Seven wins power Baxter boys to track and field conference championship

BAXTER — Seven wins and a pair of new school records highlighted the Baxter boys track and field team at the Iowa Star Conference meet on Thursday.

The Bolts won three relays, finished 1-2 in the 3,200-meter run and doubled up in five events during their run to the conference championship.

After scoring 129 points and finishing in second last year, the Bolts climbed to the top of the conference standings with 135 this spring.

That was 31 points better than runner-up BCLUW (104) and the rest of the top five featured Dunkerton (74), Janesville (73.5) and Collins-Maxwell (68.5).

Clarksville (63), Don Bosco (57), GMG (48), North Tama (42), Riceville (25.5), Colo-NESCO (25.5), Waterloo Christian (19), Valley Lutheran (4) and Meskwaki Settlement (1) completed the 14-team field.

Treyton Travis, Matt Richardson, Carter Smith and Logan Rainsbarger all won individual events and the Bolts added conference titles in the 4x200, 4x800 and distance medley relays.

Travis won the high jump after placing second last season. His winning leap was 5 feet, 10 inches.

Smith was the discus winner following a toss of 137-1. Grant Anderegg finished fourth with a heave of 118-8.

Richardson and Max Handorf went 1-2 in the 3,200. Richardson won the race and set a new school record with a career-best time of 9 minutes, 58.17 seconds. Handorf’s runner-up time was clocked in 10:13.66.

The victory gave Richardson a win in the event for the second straight season.

Richardson (2:10.20) and Handorf (2:13.8) also finished 2-4 in the 800 and Handorf (4:52.87) and Logan Jones (career-best 4:58.06) were 2-3 in the 1,600.

Rainsbarger won the 110 high hurdles after placing second last spring. He won this year’s race with a time of 16.26 seconds and Lincoln Betterton was fourth in 17.24.

Rainsbarger grabbed another top-six finish as he was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 17-3 1/2. Cael Wishman (12.27) was sixth in the 100.

Jones, Cody Samson, Handorf and Richardson won the 4x800 relay after the Bolts placed second last year. The foursome completed the race in 8:50.58.

The Bolts posted season-best times in the 4x100, 4x200 and distance medley relays.

Treyton Travis, Cainan Travis, Rainsbarger and Samson teamed up to win the 4x100 and 4x200. The group won the 4x200 with a school-record time of 1:37.67 and finished third in the 4x100 in 46.36.

The Bolts were second in the distance medley relay last year, but this year’s foursome of Treyton Travis, Cainan Travis, Samson and Richardson won the race in 3:51.53.

Bolts finish second at Dream Builders Invitational

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT — Richardson, Handorf and Smith all won individual events and the Bolts won the distance medley relay during the Dream Builders Invitational on April 29.

Baxter also finished second six times and placed second as a team with 125.5 points. West Marshall won the meet with 148 points and BCLUW (111.5) also reached triple figures.

The rest of the nine-team field included Collins-Maxwell (75), South Tama County (69), North Tama (62), Colo-NESCO (60), GMG (55) and host Meskwaki Settlement School (10).

Handorf (4:58.26) and Jones (5:02.74) went 1-2 in the 1,600, Richardson (10:04.84) and Handorf (10:27.06) were 1-2 in the 3,200 and Smith won the discus with a toss of 142-8.

The other individual runner-up finishes came from Richardson (2:11.17) in the 800 and Rainsbarger (16.07) in the 110 high hurdles. Betterton (17.63) gave the Bolts double points in the 110 hurdles in fourth.

Rainsbarger (18-0 1/2) and Dakota Parker (5-0) were fourth in the long jump and high jump, respectively, and Smith (39-3) and Anderegg (109-9) were sixth in the shot put and discus, respectively.

Cael Wishman was fourth in the 100 with a career-best time of 12.18 seconds and finished sixth in the 400 in 59.32.

The Bolts’ winning distance medley relay team featured Cade Robinson, Cainan Travis, Samson and Richardson and they won the race in 3:51.69.

Baxter was the runner-up in both the 4x200 and 4x800 relays. Cainan Travis, Robinson, Rainsbarger and Samson completed the 4x200 in 1:40.17 and Jones, Samson, Handorf and Richardson posted a time of 8:53.30 in the 4x800.