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet and 2 inches. Lastly, Cameron Stoltz heaved the shot 36 feet and 10 inches to take the gold in the shot put.
Van Buren County won the 4×100, 4×200, and the 4×800-meter relays.
WACO’s Chase Waterhouse won the discus with a throw of 123 feet and 5 inches. Louden Huisenga had a nice meet with a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 6 seconds, while taking second in the high jump with a leap of six feet. He also helped the team of Gage Samo, Clayton Miller, and Bryson Waterhouse take first in the 4×110 meter shuttle hurdle.
WACO also took the 800 spring medley with a time of 1 minute and 48 seconds.
New London’s Brigham Porter dominated the sprinting events with first place finishes in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Riley Raines grabbed first place in the 800-meter run. London Franklin won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, nearly two feet better than second place. The Tigers eclipsed 62 points, finishing right behind English Valleys with 64.