April 23, 2024

Panthers show improvement at home meet

By SCOTT VICKER
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Creston senior Elijah Johnson runs down the homestretch in the JV 200 meter dash at Thursday's Panther Relays. Johnson finished in 34.29 seconds. He was one of four seniors honored during a senior night ceremony Thursday night. (CNA photo)

For the second straight year, the Panther Relays featured a perfect night for track and field on the last night for Drake Relays qualifying.

The finish to the Panther Relays was electric, highlighted by three runners breaking the previous meet record in the 800 meters and close finishes in the Dick Skarda 4x400 Relay.

Creston seniors Jay Wolfe and Bryce Briley, along with Mount Ayr junior Kyle Dolecheck all ran under Wolfe’s meet record of 1:57.97 in the 800.

By doing so, all three punched their tickets to next week’s Drake Relays.

Wolfe won in 1:54.75, with Dolecheck in second at 1:57.04 and Briley taking third in 1:57.23. (See related story.)

In a span of 10 days, Briley cut eight seconds off his 800 meter time.

“When you think about a two-lap race, that’s unbelievable,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said.

Harlan ended the night by winning the Dick Skarda 4x400 Relay, as Caleb Rasmussen outkicked Atlantic’s Gratt Reed for the victory in 3:30.93 to 3:31.56.

The battle for third place came down to Dolecheck and Wolfe, with Dolecheck edging out the Panther senior. Mount Ayr took third in 3:35.16, with Creston fourth in a season’s best time of 3:35.26.

About 10 minutes after running the 800, Briley ran a 51.79-split on the third leg of the relay and Wolfe anchored in 49.31.

“That shows the leadership those guys have,” Schlapia said. “It was something to see those guys run like they did in that 4x400.”

Atlantic’s Alec Hayes took advantage of the weather, as well. Coming in with a personal best clearance of 6-2 in the high jump, Hayes punched his ticket to the Drake Relays by clearing 6-5.

Improvements

The Panthers placed in three other relays, finishing fourth in the 4x800 with the team of Nick Walsh, Dalten Bierle, Cole Higgins and Cody Wagner. Bierle ran a season’s best split of 2:16.

The 4x200 relay of Wagner, Briley, Chris Foster and Wolfe took fifth. The distance medley relay team of Higgins, Joe Eblen, Walsh and Bierle ran 4:16.58 for sixth place.

Trevor Downing threw a big personal best in the discus, throwing 118-4.

“You can’t pass up, we had a lot of personal bests and season’s best on the varsity,” Schlapia said. “Trevor Downing, he had been in the low 100s and pulled one out at 118-4. His shot put was just off his career best. He didn’t place, but he had an outstanding night.”

In the JV competition, Creston had eight placewinners and had several more season or personal bests.

Nathan Cox finished third in the long jump with a personal best jump of 13-9.75. Dylan Linch and Ben Bargstadt each ran personal bests in the 1,600 meters, running 5:48.80 and 5:59.79.

A senior night ceremony was held after the 800 meters. Seniors honored Thursday were Briley, Elijah Johnson, Wolfe and Alex Tamerius, who was not in attendance because of the soccer game at Denison.

Creston travels to Ballard on Tuesday, with events beginning at 5 p.m.

Mount Ayr

Defending Class 1A state champion Mount Ayr finished fourth in the team standings with 76 points, just two points behind Atlantic for third. Harlan won the team title with 113 points and Clarinda took second with 90. Creston was eighth with 27 points.

Raider senior Joe Ricker was a double winner in the throws, winning the discus with a throw of 143-1 and unleashing a big PR throw of 48-7.50 in the shot put.

Senior Grant Staats claimed Mount Ayr’s only other event victory of the night, winning the 400 meter hurdles with his time of 57.61.

Panther Relays

Team standings — 1. Harlan 113, 2. Clarinda 90, 3. Atlantic 78, 4. Mount Ayr 76, 5. Earlham 69.5, 6 Shenandoah 58.5, 7. Red Oak 36, 8. Creston 27, 9. Adair-Casey 10.

Discus — 1. Joe Ricker, MA, 143-1; 11. Trevor Downing, Creston, 118-4; 12. Lincoln Lutrick, MA, 110-0; 15. Cody Tanner, Creston, 105-9.

Shot put — 1. Joe Ricker, MA, 48-7.50; 5. Jed McCreary, MA, 42-9.50; 11. Trevor Downing, Creston, 39-5.50; 14. Cody Tanner, Creston, 35-2.

High jump — 1. Alec Hayes, Atl, 6-5; Chris Foster, Creston, 5-2; Cody Wagner, Creston, 5-2.

Long jump — 1. Joey Harkins, Earl, 19-9.50; 6. Baylee Love, MA, 17-7.50.

3,200 meters — 1. Logan LeRette, RO, 10:32.71; 8. Justin Wehling, MA, 11:34.65; 10. Bradley Wurster, MA, 12:44.10.

4 x 800 relay — 1. Harlan, 8:14.35; 3. Mount Ayr (Rhett Murphy, Bradley Phelps, Mitchell Jennett, Trevor Anderson), 8:53.83; 4. Creston (Nick Walsh, Dalten Bierle, Cole Higgins, Cody Wagner), 9:23.46.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Clarinda, 1:02.56; 6. Mount Ayr (John Young, Will Young, Ethan McGill, Marcus Daughton), 1:15.82.

100 meters — 1. Emmitt Wheatley, A-C, 11.32; 10. Chris Foster, Creston, 12.80; 12. Caleb Schnoor, MA, 12.89; 15. Logan Stark, MA, 14.34.

400 meters — 1. Jacob Carlson, Clar, 52.31; 4. Baylee Love, MA, 54.11; 8. Nick Walsh, Creston, 57.42; 9. John Young, MA, 58.92; 13. Dalten Bierle, Creston, 1:02.93.

4 x 200 relay — 1. Harlan, 1:34.83; 2. Mount Ayr (Grant Staats, Rhett Murphy, Cal Daughton, Kyle Dolecheck), 1:35.20; 5. Creston (Cody Wagner, Bryce Briley, Chris Foster, Jay Wolfe), 1:37.21.

110 high hurdles — 1. Brian Vanderheiden, Earl, 16.02; 8. Marcus Daughton, MA, 19.11.

1,600 meters — 1. Joe Blake, Shen, 4:43.11; 9. Justin Wehling, MA, 5:33.25; 10. Cole Higgins, Creston, 5:37.93; 11. Mitchell Jennett, MA, 5:44.03.

200 meters — 1. Caleb Rasmussen, Har, 23.13; 11. Chris Foster, Creston, 25.50; 12. John Young, MA, 25.67; 13. Caleb Schnoor, MA, 26.29.

400 low hurdles — 1. Grant Staats, MA, 57.61; 10. Marcus Daughton, MA, 1:09.14.

1,600 medley relay — 1. Shenandoah, 3:43.78; 4. Mount Ayr (Nick Wurster, Rhett Murphy, Cal Daughton, Bradley Phelps), 4:02.59; 6. Creston (Cole Higgins, Joe Eblen, Nick Walsh, Dalten Bierle), 4:16.58.

800 meters — 1. Jay Wolfe, Creston, 1:54.75 (meet record); 2. Kyle Dolecheck, MA, 1:57.04; 3. Bryce Briley, Creston, 1:57.23; 4. Trevor Anderson, MA, 2:05.64.

4 x 100 relay — 1. Harlan, 44.91; 5. Mount Ayr (Grant Staats, Cal Daughton, Baylee Love, Nick Wurster), 46.23; .

4 x 400 relay — 1. Harlan, 3:30.93; 3. Mount Ayr (Trevor Anderson, Grant Staats, Baylee Love, Kyle Dolecheck), 3:35.16; 4. Creston (Bryce Briley, Cody Wagner, Nick Walsh, Jay Wolfe), 3:35.26.

JV results

Discus — 6. Tucker Flynn, Creston, 103-7; 13. Shaun Irelan, Creston, 59-11; Cashton Weeks, Creston, 58-3.

Shot put — 4. Tucker Flynn, Creston, 32-4; 10. Shaun Irelan, Creston, 23-7; Cashton Weeks, Creston, 22-10.

High jump — 1. Cole Higgins, Creston, 5-2.

Long jump — 3. Nathan Cox, Creston, 13-9.75.

3,200 meters — 3. Trey Gift, Creston, 13:00.90; 6. Ben Bargstadt, Creston, 14:07.27.

100 meters — 5. Joe Eblen, Creston, 13.23; 13. Elijah Johnson, Creston, 17.09.

400 meters — 7. Nathan Cox, Creston, 1:07.58; 9. Travis Purdy, Creston, 1:10.03.

1,600 meters — 5. Dylan Linch, Creston, 5:48.80; 7. Ben Bargstadt, Creston, 5:59.79.

200 meters — 3. Joe Eblen, Creston, 27.13; 11. Elijah Johnson, Creston, 34.29.

4 x 100 relay — 7. Creston (Trevor Downing, Dylan Linch, Trey Gift, Cody Tanner), 56.03.

4 x 400 relay — 5. Creston (Nathan Cox, Ben Bargstadt, Travis Purdy, Trey Gift), 4:39.99.