March 28, 2024

Area Roundup: Track teams compete at Montezuma

It was a busy day for area track teams in Montezuma, as Prairie City-Monroe, Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully competed in the Lewis Lundy Relays.

The Hawks tied for second place with 130 points in Class B due to several first place finishers as well as plenty of seconds, thirds and fifths as well. They finished 45 points behind North Mahaska.

On the track for the Hawks, Madison Rasmusson won the 200-meter dash with a blistering time of 28.78 seconds. She also took second in the 400, finishing with a time of 1:07.28. Rasmusson competed on two of the Hawks’ relay teams as well. She, along with Tara Vos, Cori Rice and Shelby Foster won the 4x800 with a time of 11:14.11. Vos, Rice and Rasmusson were also on the second place finishing 4x400 team, which also included Alexa Vander Leest. That relay team was timed at 4:45.34.

Vander Leest was one of the stars on the day for the Hawks. She won the 1,500 and the 3,000 with times of 5:30.91 and 11:37.88, respectively. Rice also ran in the 1,500, finishing fifth at 5:53.01.

Shelby Davis took first place in the 100 with a time of 14.10. She also placed third in the high jump with a jump of 4-10. Davis also participated on the second place shuttle hurdle relay team along with Taylor Vander Leest, Natalie Nickell and Kristy Sevick.

Nickell finished second in the long jump with a jump of 14-4.5, third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:20.09 and she was also third in the 100 hurdles at 18.97, just in front of teammate Tierney Needham at 19.84. Needham finished fifth.

“I’m very proud of the effort from all the girls tonight, battling another cold night to finish tied for second. Each of them competed hard in a lot of events and scored a bunch of points and brought home a lot of medals,” coach Darin Arkema said. “I know there is some frustration with not seeing improvements in their times, but the weather just hasn’t been ideal for producing great times or performances. It’s not from a lack of their efforts or work to get better. That has to continue being our focus, since that’s what we can control. I’m excited for the rest of our meets. The girls should be confident because they’ve shown how competitive they can be.

Their next meet is scheduled for Friday at BGM

PCM finished third on the girls’ Class A side thanks to some strong work in the relay events. The sprint medley team of Mackenzie Clarke, Emma Williams, Emily Hugen and Ashley Van Gorp and the 4x100-meter relay team of Clarke, Hugen, Kelsey Townsend and Lexi Kain each finished first with times of 2:03.74 and 53.23, respectively.

Taking second for the Mustangs in the meet with season-best performances were Abbi Gilson in the discus and Rachel Peter in the 3,000-meter run. Gilson threw 114 feet, 10 inches, while Peter finished in 12:01.40. Also in the field events, Courtney Van Houweling placed third in the long jump and Grace Telfer finished fourth in the shot put with a season-best throw.

Clarke and Townsend also had success in individual events, as Clarke took third in the 100 with a time of 13.65 and Townsend finished third in the 100 hurdles in 17.60. Also finishing third were the distance medley team of Townsend, Hugen, Clarke and Van Houweling and the 4x200 team of Hugen, Van Gorp, Kain and Alex Samson.

“Although it wasn’t the most ideal conditions, we did turn in some nice performances,” PCM coach Bridget Burns said. “Our team has battled injuries and sicknesses all year, and tonight we showed some signs that we are finally starting to get somewhat healthy.”

Colfax-Mingo finished fourth on the girls’ Class A side and had all of its field event participants have season-best performances.

Freshman McKinzie Tjaden finished second in the 100 and third in the 200 with times of 13.60 and 28.72, respectively. Also finishing second was the shuttle hurdle relay team of Rebecca Jensen, Dakota Brodka, Elissa Opfer and Mari Gonzales with a time of 1:18.74.

Other top performances for the Tigerhawks were Mari Gonzales taking third in the high jump at 4-8 and the 4x100 team of Tjaden, Jessica Kolo, Erin Earles and Jessica Albright also finishing third with a time of 56.45.

PCM girls golf wins West Marshall invite

For the second time in as many days, a Prairie City-Monroe golf team stood atop the field at a West Marshall Invitational.

Led by a 90 from Maddie Peters, the Mustang girls were victorious in the 18-hole, 10-team field with a 391, topping second-place Nevada by seven strokes Tuesday.

“I am very happy with the way the girls are playing this early in the season, and they should continue to improve as hopefully the weather does too,” PCM coach Val Edwards said.

Rachel Phifer joined Peters in the top 10 with a 96, while Taylor Phifer just missed the No. 10 spot on a cardback with a 101. Cassidy Van Veen and Hannah Hugen each turned in rounds of 104, while Kelsey Van Veen contributed a 109.

Weather pending, the Mustangs will return to action at Oskaloosa on Thursday.

CMB girls pull out close victory

The Collins-Maxwell-Baxter girls soccer team hosted South Tama at their field in Maxwell on Tuesday night.

It was a tight contest the whole way but the Raiders were able to scrape out a 1-0 victory. Scoring the goal for the Raiders was Becky Williams, who put the ball into the back of the net at the 65:24 mark. This was a much needed victory for CMB, who struggled in their first two games this season. They have a long way to go, but it’s a good victory and something they hope to build upon.

“In the first half we played with very light energy, but in the second half we played better, but not where we want to be,” CMB coach Gary Cummings said. “We need to keep working and learning the game.”