NEVADA — Colfax-Mingo boys’ track and field coach Matt Barkalow said during the preseason that his talented crop of juniors were the heart and soul of his squad this year.
Those juniors proved that to be true Tuesday night during the team’s first outdoor meet of the year.
Jacob Lietz sprinted to second in the 400-meter dash and then ran on three relays that placed in the top three.
The Tigerhawks’ 4x400 relay featuring Blake Summy, Jared Myers, Gabe Simpson and Lietz claimed one of the two wins on the night as the team finished sixth with 256 points. C-M trailed three Class 3A schools and one 2A school.
Host Nevada won the Class B team title with 353 points, edging Iowa Falls-Alden’s 351.5 points. Bondurant-Farrar (307), South Hardin (284.5) and Colo-NESCO (267.5) rounded out the top five. West Marshall and Northeast Hamilton finished behind the Tigerhawks.
Blake Summy and Colin Lourens went 1-2 in the long jump. Summy won with a leap of 19 feet, 0.25 inches and Lourens’ runner-up jump reached a personal-best 18-11.75.
Lietz’s time in the 400 was a personal-best 53.38, which ranks third in 1A.
The winning 4x400 relay crossed in 3 minutes, 42.88 seconds. Lietz came from third to first on the anchor leg after running a 52.03 split.
The 3:42.88 ranks third in 1A.
The medley relay was second. That foursome was Summy, Lourens, Lietz and Simpson and they finished in 3:58.74. The 4x100 team of Summy, Myers, Simpson and Lietz was third in 47.15.
Myers was fourth in the 110 high hurdles. He crossed the line in 18.33.
The Tigerhawks return to the track next Tuesday when Lynnville-Sully hosts a co-ed meet at 4:45 p.m.