Creston continues improvements at DeWitt Invitational

OSCEOLA – Creston took on the DeWitt Invitational Thursday night in Osceola for its second meet of the week.

Creston went home the outright winners of five events in a split division meet, winning two in the field. Creston competed in Division A.

Kelsey Fields continued her early season dominance in the throws, winning the shot put with a throw of 38-07.75. She won the discus as well at a distance of 118-08.50. Both throws were the high of the meet overall, besting Division B as well.

Also competing in the field for Creston was Lexi Gutknecht and Taylor Seaton. Gutknect’s throw in the discus landed at 51-4.5, a personal record. Seaton’s throw in the discus was 57.9 while her shot throw was 23-11.6.

The progress shown by the Gutknecht and Seaton, who are often overlooked due to Kelsey Fields’ chasing another state-qualifying season, has been noticeable.

“Taylor Seaton is a junior, and she just ran as a freshman. Last year we got three weeks of throwing practice in [before season cancellation],” said Creston girls track and field head coach Clay Arnold. “She’s super strong and she’s quick. ... She’s had a few nice meets in the shot and disc. Lexi is a junior as well who didn’t throw at all as a freshman. ... Both of those girls are smart and can pick things up. The throws is a process. There’s so many mechanics there, and it just takes time and have to be patient with it.”

Elsewhere in the field, the Panthers had an 11-10 mark from Emma Pantini in the long jump. Tristen Rice also competed in the long jump, scratching her first three jumps before landing a 13-5 distance. Neither medaled.

Creston did not participate in the high jump.

Strong on the track

In the opens, the Panthers had one medalist – Molly Sickels in the 800 meters.

Sickels’ time of 2:03.68 clocked her third in the pack. In the 100 meters, Angelina Chuong was seventh (15.01), in the 200 meters Kristi Travis was ninth (33.02) and in the 400 meters Brooklyn McKinney was ninth (1:15.65).

The Panthers had a strong 4x800 race with middle legs from Peyton Rice and Molly Sickels helping close the gap on the leader Davis County.

Paige Davis grabbed the baton for the anchor portion of the race after Sickels gained the lead and never looked back, opening a 15 second gap on Davis County’s Tatum Turner for a 11:01.0 first-place time.

Arnold had plenty good things to say about Davis, who has opened the season strong. A personal record split as the anchor of the first-place 4x800 team and a 5:44 in the 1,500 (the fastest in both divisions) displayed her talent among a reputable crowd. In the 1,500, she clocked a time of 5:37.20.

“We saw some good things. Paige Davis was excellent again,” said Arnold. “... She ran a season best, a PR split in that 4x800 anchor at 2:37.20. Ran just off of that in the distance medley, ... she ran a huge season best. In that 1,500, that was the best race she’s ever ran and the best last 300 meters she’s every had. She took it to a whole another level tonight.”

Along with Davis’ success in the 4x800, Peyton Rice and Brooklyn McKinney posted improved times on season bests.

“Peyton Rice, in that 4x800, she was four seconds (improved) on a season best. Brooklyn McKinney, the freshman, she ran a nice opening, took four seconds off her (personal record),” Arnold said.

Rice continued her day with an excellent 400 meter race, edging Davis County’s Chloe Fetcho with a first-place time of 1:07.63. The 2019 state qualifier in the 400 meters again showcased her excellence in the event.

“Peyton ran a great 400. She qualified as a sophomore in the open 400, so she should be out doing that. She ran a season best,” Arnold said.

In the relays, Creston finished sixth in the 4x100 (1:28.41), third in the 4x200 (2:03.68) and fourth in the 4x400 (4:50.48).

In the sprint medley the Panthers took fifth, clocking a time of 2:09.65 for fifth. Despite battling in the top-5 for team points the whole night, and winning some events, Arnold thinks there were several errors that the Panthers can clean up on going forward.

“We had quite a few errors tonight. Just young kid errors, lack of experience errors,” said Arnold. “... Growing pains, for sure. ... It’s always a challenge with a young crew to turn around from Tuesday to Thursday. From a mental perspective, you’re ready over the weekend and to recover Wednesday and be on top of your game Thursday. That’s something you’ve got to learn. We’re going to be doing a lot of that in the next few weeks, so we’ve got to work on just being mentally ready on Thursday just like we do on Tuesday.”

Arnold knows the early woes aren’t uncommon, pointing towards the link between between the mental and physical aspects of the sport as keys to success.

“We’ve had it happen before. Especially with younger girls,” said Arnold. “This is very much a mental sport, and you’ve got to be on your game mentally to be on your game physically. It can definitely come, but we’ve just got to learn from it, take care of our bodies and make sure we recover well.”

Results

100 meter dash – 1. Josey Dunbar, Clarke, 13.68; 2. Hallee Hamilton, Central Decatur, 13.94; 3. Jersey Greever, Davis County, 14.14; 4. River Hamaker, Central Decatur, 14.51; 5. Mollie Wheeler, Clarke, 14.65; 7. Angelina Chuong, Creston, 15.01; 14. Bri Hayes, Creston, 18.27.

200 meter dash – 1. Cadan VanLaningham, Davis Country, 27.37; 2. Josey Dunbar, Clarke, 28.00; 3. Melanie Sullivan, Knoxville, 28.72; 4. Mollie Wheeler, Clarke, 30.09; 5. Chloe Fetcho, Davis County, 30.52; 9. Kristi Travis, Creston, 33.02; 10. Emma Pantini, Creston, 33.21.

400 meter dash – 1. Peyton Rice, Creston, 1:07.63; 2. Chloe Fetcho, Davis County, 1:08.31; 3. Charley Barnhart, Davis County, 1:08.43; 4. Aniston Jones, Central Decatur, 1:10.32; 5. Lola Gelner, Interstate-35, 1:10.93; 9. Brooklyn McKinney, Creston, 1:15.65.

800 meter run – 1. Avery Hall, Chariton, 2:28.16; 2. Addiston Stuchel, Davis County, 2:49.21; 3. Molly Sickels, Creston, 2:53.59; 4. Mayzi Hill, Clarke, 2:57.93; 5. Chloe Hamaker, Central Decatur, 2:59.75.

100 meter hurdles – 1. Allison Casteel, Centerville, 17.37; 2. Tory Henry, Clarke, 7:44; 3. Ali Henry, Clarke, 17:80; 4 Stephyn Wilfawn, Davis County, 18.62; 5. River Hamaker, Central Decatur, 19.11: 8. Grace Travis, Creston, 21:16; 10. Sydney Strunk, Creston, 21:53.

400 meters – Inaccurate and incomplete results.

Sprint medley – 1. Chariton, 2:03.92; 2. Central Decatur, 2:06.82; 3. Interstate 35, 2:07.16; 4. Davis County, 2:08.38; 5. Creston, 2:09.65.

1,500 meters – 1. Paige Davis, Creston, 5:37.20; 2. Tatum Turner, Davis County, 5:41; 3. Charley Barnhart, Davis County, 5:44; 4. Abbi Goering, Interstate 35, 5:50.90; 5. Natalie Collins, Knoxville, 5:57.60; 10. Morgan Van Gelder, Creston, 6:33.20.

3,000 meters – 1. Emerson Fehrer, Chariton, 12:14.28; 2. Abbi Goering, Interstate 35, 12:18.82; 3. Makayla Bachman, Davis County, 12:23.35; 4. Sailor Anderson, Chariton, 12:45.94; 5. Karson Nebel, Davis County, 13;14.62.

Distance medley – 1. Chariton, 4:41.81; 2. Davis County, 4:48.80; 3. Creston (T. Rice, Paup, K. Fields, Davis), 4:54.93; 4. Knoxville, 5:07.18; 5. Interstate 35, 5:08.08.

4x100 relay – 1.Centerville, 1:16.78; 2. Central Decatur, 1:19.72; 3. Chariton, 1:22.55; 4. Clarke, 1:23.27; 5. Interstate 35, 1:24.39; 6. Creston (Strunk, G. Travis, K. Travis, Pantini)

4x200 relay – 1. Davis County, 1:55.85; 2. Chariton, 2:03.52; 3. Creston (K. Travis, Strunk, Chuong, Paup), 2:03.68; 4. Interstate 35, 2:05.85; 5. Central Decatur, 2:06.42.

4x400 relay – 1. Davis County, 4:37.44; 2. Chariton, 4:44.94; 3. Knoxville, 4:48.97; 4. Creston, 4:50.48; 5. Interstate 35, 4:59.65.

4x800 relay – 1. Creston (McKinney, P. Rice, Sickels, Davis) , 11:01.90; 2. Davis County, 11:16.60; 3. Central Decatur, 11:32.30; 4. Knoxville, 11:34. 80; 5. Interstate 35, 12:00.40.

Long jump – 1. Josey Dunbar, Clarke, 16-07; 2. Kallie Greiner, Davis County, 16-02.5; 3. Ysabella Berja, Centerville, 15-02.5; 4. Claire Matthews, Centerville, 15-01-75; 5. Sydney Utt, Davis County, 15-00.75; ND. Tristen Rice, Creston, 13-05; ND. Emma Pantini, Creston, 11-10.

High jump – 1. Abigail White, Centerville, 4-10; 2. River Hamaker, Central Decatur, 4-08; 3. Carleigh O’Dell, Central Decatur, 4-06; Crystal Barlage, Clarke, 4-04.

Shot put – 1. Kelsey Fields, Creston, 38-07.75; 2. Ashlyn Finarty, Knoxville, 32-07.50; 3. Kaitlyn Halsband, Clarke, 30-08.50; 4. Tori Good, Chariton, 30-05.75; 5. Kiaya Dunbar, Clarke, 29-05.50; ND. Taylor Seaton, 23-11.6; ND. Lexi Gutknecht, Creston, 18-7.7.