Panthers challenge Harlan in home meet

Creston boys track is back.

The Panthers made a huge statement by contending for the team title in their own Panther Relays meet Friday night.

Harlan, which finished 46 points ahead of Creston at the earlier Clarinda meet, took first place Friday with 134 points. Creston was a close second with 121 points to easily outdistance Earlham, which edged Atlantic for third, 66-65.

"If you were an athlete, coach or fan in the stands, if you didn't feel the competitive juices flowing, I don't know what will!" said a pleased Pat Schlapia, Creston head coach. "It was great to be in a situation where we were keeping tack of points, with one-two events left, to see where we were sitting at, place-wise."

Although rain fell much of the day Friday, the skies cleared in time to hold the event. Schlapia said it was fortunate the meet wasn't held 24 hours later, when a tornado swept through the school grounds and caused extensive damage at the athletic complex.

It was Creston's best team finish in the Panther Relays since Schlapia returned to Creston as a coach 22 years ago, and nearly the first event title won by Creston since the 2003 squad that featured the likes of Nathan Brotherton, Dan Coenen and Gabe Stofferahn.

"Harlan found out they had a battle on their hands," noted Schlapia, whose team led Friday's meet with 49 points after the first nine events.

At the first meet of the season in Winterset, Creston tied Earlham for fifth place. On Friday, the Panthers outscored Earlham by 55 points.

"We are very proud of the efforts of each and every one of the boys," Schlapia said. "We've talked about moving up in each meet, putting down another brick. We've proven that so far."

Creston had 23 placewinners, with 13 finishes in the top three. In six individual events, the Panthers had multiple scorers. In addition, there were eight placers in either fourth, fifth or sixth.

"Those are all very important points," Schlapia said.

Brandon Phipps had a distance double for two of the Panthers' five gold medals. He started the night by running his best time in the 3,200 meters by seven seconds — 9:51.86.

For a time during the race, Phipps thought he was behind his pace of 9:58 at Clarinda. Then, he realized he was flirting with a Drake qualifying time.

"I heard coach yell "9:40!" and I thought I had a shot," Phipps said. "I know I can still get it down. I probably need 9:48 or so to get into Drake."

The Panthers are scheduled to participate at Ballard of Huxley on Tuesday, two days before the Drake qualifying deadline.

"He didn't let the windy conditions bother him," Schlapia said. "He also ran a solid 1,600. He was very focused in both races."

Phipps won the 1,600 in 4:45.41 for a 15-second margin over runner-up Shenandoah's Sean Skillern. He concluded the night with a 55.52 anchor on the JV's 4 x 400 relay team.

Big kick

In the 1,600, Panther senior Luke Powell demonstrated some of the superb competitive fire shown throughout the night by surging past Harlan's Philip Sciranko for third place — 5:04.22 to 5:04.66.

"That same kid had beaten him out for second in the 3,200 (by one second), so Luke got some payback," Schlapia said.

Seniors honored with their parents besides Powell were Collin Bevins, Ben Landers, Juwan Parrish and Alan Smith.

Smith, who ran third in the open 400 in 53.58, anchored the 4 x 400 in 52.94 to pull the Panthers into second place behind Jefferson-Scranton for the Dick Skarda 4 x 400 relay plaque with a season-best 3:37.90. JSPC ran 3:36.81. Runners preceding Smith were Briar Evans, Maxx Walters and Baker.

Bevins stars

Bevins also had a special night in his final home appearance. He won the gold in the 200 meters in 23.38, just in front of teammate Adam Baker in 23.56. Bevins also had a career-best shot put of 49-11, barely short of Drake qualifying, and led off the third-place shuttle hurdle relay team.

Besides taking second in the 200, Baker won the 100 meters in 11.42. Juwan Parrish gave Creston sixth-place points in 11.80.

Freshman Jay Wolfe took the 800 meter gold in a season-best 2:06.85, and had a blistering 2:02 split for the third-place 4x800 relay. Bryce Briley and Travis Miller cut their split times down to 2:12 and 2:17, respectively. Jake Gutschenritter joined them in compiling a season-best time of 9:03.96.

Wolfe also took fifth in the 400 in 54.75. Landers filled in for the ill J.D. Routh on the shuttle hurdle relay that ran third in 1:03.06.

All in all, it was a rewarding night. Like later in the weekend when volunteers covered the school grounds in a massive clean-up effort, Schlapia expressed gratitude for the many volunteers administrating the meet.

"It was a grand night for Creston track," Schlapia said. "Now it's going to be an exciting rest of the season."

Panther Relays

Team standings — 1. Harlan 134; 2. Creston 121; 3. Earlham 66; 4. Atlantic 65; 5. Shenandoah 55; 6. JSPC (Jefferson) 52; 7. Clarinda 36; 8. Denison-Schleswig 15; 9. Red Oak 13.

Discus — 1. Tyler Hovey, Atl, 170-2; Trevor Luther, Cr, 109-6; Nathan Robinson, Cr, 107-3.

Shot put — 1. Tyler Hovey, Atl, 50-5; 2. Collin Bevins, Cr, 49-11; Theo Hartman, Cr, 36-8.

High jump — 1. Tony Dawson, Har, 6-0; 6. Briar Evans, Cr, 5-8.

Long jump — 1. Austin Hess, Har, 20-4; 5. Ben Landers, Cr, 19-0.

3,200 meters — 1. Brandon Phipps, Cr, 9:51.86; 3. Luke Powell, Cr, 10:48.19.

4 x 800 relay — 1. Jefferson-Scranton, 8:37.3; 3. Creston (Bryce Briley, Travis Miller, Jake Gutschenritter, Jay Wolfe), 9:03.96.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Earlham, 1:01.01; 3. Creston (Collin Bevins, Maxx Walters, Ben Landers, Briar Evans), 1:03.06.

100 meters — 1. Adam Baker, Cr, 11.42; 6. Juwan Parrish, Cr, 11.8

400 meters — 1. Matt Evers, Har, 52.51; 3. Alan Smith, Cr, 53.58; 5. Jay Wolfe, Cr, 54.75.

4 x 200 relay — 1. Earlham, 1:34.83; 6. Creston (Ben Landers, Maxx Walters, Alex Tamerius, Luke Neitzel), 1:39.79.

1,600 meters — 1. Brandon Phipps, Cr, 4:45.41; 3. Luke Powell, Cr, 5:04.22.

110 high hurdles — 1. Austin Hess, Har, 14.77; Briar Evans, Cr, 16.22.

200 meters — 1. Collin Bevins, Cr, 23.38; 2. Adam Baker, Cr, 23.56.

400 low hurdles — 1. Brandon Sweet, Clar, 58.26; Alex Tamerius, Cr, 1:06.8.

1,600 medley relay — 1. Atlantic, 3:52.4; 4. Creston (Juwan Parrish, Luke Neitzel, Travis Miller, Bryce Briley), 4:02.57.

800 meters — 1. Jay Wolfe, Cr, 2:06.85; 5. Luke Powell, Cr, 2:16.23.

4 x 100 relay — 1. Shenandoah, 45.51; 4. Creston (Neitzel, Landers, Tamerius, Baker), 46.51.

4 x 400 relay — 1. Jefferson-Scranton, 3:36.81; 2. Creston (Evans, Walters, Baker, Smith), 3:37.90.

Creston JV

Shot put — Alec Shields, Nathan Robinson (distances unavailable.)

Discus — Cory Rathe, 102-7; Evan Nielsen, 86-3.

100 meters — Dalton Kromminga, 13.58; Elijah Johnson, 17.93.

400 meters — Albert Weis, 1:06.9.

4 x 200 relay — Creston (Kromminga, Nielsen, Rathe, Luther), 1:53.0.

200 meters — Kromminga, 29.0; Johnson, 41.16.

800 meters — Gutschenritter, 2:34.3; Weis, 2:46.0.

4 x 100 — Creston (Hartman, Robinson, Rathe, Luther), 52.1.

4 x 400 — Creston (Weis, Briley, Miller, Phipps), 4:02.90.