Winfield-Mt. Union hosted their co-ed Pankoke Relays on Thursday with four teams from the KCII listening area in action as part of the field of eight.
In boys action, the Wolves had the top area team finish, placing fourth with 87 points. New London won the meet with 132 points. The Wolves crowned two champions on the night with Gabe Hemsworth winning the 400 hurdles in 57.15 seconds and Cam Buffington the long jump with a leap of 20’3”. Other top finishes for the Wolves included seconds for Buffington in the 100, Kohlby Newsom in the mile, the 4×4 team of Abram Edwards, Hemsworth, Caleb Giese and Buffington, the 4×800 team of Noah Sparrow, Lane Scorpil, Newsom and Hemsworth and the distance medley team of Eli Miller, Edwards, Scorpil and Newsom. Finishing third for WMU were Jeff Maish in the two mile and the 4×100 team of Cole Milks, Giese, Buffington and Brendon Simmons.
The Lone Tree boys were fifth with a score of 63 points. Top finishes for the Lions included second place and third place respectively for Ethan Willoz and Cade Patterson in the 110 hurdles, second for Ethan Bockelman in the 400 and second for the shuttle hurdle team of Willoz, Jader Barajas, Andrew Gauley and Patterson. The Lion 4×400 team of Cade Shield, Tyce Alt, Gauley and Bockelman were third and the sprint med of Andrew Hotz, Harry Brenneman, Bockelman and Shield came in third.
The Highland boys took sixth on the night with 45 points. The Huskies had a slew of second place finishes including Connor Grinstead in the 200, Devin Lovetinsky in the shot put, Logan Bonebrake in the high jump and the 4×200 team of Tyler Thompson, Logan and Brenton Bonebrake and Grinstead.
The WACO boys were seventh with 40 points. The Warriors saw Zach Schmitz win the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.29 seconds. Other top finishes for the Warriors included third for Oleh Shtefonchuk in the discus, third for the shuttle hurdle team of Schmitz, Isaac Oswald, Tanner Egli and Clayton Miller and third for the distance medley of Alja Eremeic, Ty Egli, Junior Quiroz and Keriran Luitjens.
In the girls portion, top area finish came from Lone Tree in third with 75 points. Danville won the girls meet with 138 points. The Lady Lions had a pair of championship events with Rylee Shield winning the 400 in 1:03.50 and the Lone Tree sprint medley team of Arlie Lorack, Kasey Chown, Vivian Zaruba and Shield winning gold in 2:00.22. Other top Lone Tree finishes included Chown runner-up in the high jump, second for the 4×100 team of Lorack, Chown, Avery Morarie and Shield, third for Morarie in the long jump and third for the distance medley team of Cate Sexton, Vivian Zaruba, Lexi Norris and Avery Lisk.
Highland was fourth with 66 points. The Huskies took four gold medals back to Riverside including Mackenzie McFarland in the 100 in 13.50 seconds, Sarah Burton in the long jump at 16’9.75”, and the 4×100 and 4×200 teams of Grace Prybil, Burton, Katelyn Waters and McFarland in 52.61 and 1:52.31 respectively. Other top finishes for the Huskies included second for Jessica Kraus in the discus and runner-up for the 4×800 team of Avery Pierson, Emma Soukup, Hailey Netser and Kylie Allen.
Winfield-Mt. Union was fifth at their home meet with 63 points. The Lady Wolves had two championship events with the 100 hurdles going to Keetyn Townsley in 16.97 seconds and Jobey Malone taking the shot put with a throw of 38’11. This week, WMU girls track coach Amanda Hemsworth talked about her championship events and performing in front of the home crowd. “Thursday was awesome because the weather was beautiful. The stands were just full of people. The support was fantastic. Our big one was Jobey (Malone) she actually qualified for the Drake Relays. I’m really pumped that she got it her senior year, it’s a great way for her to complete her career. Keetyn (Townsley) was able to get into the 16s now with her 100 hurdles which is exciting for her.”
Other top events for the Lady Wolves included second for the 4×200 team of Annabelle Loveless, Tessa Huston, Pacey Schlee and Aurey Meeker, and third each for Loveless in the 100, Morgan Grelk in the 400 hurdles, the 4×400 team of Meeker, Mariana Hagmeier, Townsley and Huston and the sprint medley team of Loveless, Hagmeier, Meeker and Huston.
WACO was sixth in the team standings with 59 points. Top finishes for the Warriors included second for Zoey Dennler in the 400 hurdles, Jocelyn Fulton in the shot put and the shuttle hurdle team of Maggie and Ally Rinner, Katie Leichty and Dennler. Third place finishes included Dennler in the 100 hurdles, the 4×100 and 200 team of Halle Shelman, Fulton, Amy Moran, Makenzie Vradenberg, and the 4×800 team of Hannah Dennis, Ella Huisenga, Alyssa Ferdig and Elyssa Graber.