Third time’s a charm

DES MOINES — In his third and final appearance at the state meet, East Union’s Morgan Cooley reached the top of the podium.

Cooley had placed second in the Class 1A shot put as a sophomore, and last year took ninth place while dealing with a back injury. On Thursday, Cooley dominated the 1A field with a winning throw of 60-6.75, just off his personal best of 61-0.

Runner-up Cal Heydon of Coon Rapids-Bayard thew 54-07.50, leaving Cooley with nearly a 6-foot margin over second place.

“His attention to detail is what makes him great,” East Union coach Alex Kalbach said. “Not only in the shot put ring, but the weight room technique, just his focus on everything related to throwing.”

Cooley made some adjustments as he improved during Thursday’s competition.

“It wasn’t coming off my hand right at first,” Cooley said. “I wasn’t being patient enough coming off the back. I got a better grip, I was more patient and I was able to get a couple of good throws.”

At 6-0 and 255 pounds, Cooley has a strong lower base but was not one of the largest competitors in the shot put competition. But, he’s headed to the Northwest Missouri State University track and field team as a state champion now.

“You can be big and strong, but it doesn’t mean much if you can’t put it together,” Cooley said. He also placed 18th in the discus at 143-10.

Paul McNeill of East Union placed 10th in the 400 meter hurdles in 55.75. The East Union girls 4x200 relay team of Tristin Lear, Maria Long, Rebecca Young and Marissa Cass placed 11th in a time of 1:48.59.

Lenox

Dawson Evans of Lenox completed his high school track and field career by placing fifth in the 110 meter hurdles in 14.78. He had qualified second in a personal best time of 14.71, but clipped the second hurdle in the finals.

“I hit one of the early hurdles, but I had to keep pushing it,” Evans said. “I ran a good race in the prelims ... felt smooth going over the hurdles.”

Evans also ran on the seventh-place shuttle hurdle relay team that included Kolben Robinson, Wylie Brokaw and Caden Kaufman. Their time was 1:01.45. Bedford was third in 1:00.17 as Taylor County grabbed two of the eight medals. Evans anchored the 4x200 relay that included Robinson, Jack Reed and Laramie Stoaks.

Kaufman also placed fourth in the 400 meter hurdles in 54.41. He was disqualified in the 400 meters final. McKinzie Menefee competed in the 100 and 200 meters preliminaries but did not advance to the finals.

Southwest Valley

The Southwest Valley duo of senior Gavin Wetzel and junior Walker Bissell tied for seventh in the high jump after both cleared 5-11. Both also ran on the shuttle hurdle relay that was 17th in 1:03.93, joined by Wyatt Shires and Wyatt Mendenhall. Brody Crozier of the Timberwolves was 10th in the long jump at 19-11.75. He also ran 23.28 in the 200 meters prelims and was DQ’d in the 100 meters prelims.

Caleb Owen of Southwest Valley was 19th in the shot put in 44-06.25. Mendenhall also ran in both hurdles events in the prelims, and Mailee Templeton was in the girls 100 meter hurdles.

Nodaway Valley

Nodaway Valley senior Izzy Eisbach placed 10th in the Class 2A girls 1,500 meters in 4:54.87.

The Wolverines were 18th in the boys distance medley relay in 3:41.23. Runners were Cassius Burnside, Logan Lantz, Titan Foster and Gabe Winklemann. Running in 22nd place was the girls distance medley team of Kylie Nelson, Emma Boswell, Abby Nelson and Eisbach in 4:24.39. The 4x800 team of Abby Nelson, Allie Cornelison, Eisbach and Kylie Nelson was 24th in a season-best time of 10:22.88.

Boswell did not clear opening height in the 2A high jump, but ends her career as the school-record holder at 5-00. She was 18th in the long jump at 15-03.50.