Nodaway Valley boys finish top-4 at POI meet

Nodaway Valley met its placing goal on the boys’ side of the Pride of Iowa Conference Championships Tuesday, May 3 in track and field action at Lenox.

The Wolverines wanted to place in the top-4 of the league at the meet. They tied for fourth with Southwest Valley. Both squads scored 64 points, a good distance out of third-place Lenox’s 113 points. Central Decatur won the meet with 179 and Mount Ayr was second, scoring 130.

“The competition has been steep this season, and being able to earn extra points and still score as high in each meet as we have is a testament to the hard work and dedication of not just one athlete, but that of the whole team,” Nodaway Valley head coach Chase Green said. “We have regularly had 10 to 14 different members of our team score points during a meet. Our success is definitely a team effort.”

Leading the way, junior distance runner Doug Berg swept the distance races. He won the 1,600-meter in 4:51.57 and the 3,200-meter in 10:22.69.

“In the mile, I haven’t gotten my time quite down to what it was last year. In the two-mile, I’m doing better and ranked higher in the state in that,” Berg said. “I’m hoping to qualify for state in both of those. A 10:20 at state-qualifying will pretty much guarantee me to get in [in the 3,200] and about 4:45 in the mile.”

The Wolverines were third in the shuttle hurdle relay with Elliot Cooney, Blake Lund, Boston DeVault and Caelen DeVault. They clocked in at 1:08.94.

Freshman thrower Trenton Warner was fourth in the discus, throwing to a 110 feet, 9-inch mark. NV’s 4x400-meter relay was fourth, with Caelen DeVault, Adam Ayase, Doug Berg and Nathan Russell.

Ayase was fifth in the 400 (55.16 seconds), Caelen DeVault fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles (17.30 seconds) and Lund fifth in the 400-meter low hurdles (1:03.81).

The Wolverines were sixth in the 4x200-meter (Boston DeVault, Cooney, Lund and Russell in 1:44.76) and 4x800-meter relays (Russell, Tyler Cooper, Will Sturdy and Paul Berg in 10:35.95).

Caelen DeVault took seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:05.08. Boston DeVault scored seventh in the 800 (2:17.04). Cooney was eighth in the 110-meter high hurdles (18.92 seconds) and Paul Berg jumped 5 feet, 2 inches to place seventh in high jump.

Russell said focus and teamwork on executing the little things well were crucial as the state-qualifying meet approached.

“We’re still battling a little with handoffs and haven’t really had consistent teams, but it’s fun to be out there on relays with my friends,” Russell said. “[Going into Thursday] we have to work on our handoffs because that will cut down on times a lot, especially with blind exchanges.”

In a meet at Southwest Valley on Thursday, May 5, the Wolverines got one event win from Doug Berg in the 3,200 (10:39.53) to lead the way, scoring 42 points, finishing seventh in a 16-team field.

The Wolverines hosted their home meet Monday, May 9, finishing second to Interstate 35.

Berg was runner-up in the 1,600 with a time of 4:55.93 and freshman thrower Trenton Warner won the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 10 inches. Lund took second in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.14). In the 4x800-meter relay (Russell, Christensen, Cooper and Harris in 10:22.27) and sprint medley relay (Lund, Cooney, DeVault, Ayase in 1:46.23) the Wolverines were second.

Ayase placed second in the 400 (54.14) and third in the 200 (25.32). Caelen DeVault took third in the high hurdles (17.16) and Warner third in the discus (124 feet, 8 inches). Paul Berg jumped 17 feet, 10 inches in long jump to finish third. The 4x400-meter relay (Ayase, Russell, Doug Berg and Caelen DeVault in 4:12.97) also palced third.

NV’s 4x200-meter relay (Boston DeVault, Russell, Wilson and Christensen) was fourth (1:48.27).

Lund, Cooney, Russell and Caelen DeVault were fifth in the 4x100-meter relay in 49.97 seconds. Tyler Cooper was sixth with a time of 6:01.20 in the 1,600.