Area teams improve at second indoor meet

AMES — Track and field coaches from Prairie City-Monroe, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and Colfax-Mingo were looking to build on Friday’s first indoor meet of the season with some better performances at Monday’s Iowa State Indoor Classic.

Mission accomplished.

PCM got strong performances from Ashley Van Gorp, Rachel Peter and Mackenzie Clarke in individual events, while CMB’s Payge Jurgens also shined in the shot put. Colfax-Mingo got strong efforts from a pair of relays and two freshmen performed well in a couple of field events.

The top area finisher on the night was PCM’s Van Gorp, who placed sixth out of 67 in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 8.25 inches. Peter was ninth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11 minutes, 48.15 seconds and 16th in the 1,500 with a time of 5:26.34.

Mustang freshman Baylee Smith wasn’t too far back of Peter in the 3,000. She finished 14th with a time of 12:01.42.

“We were pretty happy with our performances tonight,” PCM coach Bridget Martin said. “We are already seeing some improvements from our last indoor and we seem to be gaining some confidence as we become more comfortable in the competition setting.”

Jurgens recorded CMB’s top finish as she was 10th in the shot put with a throw of 34-10.5. The Raiders’ sprint medley team also finished in 10th with a time of 1:57.53. Runners for that relay were unknown at press time.

Colfax-Mingo got two top-30 finishes from freshmen Ries Wilson and Rhiannon Haley. Wilson was 26th in the high jump with a leap of 4-6, while Haley took 29th in the shot put with a heave of 30-8.25.

Clarke of PCM took home 29th out of 115 runners in the 60-meter dash. Her time was 8.53 seconds. CMB’s Mackenzie Schmitz wasn’t too far behind in 34th with a time of 8.60 and her teammate Toni Spencer was 37th in 8.64.

CMB’s Maddy Poage and Brianda Bane equaled Wilson’s performance in the high jump. Both Raiders cleared the bar at 4-6 and finished in a tie for 26th. Spencer also claimed a 16th-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 14-8.75.

PCM and Colfax-Mingo also fared well in the sprint medley.

The Mustang foursome of Ashley Miller, Emily Hugen, Clarke and Van Gorp were 20th in 2:00.96, and the Tigerhawks’ team of Kennedi Hostetter, Erin Earles, McKinzie Tjaden and Dakota Hostetter crossed in 26th with a time of 2:03.73.

Both schools also collected strong finishes in the 4x100.

PCM took 33rd out of 75 with a time of 55.90. That team included Miller, Hugen, Clarke and Tatum Schnug. The Tigerhawks were 36th in 56.02 and that group included Kennedi Hostetter, Dakota Hostetter, Wilson and Tjaden.

Colfax-Mingo returns to indoor competition on Thursday when it heads to the South Iowa Cedar League Indoor Meet at Grinnell College. Action begins at 4:15 p.m. CMB competes at Central College on Thursday.