Creston boys claim fourth-place finish at Panther Relays

CRESTON — With the first gold medals earned by their team this season, the Creston Panthers wound up with a fourth place finish on the varsity and junior varsity sides of the Panther Relays held at Panther Stadium Friday night.

On the varsity side, the Panthers scored 96 points, ahead of Clarinda and behind Earlham’s 173, Shenandoah’s 105 and Red Oak’s 101. On the JV side, it was Shenandoah taking the team title with 111 points. Creston scored 51.

“With not having a track season last year, we’ve taken nothing for granted this track season. The team did a very good job. Everyone on the team was kept pretty busy with multiple events and this was a valuable experience,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said. “This is our sixth meet of the season and we’re seeing growth and improvement each time out. We saw a lot of boys get out of their comfort zone. That’s what it’s going to take.”

The Panthers had early fourth place finishes come on the track from the sprint medley (Ethan Freeman, Cael Kralik, Jayden Pettegrew and Tony Davidson) with a time of 1:45.81 and Riley Wipperman in the 3,200-meter run (11:53.82).

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Creston girls basketball coach Tony Neubauer volunteers his time to measure at the discus ring during the Panther Relays. (Caleb Nelson)

Creston’s first gold of the night came from Chris Wilson in the discus (120 feet, 4 inches), but on the track, their second gold of the evening came in the newly-named Steve McDermott 4x800-meter relay. It is named for the late Creston superintendent who passed away after a battle with cancer because of his love and family tie to that race.

Austin Evans started the race off, putting the Panthers at a good position and pace. Dylan Calvin took the baton and worked on gaining ground against an Earlham runner. Ty Morrison finished the job on closing the gap on the Earlham quartet, and when Brandon Briley took the baton, he ran a 2:10 split on the anchor leg to win by 3.5 seconds.

“They ran an amazing race and they’re amazing teammates to have,” said Briley when asked about the three runners before him on the 4x800. “The Steve McDermott thing, it means a lot to our coach. I personally knew his son, so it means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to our team.”

Keagan Smith was third in the discus (110 feet, 11 inches) while Creston scored twice in the 100-meter dash, getting a silver from Kralik (11.82 seconds) and a sixth place finish from Davidson (12.47 seconds).

Creston’s distance medley (Chris Wells, Gavin Millslagle, Freeman and Wipperman (4:24.57) was fourth (4:24.57) and Jayden Pettegrew was fifth in the 400-meter dash (56.70).

The 4x200-meter (Wells, Calvin, Freeman and Kralik) were runner-up in 1:42.68 and Briley finished second in the 800 in 2:10.41 while Evans placed sixth in 2:23.07.

Calvin was fifth in 25.20 seconds in the 200-meter dash and the team picked up another fifth-place score from the 400-meter hurdles, where Pettegrew finished in 1:07.15.

Morrison took fourth in the 1,600-meter run (5:21.19) and the Panther 4x100-meter team (Chris Chen, Freeman, Millslagle and Garret Burkhalter) was fifth (51.05 seconds).

In the 4x400-meter relay, named for former coach Dick Skarda, the Panthers couldn’t quite outlast Red Oak and placed second, crossing the finish line in 3:51.06.

“We were within six seconds of Red Oak on the 4x400. All four of our boys worked their tails off staying within shot of Red Oak,” Schlapia said. “This was a season best for this quartet. This was the best splits for all four of those boys.”

Creston appreciated and recognized four seniors and their families: Smith, Kralik, Freeman and Hunter Walter.

“We appreciate everything these four bring to us and the team,” Schlapia said.

The boys travel Tuesday to a large 14-team boys meet at Lewis Central.

“It was a great Panther Relays. It was awesome to have a home meet,” Schlapia said. “We appreciate all the volunteers and all the people who came out to cheer the Panthers on. It was great to finally compete in front of the home crowd.”