Both the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks and Washington Demons had a number of excellent individual performances yesterday at the annual Mount Pleasant Co-Ed track & field meet.
That includes the Mid-Prairie girls coming away with five different victories. Senior Danielle Hostetler came away with another win in the 1,500-meter run, clocking in a time of just under four minutes 51 seconds. Golden Hawk freshman Brooklyn Stutzman was also a distance-race winner by posting the top time of 11 minutes five seconds in the 3,000 meters.
Senior Emma Lueck leaped 17 feet even to win the long jump for the Hawks, which also had two winning relay teams. The sprint medley team of Lueck, sophomore Jovi Evans, junior Dakota Mitchell and senior Paige Safly needed only 1:55 to cross the finish line, while Hostetler, Mitchell, Lueck and junior Lanee Duwa brought home the crown in the distance medley in 4:33.
Mid-Prairie took second place in the shuttle hurdles relay, as well as the 4-by-400 and 4-by-800 meters. Evans was runner-up in the 200-meter dash, as was senior Behla Schmidt in the 100-meter hurdles and senior Abby Fleming in the 1,500.
Phoebe Shetler had a third-place finish for the Golden Hawks in the 3,000, as did senior Greta Sieren in the 800. Junior Dessa Poll was fourth in both the 400 hurdles and the discus toss, as was Evans in the 100; Safly in the high jump and sophomore Hannah Rodgers in the 400.
In addition to a bronze medal from their 4-by-100 team, the Hawks also got fifth-place finishes from Mitchell in the 200 and freshman Myli Hershberger in the high jump.
The Washington girls were led by two victories from sophomore Leighton Messinger, who won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.98 seconds and claimed the high jump by clearing four feet 10 inches. Iris Dahl won the 800 meters for the Demons in 2:25 and was also runner-up in the 3,000.
Sophomore Ryen Pepper won the 400 hurdles in just under 1:12 while also finishing fifth in the 100 hurdles. Pepper and Messinger would join sophomore Nelly Ponce-Cruz and junior Kendall Hinrichsen to win the shuttle hurdles relay for Washington in 1:12, while Dahl ran with sophomore Taylor Miksch and seniors Taylor Bartholomew and Abigail Kleese to claim the 4-by-400 in 4:29.
Sophomore Addison Miller placed second in the 400 for the Demons, which were also third in the 4-by-800 and fourth in both the 4-by-100 and the distance medley. Kleese ended up fifth in the 800, as did junior Lauren Horak in the 1,500 and freshman Jaedyn Moore in the 100.
The Washington boys were paced by another win for Micah Rees, whose time of 9:16 in the 3,200 meters not only earned him victory but also qualified him for the annual Drake Relays.
The senior was also third in the 800, while the team of sophomore Kael Williams and juniors Conner Leyden, Tyler Alderton and Seth Shepherd won the distance medley for the Demons by clocking in at 3:49.
Freshman Greyson Hartman would finish second in the shot put, as would Washington’s sprint medley team. The Demons’ 4-by-200 team was fourth.
Junior Jayden Stafford continued his dominance for the Mid-Prairie boys, winning the 101, 201 and 401-meter wheelchair runs. Washington’s Josh Anderson was the runner-up in all three races but did win the wheelchair shot put toss.
Emmett Swarzentruber was also a winner for the Golden Hawk boys by taking the 1,600 meters in 4:36. The junior would also finish third in the 3,200, as did classmate Burke Berry in the shot put.
Junior Jayse Yoder took second in the 800 for the Hawks, while sophomore Kaden Kos was fourth in the discus toss and junior Preston Yutzy was fifth in the 3,200.