Panther boys take gold in front of home crowd

As the Panthers celebrated senior night Monday at their home track and field meet, the boys were able to bring home a first-place finish.

The boys had five first-place events including a new school record. The girls had two winning events. Atlantic and Clarke took first and second, respectively, for the girls while the Panthers placed fifth.

Boys

The throwers brought major points for the Panthers, three athletes scoring 10 of the team’s 50 points.

Freshman Tom Mikkelsen earned gold in shot put with his throw of 50-04.5. Senior Quinten Fuller took third with 43-00.5.

In the discus, Mikkelsen placed second, throwing 133-04 while Brayden Schoon came in third with 132-10.

The first running event of the evening was the sprint medley relay. Seniors Austin Evans and Brandon Briley were joined by Seth Gordon and Davin Wallace to post a school record time of 1:40.56. The team won by nearly seven seconds over Southwest Valley.

Shortly after, the 4x800m relay team found themselves in a back-and-forth battle with Mount Ayr.

Tegan Hill led off for the Raiders while the Panthers had Colby Brammer in the lead position. Hill had the advantage as they came around to the second runners.

Brock Shaha opened a good lead for Mount Ayr, but Creston’s Josh Bunz kept his pace steady and was able to pass Shaha in the second lap.

Again it was Mount Ayr reclaiming the lead with a strong start in the third leg. Creston’s Wyatt Goodenberger was trailing Zeke Lundquist for more than a lap before catching him on the backstretch.

Senior Anthony Eblen got out hot for the Panthers in the final leg, but was unable to keep the momentum going. Aidan Murphy passed Eblen and the Raiders brought home the gold in the relay.

The Panthers continued to excel in relays, placing first or second in each one.

The 4x100m and 4x200m relays of Gordon, Xander Drake, Schoon and Casen Dryden took first. Creston’s shuttle hurdle team of senior Milo Staver, Weston Trapp, Tyson Looney and Durrell Haynes placed second behind Southwest Valley.

The 4x400m relay closed the evening with a second-place finish behind Mount Ayr, a relay that placed sixth at state a year ago.

Creston earned 17 points in individual running events, led by Briley who took first in the 400m dash, posting a new best time of :52.46.

Evans and Trapp finished second and third in the 200m dash, running :24.6 and :24.72, respectively.

In the 800m dash, Bunz ran a 2:23.96 to place second.

Cross country runners Goodenberger and Eblen ran the 1600, taking second and third, respectively.

Staver took third in the 400m hurdles, posting a time of 1:04.59.

The Panthers ran Tuesday evening in Chariton and return to action Thursday at Clarke.

Girls

While the Panther girls only have one athlete competing in a field event, they take advantage of their runners to gain points for the team.

Avery Staver, a transfer from East Union, earned 16 of the team’s 61 points in a combination of individual and relay events.

Staver placed first in the 400m dash, running a new best time of 1:02.63. She beat Claire Pellett of Atlantic by a tenth of a second.

In the 200m dash, Staver took silver behind Emma Cooper of Southwest Valley. Staver ran a :27.84.

As the third runner of the girls 4x800m relay, Staver was a big part of opening up the lead in her 2:31 split.

Mount Ayr had the lead after Ella Turner ran the first leg for Creston. Hope Henderson came back with a split of 2:37 to pass the Raiderettes’ Tatum Friedrich. Staver opened it up in the third leg and Payton Davis finished the job in the anchor leg.

The girls were recognized along with the Mount Ayr boys as the 4x800 honors Steve McDermott, the school’s previous superintendent who was a big fan of track and field, his favorite race being the 4x800.

In the 4x400m relay, the Panthers took second behind Atlantic. The relay, consisting of Avery, Maylee Riley, Grace Travis and Davis, finished in 4:27.45.

Davis went on to place third in the 800m dash, running a 2:47.02.

Riley, Braylee Pokorny, Travis and Karter Clayton took third in the sprint medley relay.

The Panthers return to action Thursday at Glenwood.

Area winners

Mount Ayr star Ryce Reynolds punched his ticket to Drake in a third event already this season, running a :53.41 in the 400m hurdles. Not only does the time meet the Blue Standard time of :54.5, but it’s also the fastest time recorded in the state this season.

Reynolds was also on the winning Mount Ayr 4x400m team with Jackson Ruggles, Preston Fleharty and Dyson Thompson.

Thompson took home two other gold medals, one in the 100m and the other in the long jump.

KC Stitzman of Southwest Valley ran a :24.37 to win the 200m dash.

Cooper Carson placed first in the 800m run, earning more points for the Timberwolves.

Southwest Valley also brought home a win in the distance medley relay, the team of Devin Greenwalt, Beau Johnston, Walker Bissell and Santiago Quintans Pineiro winning over Clarke by less than a second.

Bissell also took first in high jump with a 6-0 mark.

Bissell, Evan Fast, Riley Hartman and Gavin Wetzel won the boys shuttle hurdle relay, topping the next team by five seconds.

DeVante Caldwell of Clarke won the boys 1600m run in 5:24.15 while Micah Domina placed first in the 3200m for the Indians. He ran an 11:39.17.

Clarke’s Cole White dominated the discus competition, throwing 20ft further than the next competitor to take gold.

On the girls side, Emma Cooper brought home three golds for Southwest Valley. She won the 100m (:13.06), the 200m (:27.2) and the long jump (16-07).

Mackenzie Richards won the girls shot put for the Timberwolves with a mark of 34-03.75.

Aubree Shields of Mount Ayr won the high jump with a best of 5-0.

Clarke’s Claire Jacobsen won the 1500m and 3200m runs, finishing in 6:02 and 13:11, respectively.

Victoria Henry earned gold in the 100m hurdles for the Indians with her time of :16.45.

Henry was a part of the winning Clarke 4x100m relay with teammates Alissa Henry, Maisy McCoy and Kya Thornton. They ran a :52.38.