BROOKLYN — It’s not bad to have bookends to the team’s 4x100-meter relay team like Bailey Samson and Meliek Meyer. Lynnville-Sully’s two senior sprinters powered the Hawks to a team title at Tuesday’s B-G-M Bear Trax Classic.
Meyer claimed the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in 11.40 seconds with Samson right on his heals for the silver in 11.44 seconds. They switched places later in the 200-meter dash with Samson winning in 23.16 seconds and Meyer in second at 23.20.
Samson led off the 4x100-meter relay race for the Hawks. He handed the baton to sophomore Sage Ehresman then Caden Doll, a senior, had his carry. Meyer anchored the Hawks to a gold-gold medal time of 44.93 seconds.
The Hawk 4x100-meter relay foursome qualified for the 2014 Drake Relays as did Meyer and Samson in the 100-meter dash. The preliminaries for both events is Friday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The 100 meters is at 8:46 a.m. with the final at 12:28 p.m. Preliminaries for the relay are at 6:10 p.m. Friday and the final is at 3:40 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity these young men have created for themselves. It’s a very rewarding and memorable opportunity to compete at the Drake Relays and we are very proud of these young men,” said Mike Parkinson, Lynnville-Sully head coach.
“They have worked very hard up to this point and look to improve themselves by performing on a big stage like Drake. This is the second year Meliek has qualified in the 100, first for Bailee, and the third straight year our 4x100 has qualified. Meliek and Bailee have been on all three relays, Caden on two of them, and this is Sage’s first Drake Relays. Again, this is such an exciting time for our track program as we enter the second half of the season. I hope this provides a chance to propel our athletes to keep improving and prepare for the meets we have remaining this season.”
At B-G-M, the Hawks scored points in 16 events, winning six. They scored 140 points for the Classic’s Class B team championship — three points ahead of Montezuma.
Canyon Kuhlmann, a sophomore, struck gold in the 3,200-meter race in 10 minutes, 57.67 seconds with junior Jake Brand in fourth at 12:17.22. Kuhlman earned the bronze medal in both the 800-meter run, 2:15.67, and the 1,600 meters, 5:10.23. Lauri Ryyppo was seventh in the 1,600 in 6:09.61.
Senior Darin Hofer was the gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.94 seconds and Doll placed third in 17.27. Noah Engle, a sophomore, ran third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.84.
Darin Hofer, Engle, Doll and freshman Caden Dunsbergen combined to win the shuttle hurdle relay race in 1:03.12. Senior Brandon Dunsbergen earned the silver medal in the 400-meter dash in 55.27 seconds with junior Kordell Mueller in 11th at 1:06.76.
“We ran very well (Tuesday night) and won our first meet of the season. It was truly a team win. We were a little short handed, missing three of our athletes for most of the meet. With that being said, our old and young guys stepped up as we made some changes and it lead to a team victory in the meet,” Parkinson said.
Parkinson said this was a big step in the right direction for the team. There were a lot of performances which could be highlighted , but overall the boys’ efforts were great, he said. Parkinson said he and assistant coach Jeff Corbett were proud of their athletes and what they accomplished.
Junior Ross Van Wyk teamed with Engle, C. Dunsbergen and Ehresman to take the third-place medal in the 4x200-meter relay race in 1:40.59. The 4x400-meter relay team of Van Wyk, D. Hofer, freshman Colton Arment and Doll was third in 4:01.46.
Ehresman placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 3 1/2 inches. Engle was fourth in the discus at 106’5 1/2” and Ehresman was fifth at 101’2 1/2” Caden Dunsbergen placed seventh in the long jump at 16’2 3/4” and Ryan Hofer was 11th in 14’8 1/2”.
Lynnville-Sully’s 4x800-meter relay placed fourth in 10:53.80 and the distance medley relay team was fifth in 4:26.50.