WACO Warrior boys’ track and field won its second meet of the week by claiming the team championship Thursday at the Pankoke Senior Night Relays at Winfield-Mount Union High School. WACO finished with a team score of 125 points that edged out the hosting Wolves by 17.
The road to victory was paved in part by Warrior distance runners. Jude Dykstra was the champion of the 1,600-meter run with a time of four minutes 33 seconds, while fellow junior Garrett Landau won the 3,200 meters in 11:49.
Senior Louden Huisenga added a gold medal in the high jump for WACO, clearing six feet one inch, while the sprint medley relay team of Dykstra, sophomore Hayden Shelman and seniors Gage Samo and Isaac Rich had the top time of 1:38.
Samo was also second in the 200 for the Warriors, as was sophomore Braxton Stauffer in the shot put throw and junior Gavin Slagel in both the 800 and 3,200.
Freshman Anthony Carroll was third in the 100, as was sophomore Sam Meyer in the discus, while WACO won bronze in the distance medley and silver in both the shuttle hurdles and the 4-by-100-meters.
A second-place finish as a team for Winfield-Mount Union at their home meet was highlighted by another victory for senior Kohlby Newsom, this time in the 400 meters by clocking at 51.04 seconds.
Freshman Cruz Hagmeier added a win in the 110-meter hurdles in just under 16 seconds, while senior Cooper Buffington threw the discus over 141-and-a-half feet to win the crown.
The Wolves also got a gold medal from their distance medley team of seniors Jake Edwards and Lane Genkinger and juniors Jaxton Jones and Jaiden Beeding, posting a time just under 4:02. The shuttle hurdles relay would be victorious as well in a little under 1:08 thanks to Jones, Hagmeier, sophomore Tayson Samuels and junior Gavin Prior.
Prior was second in the 110 hurdles for WMU and also finished third in the long jump, as did Edwards in the high jump, junior Sheaden Adams in the 400, senior Jacob Nelson in the 800 and freshman Brayden Cline in the 3,200.
The best finish among area girls’ teams came from the Lone Tree Lions, who were second at 110 points and trailed winning Keokuk by only 18. Junior Ava Christofferson helped Lone Tree to near the top of the standings by leaping 16-and-a-half feet to win the long jump.
Senior Hayden Yoder was also a champion in the discus with a top toss that was one inch shy of 107 feet, while the Lions got a win in the sprint medley thanks to Christofferson, sophomore Addison McCullough and seniors Vivian Zaruba and Rylee Shield clocking in at 1:54.
Freshman Addyson Eiben joined Christofferson, Zaruba and Shield to run a winning time of 4:24 in the 4-by-400 for Lone Tree. Zaruba would be second in the 200, as would Shield in the 400, Yoder in the shot put and senior Alex Dautremont in the discus.
Junior Jazmine Nino finished third in the 800 for the Lions, who were also runner-up in the 4-by-100, 4-by-800 and the distance medley. Junior Domonic Garcia led the Lone Tree boys by winning the 200 in 23.29 seconds and finishing runner-up in the 100, while the Lions were also second in the 4-by-400.
The Highland Huskies got a win from freshman Maiya Singbeil, who cleared four feet 11 inches for a high jump title. Freshman Kamryn Fink was second in the 100 for Highland, as was freshman Grace Bombei in the 800.
Bombei was also third in the 1,500, as was sophomore Chloe Sexton in the shot put and the Huskies’ 4-by-200 and 4-by-400 relays. The best finish for the Highland boys came from their 4-by-200 relay, which ended up fourth.
On their home track, the Winfield-Mount Union girls were paced by Josie Nelson. The senior was champion of the open 100 hurdles in 16.3 seconds and ran a leg on the winning shuttle hurdles relay along with junior Kaelyn Townsley, sophomore Suttyn Schlee and freshman Josslyn Roen for a time of 1:18.
Freshman Kynlee Buffington was second in the long jump for the Wolves and finished third in the 200, as did WMU’s sprint medley relay. The WACO girls were led by a win for freshman Bren Graber in the 400 hurdles, crossing the finish line in 1:13.
The distance medley relay of sophomore Natalie Wagler and freshmen Josie Dykstra, Taelyn Egli and Trinity Dean was victorious for the Warriors with a time of 4:50. Graber finished second in the 100 hurdles, as did Dykstra in the 400 hurdles, while Egli was third in the long jump.