ALBIA — What an afternoon and evening for a track meet. The Albia Blue Demons and Lady Dees hosted the annual South Central Conference showdown under warm, sunny skies and a very light breeze. After fighting raging winds and cold temperatures most of the spring, the athletes were primed for top notch competition.
The girl’s competition provided a thrilling battle to the finish between the Mustangs of Davis County and the Rockets of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont with the Mustangs claiming the conference crown with a 162.5-157 victory. The Lady Dees edged the Panthers of Knoxville 94-93 for third place. The Comets of Cardinal came in fifth with 75 and they were followed by Chariton with 53.5, Clarke with 49 and Centerville with 46.
The Mustangs rode their team depth which allowed them to score in all 19 events and they scored twice in nine individual events. Adding to the mix was the Davis County relay strength that produced top three finishes in all seven relays.
The big event for the Mustangs would be the 100 meter dash where Caden VanLaningham and Clara Smith went one-two. Major points were added with three-four finishes by Kallee Nebel and Karston Nebel in the 1500 meter run and by Noelle Hill and Paislie Yoder in the high jump.
The Davis County sprint power was on display as the Mustangs won the 4x100, 4x200 and sprint medley relays. The 4x100 unit of Kallie Greiner, Sydney Utt, Caden VanLaningham and Smith and the 4x200 combo of Greiner Halle Husted, Utt and Smith both led the pack while the sprint medley team of Utt, Smith Caden VanLaningham and Isabelle Carnahan moved into first place when the winning EBF team was disqualified by an out of zone infraction.
“I’m really pleased with our team tonight,” Davis County coach Derek Robison said. "It was a real battle between our kids and EBF. Both teams performed so well. Our depth was huge. We scored in every event and doubled in several. Big points by our relays gave us the boost we needed. Our high jumpers both had PR’s and gave us a lift. We also had a nice production from our field event people.”
After the early disappointment in the sprint medley, the Rockets kept their focus and came back with vengeance. Using their strength in the hurdles and middle distances, the Rockets went to work on the comeback trail and nearly pulled it off.
Molly Shafer was the drive shaft for the Rockets as she soared over the bar at 5-06 to win the high jump. She also won the 200 meter dash (26.29), won the 100 meter hurdles (15.80) and anchored the 4x400 team of Abby Jager, Lizzy Van Utrecht and Kate Shafer to a win in 4:06.20. Twin sister, Kate Shafer, got into the act as well by winning the 400 meter dash (59.52) and the 400 meter hurdles (1:10.41). The Rockets got a surprise win from the quartet of Lacey Taylor, Hollie Roberts, Kaylee Helm and Chloe Lyon.
The Knoxville girls were led by Melanie Sullivan, Sullivan won the long jump with an outstanding leap of 17-00. Sullivan also picked up third places in the 100 and 200 dashes and a great time of 1:00.97 in taking fourth in the 400 meter dash. Knoxville also took third in the sprint medley relay with the team of Tali Smith, Cully Landis, Anna Buttell and Hannah Dunkin.
The Panthers showed some muscle in the throwing events as Ashlyn Finarty won the shot put and Ciara Heffron won the discus. Finarty was second in the discus and Heffron was fourth in the shot put.
A powerful pack of Panthers from Knoxville overwhelmed the rest of the boy’s teams with 181 points to run away with the title. EBF and Davis County deadlocked for second place with 117 points each and Cardinal was fourth with 96. Fifth place went to Chariton with 88 points and they were followed by Albia with 57, Clarke with 53 and Centerville with 27.
The dominating Panther attack scored in all 19 events and doubled in 10 of them. They won seven events and went one-two in the long jump to pile up a huge margin of victory.
Tristin DeJong was the top gun for the Panthers as he won three events and was second by an eye lash in a 100 meter dash that both runners were given the same time, but the picture must have shown that the other guy had the longer nose. DeJong’s victories came in the 200 meter dash (22.79), the 400 meter dash (50.87) and the long jump (19-11.5).
Other individual wins for the Panthers included Kaden Curry in the 800 meters (2:02.94), Koby Higginbotham in the 110 high hurdles (15.49) and Cole Carter in the 400 hurdles (55.40). The only Panther relay win came in the 4x100 relay when the team of Carter, Konner Leslie, Luka DeJong and Austin Washington buzzed the one lap in a time of 46.05.
Isaac Rankin brought in a pair of seconds in the distance runs of 1600 and 3200 meters and the shuttle hurdle team of Carter, Cael Irving, Kaiden Smith and Grant Garrison finished second.
“We had lots of big events tonight,” Knoxville coach Eric Kellar said. “I’m just so proud of this team. They work so hard in practice every day and it is beginning to show. We had a bunch of PR’s tonight and the kids are performing with a lot of confidence. We have a lot of good athletes and they are excited.”
The Rockets of EBF had a pair of winning relays. The shuttle hurdle combination of Clayton Sandifer, Conner Arnold, Thomas McCrea and Russell McCrea found gold as did the 4x200 quartet of Donterio Campbell, Kody Arnold, Conner Arnold and Vinny Webster.
EBF received a second and a third in the high hurdles from Russell McCrea and Thomas McCrea and the 4x100 relay team of Blake Hughes, Campbell, Kody Arnold and Webster took the silver.
EBF Girl’s Results
200 Meter Dash – 1. Molly Shafer 26.29, 8. Lizzy Van Utrecht 28.11
400 Meter Dash – 1. Kate Shafer 59.52, 5. L. Van Utrecht 1:01. 57
800 Meter Run – 3. Caroline Van Utrecht 2:30.38, 5. Abby Jager 2:39.70
1500 Meter Run – 6. Claire Hayward 6:00.21, 7. Kaitlyn Glenn 6:07.38
100 Meter Hurdles – 1. M. Shafer 15.80, 3. Lacey Taylor 17.71
400 Meter Hurdles – 1. K. Shafer 1:10.41, 3. Taylor 1:15.49
4x100 Meter Relay – 5. Names and Times are missing
4x200 Meter Relay – 3. Hailey Boyer, Glenn, Kaylee Helm, Kadi Cody 1:55.71
4x400 Meter Relay – 1. Jager, L. Van Utrecht, K. Shafer, M. Shafer 4:06.20
4x800 Meter Relay – 4. Glenn, Lilyann Morrison, Nevaya Vandello, Ava Eastlick 12:26.83
Distance Medley Relay – 2. Cody, Whitney Klyn, C. Van Utrecht, Jager 4:40.01
Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 1. Taylor, Hollie Roberts, Helm, Chloe Lyon 1:18.29
High Jump – 1. M. Shafer 5-06, 2. Aliya Wagamon 5-02
Long Jump – 4. Jager 14-05, 5. Roberts 14-01
Shot Put – 6. Elyse Grove 32-06, 8. Cooper Champoux
Discus – 3. Ella Ray 98-03, 8. Khelee Meyer 81-01
Knoxville Girl’s Results
100 Meter Dash – 3. Melanie Sullivan 13.36, 5. Halle Baker 13,53
200 Meter Dash – 3. Sullivan 26.81, 6. Baker 28.02
400 Meter Dash – 4. Sullivan 1:00.97
800 Meter Run – 7. Hannah Dunkin 2:49.96
3000 Meter Run – 8 Nicole Schmitz 14:28.07
4x100 Meter Relay – 8 Names and Times are not given
4x200 Meter Relay – 6. Cully Landis, Lily Wahl, Elaina Hamilton, Tali Smith 2:03.59
4x400 Meter Relay – 4. Dunkin, Anna Buttell, Baker, Smith 4:37.48
4x800 Meter Relay – 6. Celia Marcean, Ella Rankin, Hamilton, Andie Branson 14:16.32
Sprint Medley Relay – 3. Smith, Landis, Buttell, Dunkin 2:06;47
Distance Medley Relay – 4. Smith, Buttell, Dunkin, Norah Pearson 5:02.01
Long Jump – 1. Sullivan 17-00
Shot Put – 1. Ashlyn Finarty 37-08, 4. Ciara Heffron 33-05
Discus – 1. Heffron 122-07, Finarty 112-04
Knoxville Boy’s Results
100 Meter Dash – 2. Tristin DeJong 11.34
200 Meter Dash – 1. DeJong 22.79, 8. Austin Washington 24.43
400 Meter Dash – 1. DeJong 50.87, 3. Washington 53.55
800 Meter run – 1. Kaden Curry 2:02.94, 3. Kaden McGill 2:03.53
1600 Meter Run 2. Isaac Rankin 4:56.18, 6. Jay Kellar 5:06.77
3200 Meter Run 2. Rankin 10:31.44, 5. Sinclair Reid 11:06.93
110 Meter High Hurdles – 1. Koby Higginbotham 15.49, 5. Kaiden Smith 17.20
400 Meter Hurdles – 1, Cole Carter 55.40, 4. Higginbotham 58.03
4x100 Meter Relay – 1. Carter, Konner Leslie, Luka DeJong, Washington 46.05
4x200 Meter Relay – 6. Hayden Willoughby, Leslie, L. DeJong, Conner Willoughby 1:40.94
4x400 Meter Relay – 4. Cael Irving, C. Willoughby, Curry, McGill 3:37.66
4x800 Meter Relay – 3. Curry, Kellar C. Willoughby, McGill 9:23.59
Sprint Medley Relay – 4. Carter, Leslie, L. DeJong, Washington 1:39.87
Distance Medley Relay – 4. Leslie, Jayce Hoch, Grant Garrison, Irving 3:54.07
Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 2. Carter, Irving, Smith, garrison 1:08.59
High Jump – 3. Higginbotham 6-02, 4. Smith 6-00
Long Jump – 1. T. DeJong 19-11.5, 2. Higginbotham 19-03
Shot Put – 7. Dakota Ramsey 42-03
Discus – 6. Ruger Kendall 117-09, 7. L. DeJong 117-08
EBF Boy’s Results
100 Meter Dash – 3. Brooks Moore 1.67, 7. Vinny Webster 12.00 200 Meter Dash – 6. Moore 23.96, 7. Webster 24.10
400 Meter Dash – Carsen Wade 54.14
800 Meter Run – 7. Jake Mellin 2:13.17
1600 Meter Run – 3. Sam Seddon 4:57.37
3200 Meter Run – 4. Seddon 10:55.52, 6. Gavin Spaur 11:13.01
110 Meter High Hurdles – 2. Russell McCrea 15.74, 3. Thomas McCrea 16.53
400 Meter Hurdles – 6. Wade 1:00.4, 7. R. McCrea 1:01.98
4x100 Meter Relay – 2. Blake Hughes, Donterio Campbell, Kody Arnold, Webster 46.09
4x200 Meter Relay – 1. Campbell, K. Arnold, Conner Arnold, Webster 1:36.65
4x400 Meter Relay – 5. R. McCrea, Mellin, Wade, Moore 3:40.32
4x800 Meter Relay – 4. Grant LaRue, Nathan Calhoun, Noah Walker, Jackson Tuller 9:36.27
Sprint Medley Relay – 5. Daulton Burkhart, K. Arnold, Wade, Mellin 1:43.40
Distance Medley Relay – 6. Hughes, Burkhart, LaRue, Mellin 4:07.63
Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 1. Clayton Sandifer, C. Arnold, T. McCrea, R. McCrea 1:05.11
High Jump – 5. Moore 6-00
Long Jump – 3. K. Arnold 18-04, 5. Hughes 17-08
Shot Put – 8. Nathan Roberts 41-05
Discus – 5. Roberts 118-05, 8. Jackson Taylor 111-04
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