Hawks show off speed at Central College Invite
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| Lynnville-Sully's Meliek Meyer smokes the competition in his first run at the 55 meter dash. He finished fifth overall in a big field at Central College on Friday. (Dustin Turner/Daily News Sports) |
PELLA — Still stuck practicing indoors for the majority of the early season, the Lynnville-Sully track teams competed in the Central College Invite in Pella on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, the boys took to the track and field events having only practiced once on the season. Despite their lack of what many would consider necessary preparation, the Hawks put together a very solid showing in multiple events.
Starting out with the field events, Brady Van Wyk put together strong performances in both the shot put and the high jump. He excelled in the high jump, finishing 11th overall with a jump on 5 feet, 7 inches. Van Wyk threw 39-8.0 in the shot, an event that he has incorporated into his arsenal this season at the behest of his coaches.
“Brady is a mulit-sport kid, a really diverse athlete. We’ve been working on getting him to throw shot put, which he has never done before this year. So most of his workouts have been concentrated on that,” Hawks coach Mike Parkinson said. “He’s getting smooth and he’s been working a lot. In the high jump, I’m excited for him. He won districts last year. So, I’m confident he can do big things for us this season.”
In addition to Van Wyk, Payton Haack excelled in a field event for the Hawks — the long jump. Haack finished 14th in the meet with a jump of 19-0.50. Haack also finished 25th in the 55-meter dash.
“Payton Haack took to the long jump very well, jumping for the first time this season,” Parkinson said. “He had a great jump of 19-0.50. He also took second on the team in the 55, which is significant because we have some really fast guys on our team. He was really quick. It was a nice performance.”
Not to be outdone was Meliek Meyer. Meyer is coming right out of a trip to state during wrestling season, and he took to the track with some fury. He won his heat handily and finished fifth overall in the 55.
“Meliek won his heat with a really fast run. He finished fifth overall in the final heat with a big group of really fast guys,” Parkinson said. “He’s coming off a really good season last year. I know he ran some meets in the summer and he obviously had a great wrestling season and kept in shape. Once wrestling was over, he jumped right into track mode and he got working right away.”
“Overall, I thought the guys performed really well, especially starting the season without being able to fully practice,” Parkinson said. “Obviously, we have plenty of things to work on, but thankfully we will be building on some already good performances. I’m really excited for where I feel we are going to be once we really start getting the season going. We’ve been running as much as you can indoors at a small school, but the guys have been doing very good so far.”
Moving to Saturday, the lady Hawks also saw some strong performances, the majority of which came on the track.
Starting with the 55, four Hawks finished in the top half of a field that included 230 girls from around the state. At the top of the card for the Hawks was Kasiah Ehresman with a blistering run of 7.85. She finished 25th in the event to go along with her seventh place finish in the 400 (1:06.69) and her 32nd place finish in the 200 (29.84).
Madison Rasmusson competed in the 55, the 200 and the 400, doing very well in all three events. She finished 54th (8.04), 10th (1:07.45) and 22nd (29.39) respectively.
Shelby Davis competed in the 55, the 55 hurdles, the 200 and the high jump for the Hawks. Her jump of 4-8 was good for 11th overall. She had track event finishes of 90th (8.29), 84th (11.15) and 73rd (31.05)
Natalie Nickell took 98th in the 55 with a time of 8.33 seconds. She also finished 33rd in the long jump with a jump of 13 feet.
Hawks coach Darin Arkema was proud of his team’s performances, but he was more porud of how they supported one another.
“Obviously, this early in the season, I saw a number of areas that need improvement, and the girls have a good understanding what those are. However, there were a lot of positive things I saw from the girls that we’ll look to build off of and continue through the season,” Arkema said. “One thing I was quite pleased with was their support and encouragement for each other. That may not sound like a big deal, but track sometimes is considered an individual sport, and I want them grasping the idea of team, being there for each other, and helping each other achieve their best. We have a little over a week before our first scheduled outdoor meet, so we’ll continue the process of getting better, talk about Saturday’s meet, and look to be improved the next time out.”concentrated on that,” Hawks’ coach Mike Parkinson said. “He’s getting smooth and he’s been working a lot. In the high jump, I’m excited for him. He won districts last year. So, I’m confident he can do big things for us this season.”
In addition to Van Wyk, Payton Haack excelled in a field event for the Hawks — the long jump. Haack finished 14th in the meet with a jump of 19-0.50. Haack also finished 25th in the 55 meter dash.
“Payton Haack took to the long jump very well, jumping for the first time this season,” Parkinson said. He had a great jump of 19-0.50. He also took second on the team in the 55, which is significant because we have some really fast guys on our team. He was really quick. It was a nice performance.”
Not to be outdone was Meliek Meyer. Meyer is coming right out of a trip to state during wrestling season, and he took to the track with some fury. He won his heat handily and finished fifth overall in the 55-meter dash.
“Meliek won his heat with a really fast run. He finished fifth overall in the final heat with a big group of really fast guys,” Parkinson said. “He’s coming off a really good season last year. I know he ran some meets in the summer and he obviously had a great wrestling season and kept in shape. Once wrestling was over, he jumped right into track mode and he got working right away.”
“Overall, I thought the guys performed really well, especially starting the season without being able to fully practice,” Parkinson said. “Obviously, we have plenty of things to work on, but thankfully we will be building on some already good performances. I’m really excited for where I feel we are going to be once we really start getting the season going. We’ve been running as much as you can indoors at a small school, but the guys have been doing very good so far.
Moving to Saturday, the lady Hawks also saw some strong performances, the majority of which came on the track.
Starting with the 55, four Hawks finished in the top half of a field that included 230 girls from around the state. At the top of the card for the Hawks was Kasiah Ehresman with a blistering run of 7.85. She finished 25th in the event to go along with her seventh place finish in the 400 (1:06.69) and her 32nd place finish in the 200 (29.84).
Madison Rasmusson competed in the 55, the 200 and the 400, doing very well in all three events. She finished 54th (8.04), 10th (1:07.45) and 22nd (29.39) respectively.
Shelby Davis competed in the 55, the 55 hurdles, the 200 and the high jump for the Hawks. Her jump of 4-8 was good for 11th overall. She had track event finishes of 90th (8.29), 84th (11.15) and 73rd (31.05)
Natalie Nickell took 98th in the 55 with a time of 8.33 seconds. She also finished 33rd in the long jump with a jump of 13 feet.
Hawks’ coach Darin Arkema was proud of his team’s performances, but he was more proud of how they supported one another.
“Obviously, this early in the season, I saw a number of areas that need improvement, and the girls have a good understanding what those are. However, there were a lot of positive things I saw from the girls that we’ll look to build off of and continue through the season,” Arkema said. “One thing I was quite pleased with was their support and encouragement for each other. That may not sound like a big deal, but track sometimes is considered an individual sport, and I want them grasping the idea of team, being there for each other, and helping each other achieve their best. We have a little over a week before our first scheduled outdoor meet, so we’ll continue the process of getting better, talk about Saturday’s meet, and look to be improved the next time out.”
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