Lenox sophomore wins high jump

DES MOINES — Sophomore Cadence Douglas became Lenox’s first champion in 30 years, and Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley came away with multiple medals at the State Coed Track and Field Meet last weekend at Drake Stadium.

Douglas won the Class 1A girls high jump based on her efficiency earlier in the competition, as she was one of four competitors who cleared 5-2, but failed on all three attempts at 5-4.

Douglas had no misses through the first four heights, including her first attempt at 5-2. None of the other five jumpers who were still active in the championship quest at the time were able to clear 5-2 until after their first try. That ended up being the winning tiebreaker criteria, which left a surprised Douglas elated upon realizing her win had been confirmed by judges.

A contingent of Lenox fans seated directly south of the high jump area above the first turn were heard loudly cheering throughout the stadium when she raised her hands in celebration after the final announcement.

“I was seeded third coming in,” Douglas said. “My main goal was to get the school record. I really wanted 5-4. But when we all missed at 5-4, I was kind of shaking because I knew I was leading from making it (5-2) first. Throughout the whole thing I could hear the crowd yelling for me.”

Lindsay Brown is the Lenox record-holder with a jump of 5-4.

“I want to improve on running up to the bar next year,” Douglas said.

The last track and field champion for Lenox before Douglas was Stacy Helm in the shot put in 1991.

Area relays shine

The Nodaway Valley girls had a successful weekend, earning a second-place finish in the 4x200 meter relay on Friday before taking fourth place in the sprint medley on Saturday. Maddax DeVault anchored both relays and also finished with a fifth-place individual medal in the 100 meter hurdles in 16.09.

“I think it went OK,” DeVault said after the 100 hurdles race. “I didn’t run my PR, but I gave it my all. I’m really excited for next year and grateful to be here.”

Adalyn Reynolds of Mount Ayr earned four state medals. She ran third in the 200 meters in a school record 26.52, fifth in the 100 meters in 13.13, third place in the 400 meters on Thursday and ran the anchor leg on the sixth-place sprint medley relay early Saturday afternoon.

“My goal was to just get here,” Ady Reynolds said. “To get four medals is amazing. It’s more than I could have hoped for.”

For the Mount Ayr boys, freshman Ryce Reynolds took fifth place in the 800 meters in 1:58.74 and ran a 49.52 anchor leg on the fifth-place 4x400 relay for the Raiders. On Thursday he picked up two third-place medals in the 400 meters and 4x800 relay.

“I’m excited to see what I can do in the future”, Ryce Reynolds said. “I need to continue to run the 800s and train in the 800s. The 800 has improved by 400 so much. To come away with four medals is awesome.”

Trae Ehlen and Adler Shay each ran on Mount Ayr’s medal-winning medley and 4x400 relays.

Devin Whipple of Lenox threw the discus 149 feet, 8 inches to place eighth in Class 1A Friday. In the process he broke Brenden Christensen’s school record of 142-5 in 2018.

Friday’s Class 1A

• Girls high jump — 1. Cadence Douglas, Lenox, 5-2.

• Boys high jump — 6 (tied). Marshall Knapp, Southwest Valley, 6-1; 13. (tied) Samson Adams, Lenox, 5-11; 15. (tied) Tyson Ross, Orient-Macksburg, 5-9.

• Boys discus — 8. Devin Whipple, Lenox, 149-8.

• Girls distance medley relay — 19. Lenox (Cassidy Nelson, Brooklyn Ecklin, TJ Stoaks, McKinna Hogan), 4:32.58.

* Boys 110 hurdles (prelims) 12. Johnathan Weaver, Lenox, 16.12.

• Girls 100 meter hurdles (prelims). — 5. Maddax DeVault, Nodaway Valley, 16.31, finals qualifier); 20. Cassidy Nelson, Lenox, 17.55.

• Boys 4x200 relay — 24. East Union (Emmet Long, Kanyon Huntington, Scott Driskill, Caleb Comstock), 1:35.92.

* Girls 4x200 relay — 2. Nodaway Valley (Abby Engals, Madison Fry, Annika Nelson, Maddax DeVault), 1:46.66; 24. Mount Ayr (Madison Shields, Anne Newton, MaKenna Jones, Kaylie Shields), 1:54.78.

• Girls 400 meter hurdles — 20. TJ Stoaks, Lenox, 1:13.18.

• Boys distance medley relay — 7. Mount Ayr (Seth Shellman, Payton Weehler, Adler Shay, Trae Ehlen), 3:44.13; 21. Lenox (Johnathan Weaver, Isaac Grundman, Brad Larson, Samson Adams), 3:53.32.

• Girls 4x100 relay (prelims) — 23. East Union (Kaitlyn Mitchell, Grace Nixon, Mallory Rainey, Noelle McKnight), 53.75.

• Boys 4x100 relay (prelims) — 18. East Union (Emmet Long, Kanyon Huntington, Scott Driskill, Caleb Comstock), 45.44; 23. Lenox, (Johnathan Weaver, Isaac Grundman, Keigan Kitzman, Brad Larson), 46.21.

• Boys 4x400 relay (prelims) — 6. Mount Ayr (Erik Trujillo, Trae Ehlen, Adler Shay, Ryce Reynolds), 3:30.62 (finals qualifier).

Saturday’s Class 1A

• Girls sprint medley relay — 4. Nodaway Valley (Jena Yonker, Annika Nelson, Emma Lundy, Maddax DeVault), 1:52.77.

• 800 meter girls — 21. McKinna Hogan, Lenox, 2:31.34.

* Boys 800 meters — 5. Ryce Reynolds, Mount Ayr, 1:58.74; 15. Adler Shay, Mount Ayr, 2:04.37.

• Girls 100 meters — 5. Adalyn Reynolds, Mount Ayr, 13.13.

• Girls 100 meter hurdles — 5. Maddax DeVault, Nodaway Valley, 16.09.

• Girls 200 meters — 3. Adalyn Reynolds,Mount Ayr, 26.52.

• Boys 1,600 meters — 17. Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley, 4:52.46; 18. Toby Bower, Nodaway Valley, 4:52.48;22. Bryce Shaha, Mount Ayr, 4:54.45.

• Girls 1,500 meters — 21. McKinna Hogan, Lenox, 5:28.83.

• Boys 4x400 relay — 5. Mount Ayr (Erik Trujillo, Trae Ehlen, Adler Shay, Ryce Reynolds), 3:30.30.