The WACO Warrior boys put together one of their best performances of the track & field season at just the right time, as WACO took home the team title in Class B while hosting other area teams at the Warrior Relays Tuesday in Wayland. Six individual and team winners paced the Warriors’ 182 points, putting them 57 points ahead of second place.
Once again leading the way for WACO was Simeon Reichenbach. The senior won the 100-meter dash in 11.58 seconds; took the title in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.61 seconds; and was runner-up in the long jump. Sophomore Gage Samo was the Class B champion in the 400 hurdles with a time of one minute two seconds, while senior Drew Diers won the shot put with a top toss of 40 feet five-and-three-quarter inches and classmate Odee Shtefanchuk hit 147 feet even to claim the discus throw.
Reichenbach and fellow seniors Isaac Oswald, Mason Miller and Braden Spain combined to win the four-by-100-meter relay for the Warriors in just under 46 seconds. Oswald and Miller were joined by sophomores Louden Huisenga and Clayton Miller in a winning effort in the shuttle hurdles relay, posting a time of 1:06.
Runners-up for WACO included senior Mattias Luitjens in the 3,200 meters; junior Chase Waterhouse in the discus; Mason Miller in the 110 hurdles and the high jump; and Clayton Miller in the 200 and 400 meters. Third-place finishers for the Warriors were Oswald in the 100, Huisenga in the 400 hurdles and Deacon Bird in the 3,200.
Samo was fourth in the 400, as was Huisenga in the high jump and Clayton Miller in the long jump. WACO finished fourth in the 4-by-400 and third in the 4-by-200, 4-by-800 and the sprint medley.
Winfield-Mount Union was the Class B runner-up in team scoring thanks in part to a big day from Gabriel Hemsworth. The junior won the 400 meters in 52.41 seconds and ran a leg with junior Ty Scorpil and sophomores Kohlby Newson and Sheaden Adams on a 4-by-400 relay that won in 3:40. Newsom and Scorpil joined junior Abram Edwards and sophomore Lane Genkinger to win the distance medley in 3:49. Senior Jeff Maish won the 3,200 for the Wolves in 12-and-a-half minutes, while junior Cam Buffington had the top long jump of 20’ 8 ¼”.
Newsom and Scorpil were runners-up in the 800 and the 400 hurdles, respectively. Senior Caleb Giese and juniors Cole Milks and Eli Miller took second with Buffington in the 4-by-100 and Edwards in the 4-by-200. Sophomore Jacob Nelson and freshmen Alex Venzor, Bowen Thomson and Jaiden Beeding were also second in the 4-by-800, while the Wolves’ sprint medley team finished fourth.
Bronze medalists for WMU were Edwards in the high jump and Milks in the long jump. Fourth-place finishes for Winfield-Mount Union included Venzor in the 800 and seniors Caiden Ball and Kai Malone in the 200 and the discus, respectively.
Lone Tree did their best work in the relays, including freshman Emmett Burke, junior Ethan Bockelman and seniors Tyce Ault and Drew Gauley winning the 4-by-200 in 1:39. Burke, Bockelman and Gauley joined junior Harry Brenneman for a runner-up finish in the sprint medley, while Gauley, Ault and Brenneman ran with senior Ethan Willoz in a second-place finish in the shuttle hurdles.
The Lions were also fourth in the 4-by-100, 4-by-200 and the distance medley. Gauley’s victory in the 200 in just a hair over 24 seconds was the Lions’ best individual effort, while Bockelman took third in the same race and Burke was fourth in the 100.
Sigourney’s best finish was in the relays, as freshmen Landon Crow, Wyatt Wehr, Braydon Wood and Troy Klett won the 4-by-800 in 9:25. The same quartet took third in the 4-by-400 and the distance medley. Sophomore Caden Clarahan had the best individual finish for the Savages by claiming second place in the shot put. Clarahan was also third in the hurdles, as was sophomore Jayden Thompson in the shot. Klett and freshman Owen Menke were fourth in the 1,600 and the 110 hurdles, respectively.