Griswold claims runner-up at home meet

 GRISWOLD — After winning the last two relay races Thursday evening, the Griswold boys’ track team finished second at their home meet, the Griswold Tiger Coed.

Griswold finished with a score of 88 points in the five-team field as Missouri Valley won with 110. Southwest Valley finished third with 72 points and Stanton took fifth with 36.

The Tigers put together highlight wins in both the 4x100 and 4x400.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the 4x400 as the team of Wyatt Robinette, Alex Dollen, Andy Hartman and Jordan Vetter knocked off Missouri Valley to run a time of 3:47.45. Missouri Valley was second with 3:52.11.

Meanwhile in the 4x100, it was the team of Hartman, Aaron Metheny, Hadley Ogg and Derek Kirchhoff winning by less than a second over Missouri Valley with a time of 46.36.

“I knew Sage [Lloyd] was behind me and he won the open 100,” Kirchhoff said of the Missouri Valley anchor. “We got the baton in the lead around that second corner and I knew I had to keep the lead and not let anybody pass me.”

Kirchhoff took the baton from Ogg as he powered his way to the finish line, beating out Lloyd, who beat him by five-hundredths of a second during the 100-meter dash earlier in the evening.

“We definitely needed it. We’ve been struggling with our 4x100,” Kirchhoff said. “Getting a first in it definitely helps a lot.”

The hard work has been paying off for Griswold at the right time as the postseason approaches.

“If you have fluent hand-offs, that just flow perfectly, it can take two seconds off your fastest sprinters,” Kirchhoff said.

Griswold also scored a win in the 4x200 when the team of Metheny, Ogg, Corey Greubal and Alex Dollen ran 1:39.18, beating out Southwest Valley’s Garrett Seals, Chance Cobb, Tyler Bissell and Scott Vanderhoof (1:41.53) and Stanton’s Chris Jones, Brady Johnson, David Sorensen and Easton Blunt (1:42.43).

Griswold had one individual win as Metheny took the title in the long jump. Metheny jumped 19’3.25”, beating out teammate Jadon Jahnke (18’11.75”).

In addition to Kirchhoff’s second in the 100, several Griswold athletes had second place finishes elsewhere, including in the 200-meter dash when Hartman was two sec onds behind (24.74) Lloyd of Missouri Valley (22.81).

Vetter was second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.31, less than a second behind Wesley Dillinger of Missouri Valley.

Southwest Valley

While the Timberwolves took third at the meet, they didn’t leave Griswold empty-handed thanks to two wins in individual events.

The highlight win came in the 110-meter high hurdles as Tony Klocke scored another win on the season as he ran a time of 15.76.

“It was definitely some of the faster runners I’ve gone up against this year,” Klocke said. “I gave it my all and came out on top.”

The top three runners of the race were all separated by less than a half second. Missouri Valley’s Justin Miller finished second with 16.05, while Klocke’s teammate Colten Drake took third with 16.10.

“He’s been pushing me all year,” Klocke said about Drake. “He’s been the biggest motivation I’ve had this year.”

Klocke has been one of the top hurdlers in the area this season. The junior currently has the second fastest time in the 2A state qualifying district (15.46 at Red Oak) and also the 13th fastest in Class 2A.

The other win for Southwest Valley came courtesy of Drake, who won the shot put with a throw of 43’10.5”.  Drake edged out both Stanton’s Alex Becthold (43’1”) and Missouri Valley’s Reid Kirlin (42’2”) to get the win.

Scott Vanderhoof came close to a win, but finished second in the high jump with 6’.

Stanton

It was another big day for Becthold as he was responsible for nearly half of Stanton’s points at Griswold.

Becthold had the highlight for Stanton with a win in the discus. The junior had a throw of 168’ to easily get the win. 

Not only is it Becthold’s best throw of the season, but it also sets a new school record, originally held by Ben Pruss, who threw 160’ in 2004. The 168’ mark is the best in the Mount Ayr state-qualifying district, fourth best in Class 1A and 10th best in all four classes.

Stanton had other close finishes, including in the 100-meter dash when Jones took third with a time of 11.81. Jones also finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.79.

Connor Hultman took fourth in the 400-meter hurdles as he held off Griswold’s Dollen to run a time of 1:02.34.

Girls’ meet

Griswold finished second in the girls’ meet at the Tiger Coed Thursday. Griswold had a score of 131 points, which placed them second behind Shenandoah, who had 187. Stanton was sixth with 32 points.

Griswold had three wins during the meet, including the 1,500 when Rebekah Topham took the title with a time of 4:48.78. Her younger sister and teammate Joanna Topham took fifth with 5:54.90.

Alyx Flippin scored a win in the 800-meter race as she held off Nodaway Valley’s Destiny Scar by nearly four seconds to win with a time of 2:27.98.

The third win came courtesy of Jackie Rush, who knocked off Shenandoah’s Serena Parker to win the discus with a throw of 115’9”.

Griswold had a couple runner-up finishes, including in the 3,000 when Joanna Topham finished second with 13:26.33.

Mykenzie Rainey was second in the shot put with a throw of 33’3”. Rush was third in the same event with 33’1.5”.

The best relay finish for Griswold came in the 4x800 when the team of Leah Lappe, Anna Young, Alyssa Wyman and Payton Rush took second with a time of 10:40.07.

The Viqueens were held winless, but had point finishes in several races. In the 100-meter dash, Abbi Adams (14.05) and Devin Druivenga (14.21) were third and fourth, respectively. Brandy Morrison took fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:12.45. Nicole Graham finished fifth in the 3,000 with a time of 14:32.31.

Stanton had two fourth places and one fifth in the relay races. In the 4x200, the team of Adams, Chelsea Weis, Druivenga and Logan Wagg took fourth with a time of 1:59.67.

The 4x100 team of Wagg, Adams, Lauren Stephens and Druivenga also took fourth with 56.68.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Wagg, Madison Franzen, Stephens and Weis had the fifth place finish as they ran a time of 1:14.43.