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WINTERSET — A Creston boys track team slowed by injury and illness nonetheless garnered some record-setting highlights in the season-opening Husky Invitational Friday.
The Panthers finished sixth among 15 teams with 42 points, setting two meet records in the process. With the Hawkeye 10 Southern Division meet cancelled earlier in the week because of weather, coach Pat Schlapia used the Winterset meet as a means to get all of his varsity and JV kids in some action.
“We didn’t overload too many people in multiple events, and tried to spread things out,” Schlapia said. “We had eight boys seeing their first high school track experience. We scored in seven events, and three events just finished out of the scoring in seventh place.”
Two of the seven scoring events were meet-record victories, one by a returning state placewinner, and another in his first attempt at the event.
Record jump
Senior Luke Neitzel, making his varsity track long jump debut, jumped 20 feet, 10 1/2 inches on his second jump. Reed Ostrander of Greene County was second at 20-6.75.
Bothered by a strained Achilies tendon, Neitzel skipped his third jump and then ran in only the 4x200 relay, which placed fifth in 1:38.59. Neitzel was held out of the open 200 meters and 4x100 relay with the injury.
“That was an excellent jump for the first meet of the season,” Schlapia said. “It probably puts him in the ballpark for the Drake Relays. He’d worked with coach (Mark) Evans on his steps, but this was his first competition. We’ve really had limited time outside in the pits. He opened some eyes.”
The other record was by sophomore Jay Wolfe, a returning state placewinner who set the early pace in the 800 meters with a 59-second lap, and held on with a 62-second second lap to win in 2:02.11.
“Jay really opened up on the third 200 and pulled away,” Schlapia said. “Jay really made a statement with his entire evening.”
Besides the record 800 race, Wolfe came back with 10 minutes rest to run a 51.68 anchor for the third-place 4x400 relay. The crew that also included Bryce Briley, Briar Evans and Maxx Walters exceeded the best time from the 2012 season already.
Wolfe also ran a 2:03 anchor for the third-place 4x800 relay including Briley, Travis Miller and Brandon Phipps.
“This was a good start from a relay that qualified for the state meet last season, and their time will only get better with better health,” Schlapia said.
Phipps, a state placewinning distance runner, was withheld from the 3,200 and 1,600 with a calf muscle injury, and ran a 2:12 split in the relay. Miller, coming off an extended illness, ran 2:21. Briley joined Wolfe in running sub-2:10.
Schlapia said his team at full strength could have done a better job of challenging for second behind a dominant Pella team (150 points), but he wanted a chance at better health for this week’s action at Glenwood Tuesday and Clarinda on Friday.
The Panthers started the night by scoring in three of the four field events. Besides Neitzel’s win in the long jump, Evans was fourth in the high jump and Trevor Luther took fourth in the discus at 117-9.
Walters, Alex Tamerius and Jake Johnston joined Neitzel on the fifth-place 4x200 relay.
“The Winterset meet was a good start,” Schlapia said, “but the Glenwood and Clarinda meets will be a major step up in intensity.”
Raiders third
Mount Ayr was third with 66 points, winning the 4x100 and a first place by Braydee Poore in the high jump in a duel with Nodaway Valley’s Alex Welsch. Poore was also second in the 110 high hurdles. The Raiders were second in the 4x800, third in the 1,600 medley and with Noah Larsen in the 1,600 meters. Jacob Sobotka was fourth in the 200 meters.
Husky Invitational
Team standings — 1. Pella 150; 2. Norwalk 72; 3. Mount Ayr 66; 4. Earlham 51; 5. Greene County 47; 6. Creston 42; 7. ADM (Adel) 34; 8. Osceola Clarke 29; 9. Martensdale-St. Marys 22; 10. Nodaway Valley 17; 11. Winterset 10; 12. Central Decatur 8; 13. Chariton 2; 14. Orient-Macksburg 0.
(Top 12 area & Creston)
Discus — 1. Nathan Clayberg, Pella, 121-10; 2. Garret Jansen, Pella, 121-0; 3. Ben Konfrst, Pella, 120-02; 4. Trevor Luther, Creston, 117-09; 5. Joe Ricker, Mt. Ayr, 112-00; 10. Tim Hansen, NV, 108-05; 24. Evan Nielsen, Creston, 85-08; 29. Seth Maitlen, Creston, 73-10.
Shot put — 1. Jesse Bennett, ADM, 47-04; 2. Trey Mateer, Norwalk, 45-08; 3. Dalton Gilbert, CD, 43-08; 10. Joe Ricker, Mt. Ayr, 38-11; 11. Jed McCreary, Mt. Ayr, 38-00.5; 22. Theo Hartman, Creston, 35-00; 26. Trevor Luther, Creston, 33-09.5; 32. Nathan Haley, Creston, 33-01.5.
High jump — 1. Braydee Poore, Mt. Ayr, 6-2; 2. Alex Welsch, NV, 6-2; 3. Gordon Witt, Clarke, 5-10; 4. Briar Evans, Creston, 5-10.
Long jump — 1. Luke Neitzel, Creston, 20-10.5; 2. Reed Ostrander, Greene Co., 20-6.75; 3. Gordon Witt, Clarke, 19-07.5; 5. Zach Brewer, NV, 19-07; 14. Seth Maitlen, Creston, 18-00.
3,200 meters — 1. Keegan Fitzsimmons, Pella, 10:25.03; 2. Matthew Klein, Pella, 10:29.37; 3. Salem Hildebrandt, Norwalk, 10:55.58; 7. Colton Graham, NV, 11:11.96; 9. Brant Hudson, Creston, 12:01.76; 11. Kruz Adamson, Creston, 12:03.95.
4 x 800 relay — 1. Pella (Adam Carey, Ryan Sievers, Michael Etnyre, Aaron Houtz), 8:35.54; 2. Mount Ayr (Noah Larsen, Heath Evans, Erik Freed, Kyle Dolecheck), 8:43.49; 3. Creston (Bryce Briley, Travis Miller, Brandon Phipps, Jay Wolfe), 8:45.20; 10. Nodaway Valley (Tanner Armstrong, Heath Downing, Ryan Jensen, Evan Mahoney), 9:38.13; 13. Orient-Macksburg (Joey Huntington, Austin Nichols, Wyatt Hensley, Jesse Johnson), 10:00.87.
Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Earlham (Travis Potzner, Derek Hensley, Spencer Faust, Zack Rice), 1:02.22; 2. Norwalk, 1:02.74; 3. Pella, 1:02.75; 4. Mount Ayr (Braydee Poore, Grant Staats, Shane Swank, Zane Sickels), 1:04.10; 7. Creston (Briar Evans, Maxx Walters, Jake Johnston, J.D. Routh), 1:06.55; 11. Nodaway Valley (Zach Brewer, Zach Eblen, Ben Singer, Alex Welsch), 1:14.37.
100 meters — 1. Max Kasap, Earlham, 11.79; 2. Jordan Grove, ADM, 11.80; 3. Roman Phillips, Greene Co., 11.96; 5. Cody Stackhouse, Mt. Ayr, 12.10; 12. Zach Brewer, NV, 12.49; 23. Alex Tamerius, Creston, 13.02; 30. Elijah Johnson, Creston, 17.39.
400 meters — 1. Lukas Steenhoek, Pella, 51.66; 2. Adam Purdy, Winterset, 51.66; 3. Nick Benson, Greene Co., 53.61; 12. Bryce Briley, Creston, 56.57; 28. Dalton Kromminga, Creston, 1:11.07.
4 x 200 relay — 1. Pella (Nathan Henry, Landon Van Dyke, Brandon Konfrst, Ryan Shull), 1:34.62; 2. Norwalk, 1:36.53; 3. Greene Co., 1:37.99; 4. Mount Ayr (Shane Swank, Lincoln Martin, Grant Staats, Zach Lemon), 1:38.16; 5. Creston (Maxx Walters, Alex Tamerius, Jake Johnston, Luke Neitzel), 1:38.59.
1,600 meters — 1. Evan Jones, Pella, 4:48.82; 2. Trent Verwers, Martensdale-St. Marys, 4:51.94; 3. Noah Larsen, Mt. Ayr, 4:51.98; 5. T.J. Bower, NV, 5:05.85; 10. Colton Graham, NV, 5:16.69; 17. Kruz Adamson, Creston, 5:35.58; 21. Zack Peppmeier, Creston, 5:43.07.
110 high hurdles — 1. Logan Weers, Clarke, 15.82; 2. Braydee Poore, Mt. Ayr, 15.98; 3. Zack Rice, Earlham, 16.26; 6. Alex Welsch, NV, 16.71.
200 meters — 1. Ryan Shull, Pella, 23.64; 2. Lukas Steenhoek, Pella, 23.72; 3. Jordan Grove, ADM, 23.81; 4. Jacob Sobotka, Mt. Ayr, 24.02; 8. Baley Shantz, NV, 24.87; 26. Chris Foster, Creston, 28.03; 28. Evan Nielsen, Creston, 29.05.
400 low hurdles — 1. Jordan Pingel, Pella, 57.39; 2. Trevor McKee, CAM, 57.89; 3. Brandon Pevestorf, Norwalk, 58.48; 7. Briar Evans, Creston, 59.54; 12. Shane Swank, Mt. Ayr, 1:03.31.
1,600 medley relay — 1. Norwalk (Kolby Greenslade, Lucas Greenslade, Josh Lippert, Tanner Riccelli), 3:41.51; 2. Earlham, 3:57.08; 3. Mount Ayr (Zane Sickels, Zach Lemon, Kyle Dolecheck, Heath Evans), 3:58.02; 9. Creston (Seth Maitlen, Nick Walsh, Travis Miller, Brant Hudson), 4:17.51.
800 meters — 1. Jay Wolfe, Creston, 2:02.11; 2. Trent Verwers, M-SM, 2:04.38; 3. Keegan Fitzsimmons, Pella, 2:08.97; 4. T.J. Bower, NV, 2:09.09; 12. Trevor Anderson, Mt. Ayr, 2:21.78; 13. Ryan Jensen, NV, 2:22.18; 22. Zack Peppmeier, Creston, 2:36.92.
4 x 100 relay — 1. Mount Ayr (Grant Staats, Jacob Sobotka, Erik Freed, Cody Stackhouse), 45.14; 7. Creston (J.D. Routh, Alex Tamerius, Jake Johnston, Seth Maitlen), 48.08; 11. Nodaway Valley (Nathan Andrews, Baley Shantz, Zach Brewer, Zach Eblen), 51.33.
4 x 400 relay — 1. Pella (Jordan Pingel, Lukas Steenhoek, Ryan Shull, Wade Pingel), 3:34.64; 2. Greene Co., 3:35.43; 3. Creston (Bryce Briley, Briar Evans, Maxx Walters, Jay Wolfe), 3:36.36; 5. Mount Ayr (Jack Jones, Lincoln Martin, Erik Freed, Jacob Sobotka), 3:39.96; 9. Nodaway Valley (Ryan Jensen, Alex Welsch, Evan Mahoney, T.J. Bower), 3:52.00; 14. Orient-Macksburg (Joey Huntington, Tyrell Stucker, Wyatt Hensley, Jesse Johnson), 4:18.77.