Tigers tie for third at Shen meet

 SHENANDOAH —The puzzle is starting to fit together for Red Oak girls’ track and field coach Curt Adams.

However, he knows he’ll need to make adjustments if he wants to send his girls to the state track meet in Des Moines.

“We’ve got a plan developing for what we want to do at conference and districts,” Adams said. “Some of those teams, we might tweak a little bit.”

Red Oak wrapped up its week Thursday when they finished tied for third with Mount Ayr at the Fillies Relays at Shenandoah High School.

The Tigers recorded a team score of 69 and only Shenandoah (181) and Sidney (75) finished ahead of them. Red Oak performed well despite several athletes dealing with illnesses.

“We’ve got that bug going around,” Adams said. “I just hope we don’t get anymore people sick.”

The Tigers had three wins (two individuals and one relay) at Shenandoah. Kate Walker had both individual wins and was the anchor in the relay win.

Walker cruised her way to victory in both the 800 and 1,500. In the 800, Walker ran a time of 2:30.25, nearly 13 seconds better than Mount Ayr’s Blair Glendenning.

In the 1,500, it was Walker winning by 23 seconds over Sidney’s Mackenzie Hulsing as she ran a time of 5:22.74.

“Kate wants to run faster, but that’s her best time so far in the 1,500,” Adams said.

Walker was the anchor in the distance medley as she rallied them back from fourth place to help the team win with a time of 4:41.12. Also in the race were Michaela Buntrock, Sydney Streicher and Paige Shirley.

Red Oak came close to wins in two races, including the 400-meter dash.

The 400 featured a race to the finish line between Red Oak freshman Juhi Boeye and Shenandoah senior Serena Parker. 

Boeye took a brief lead within the final 100 meters, but Parker took it back late. Boeye finished with a time of 1:03.39, less than a second behind Parker. Nikki Graber also competed in the 400 for Red Oak as she finished fourth with a time of 1:07.06.

“She ran three 400s,” Adams said about Boeye. “That was a little shock to her.”

Boeye also served as the anchor for the sprint medley as Hannah Vial, Sierra Athen and Nikki Graber were second with a time of 2:01.98.

Boeye’s third 400 came in the 4x400 as she, Graber, Shirley and Walker finished third with a time of 4:36.32.

Boeye, as well as Streicher, Athen, Shirley and Vial are all freshmen who have had to step up big on varsity for the team this season.

“They’re giving us our sprinters and middle distance strengths,” Adams said.

Athen, Vial and Streicher all joined Buntrock in the 4x100 as they finished fourth with a time of 54.70, a second behind the winner of the race, Shenandoah.

Red Oak had two additional individual place winners, including Ashley Brower, who took fourth in the 3,000 with a time of 13:42.63. Emma Ross also scored points when she took sixth in the discus with a throw of 88’3”.

The other points finish for Red Oak came in the 4x200 when the team of Buntrock, Hailey Fada, Georgia Havener and Ashley Crouse took sixth with a time of 2:07.22.

Essex

After a couple of close finishes, Essex freshman Daiton Martin finally scored her first career win. Martin won the 100-meter dash at Thursday’s Shenandoah meet when she ran a time of 13.16. 

“It’s pretty good,” Martin said. “I came in there really nervous about it.”

The top five runners in Martin’s heat were all within a half second of each other. Shenandoah’s Brooke Silence was the runner-up with a time of 13.32.

The only other individual finish for Martin came in the 200-meter dash as she beat out Red Oak’s Streicher to finish fourth with a time of 28.48. Streicher had a time of 29.12.

Martin was also a key for Essex in the 4x200 as they got the win with a time of 1:56.11. 

“[Coach Skillern] is really good about our relays, so she knows where to put us,” Martin said. “She always puts me first because she thinks I’m fast out of the blocks. We have a really strong team to finish with.”

Martin has primarily served as the opening leg for several relay races, including the 4x100 and 4x200. She realizes her importance in getting the team off to a good start.

“I think it’s pretty important because we can be pretty confident and we can win,” Martin said.

Martin was joined in the 4x200 by Bethany Johnson, Amber Ohnmacht and Kym Graham.

The same team finished third in the 4x100, edging out Red Oak at the finish line and running a time of 54.60.

The  distance medley team of Johnson, Ohnmacht, Graham and Jescenia Mosley finished fourth with 4:56.73, while the 4x800 team of Devan Gray, Kelsi Leininger, Peyton Brammer and Abbie Lindburg took third with 11:41.93.

Essex finished fifth with a score of 56.

Stanton

The Viqueens meanwhile finished ninth at the meet with a score of 17.

Stanton’s best finish came in the shuttle hurdles when the team of Logan Wagg, Ally Focht, Chelsea Weis and Lauren Stephens took third with a time of 1:14.42, less than two seconds behind Mount Ayr, the winner of the race.

Weis added to Stanton’s point total when she took fourth in the long jump with 14’9.25”.

Stanton also had points courtesy of Abbi Adams, who was sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.01. Nicole Graham scored a point for Stanton with a sixth place finish in the 3,000 as she ran a time of 14:13.12.

Focht was sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:18.46.

The other relay finish for Stanton came in the 4x200 when the team of Devin Druivenga, Weis, Stephens and Wagg took fourth with a time of 2:02.07.