March 29, 2024

Raiders keep win streak alive

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MONROE — The Collins-Maxwell/Baxter boys’ track and field team did not lose an invitational in 2014.

And despite a few bumps, bruises and academic black eyes, the Raiders kept that undefeated streak alive Tuesday at the PCM Coed Invitational.

Bryce Kemp won two individual events, Kyle Cather won the 400 hurdles and Hunter Gunderson claimed a big win in the high jump as the Raiders collected 166 points and bested Heart of Iowa Conference rival North Polk by 15 to take the team title.

The Raiders are not a finished product yet, but CMB coach Neil Seales liked the effort of his guys.

“I think we did some really good things,” Seales said. “But we also have some stuff to work on. I was pleased with how hard we competed. You never know for sure what you have until the bullets start to fly, but I was really proud of the way they competed. The guys are showing a lot of improvement.”

Kemp won the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.21 seconds and also helped the Raiders go 1-2 in the long jump. He has practiced just once in the last two weeks following a minor injury to his hamstring and knee, but Kemp won the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 6 inches.

The final jump matched teammate Brady Stover, but Kemp took the gold because his second-best jump was further.

“I still have a ways to go. I just need to continue to work hard and coach Seales will get me back to where I need to be,” said Kemp, who has gained 14 pounds in preparation for the grind of a Division I football season that’s coming in the fall.

Following North Polk (151) in the team standings was Knoxville at 122, Bondurant-Farrar at 91 and host Prairie City-Monroe at 82. Further back from the pack was Pleasantville (42) and Pella Christian (32).

“This team has progressed a lot,” PCM coach Collin Harrison said. “It’s not about us getting first and second necessarily. It’s more about getting PRs every time we compete. If our team continues to improve, there is no telling where our events will be at at the end of the year and that is what we are trying to preach to these kids right now.”

The Mustangs’ only win on the night came from senior Maverick McAtee, who won the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes, 58.38 seconds. He also was fifth in the 800.

“It was a good start to the year and I felt like I had a lot left,” said McAtee, who won in front of his home crowd for the first time in his career. “It will be easier when I get that person in front of me to run with.”

CMB showed off its depth Tuesday. The Raiders won five events but were second in five and third in four more.

Cather and Stover went 1-2 in the 400 hurdles. Gunderson and PCM’s Skyler Koder both marked at 6-0 in the high jump, but the CMB junior collected the top prize because he hit the bar one less time.

CMB and PCM also grabbed the top two positions in the shuttle hurdle relay and the finish was one of the closest on the nights.

The Raiders’ foursome of Cather, Brad Ritter, Stover and Joey Nissen were .19 seconds faster than PCM’s group of Ricky Reeve, Lucas Pendroy, Austin Sneller and Koder.

“Our shuttle hurdle relay is one of our best events,” Harrison said. “I challenged the guys to get around a 1:03.8 and we were under that. We cut a second and a half off our time already and that’s good to be doing that this early in the year.”

Other top performances from CMB included Patrick Girard, who had a personal-best throw of 53-4.75 in the shot put. He was defeated by Knoxville’s Nathan Winters, who scratched his first three throws before unleashing a winning heave of 53-10.75.

Kemp was second in the 100 and third in the 200. He was defeated both times by Knoxville's Tanner Dunkin, who sprinted 100 meters in 11.05 and 200 meters in 22.69.
Nissen was third in the 110 high hurdles and Evan Bianchi took third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:02.77. Gunderson crossed third in the 400.

The Raiders also were second in the distance medley and 4x800 relays.

The distance medley included Zach Schafer, Jon Engle, Blake Coughenour and Hunter Gunderson, while the 4x800 featured Creighton Caple, Bianchi, Engle and Jack Cheville.

“We stress the team concept. It’s a compilation of 18 events,” Seales said. “When you do that, even the guys that aren’t studs feel like they are contributing to the results. We faced a tough field tonight and came away with a win so we are pleased.”

PCM’s other top finish came in the discus where Logan Gilman collected the bronze with a toss of 118-10.

Pella Christian only scored 32 points on the night but 10 came from Jacob Lensing in the 3,200. Lensing, who is a member of the Newton boys’ swim team, crossed the line in 10:51.60.

Both CMB and PCM return to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday. This time, the Raiders will host the meet in Baxter.

Team Scores: Collins-Maxwell/Baxter 166, North Polk 151, Knoxville 122, Bondurant-Farrar 91, Prairie City-Monroe 82, Pleasantville 42, Pella Christian 32.

100-m dash: 2. Bryce Kemp, CMB, 11.42, 9. Davis Herndon, PCM, 12.5, 11. Ryan Kohlhof, PCM, 12.72.
200-m dash: 3. Kemp, CMB, 23.85, 11. Kohlhof, PCM, 26.41, 12. Logan Hunt, PCM, 26.64.
400-m dash: 3. Hunter Gunderson, CMB, 55.07, 5. Blake Coughenour, CMB, 57.53, 7. Noah Anderson, PCM, 57.9, 9. Tyler Dredge, PCM, 59.10.
800-m run: 5. Maverick McAtee, PCM, 2:13.39, 6. Creighton Caple, CMB, 2:14.72, 7. Evan Bianchi, CMB, 2:17.19, 12. Andres Vargas, PCM, 2:46.85.
1,600-m run: 1. McAtee, PCM, 4:58.38, 3. Bianchi, CMB, 5:02.27, 5. Colin Thomson, CMB, 5:16.37.
3,200-m run: 4. Thomson, CMB, 11:06.58, 6. Mark Deutsch, CMB, 11:30.31, 10. Chris Ellens, PCM, 12:05.12, 13. Caleb Peter, PCM, 14:33.97.
110-m high hurdles: 1. Kemp, CMB, 15.21, 3. Joey Nissen, CMB, 16.94, 4. Skyler Koder, PCM, 17.35, 5. Austin Sneller, PCM, 17.87.
400-m hurdles: 1. Kyle Cather, CMB, 58.54, 2. Brady Stover, CMB, 59.94, 7. Chase Kuecker, PCM, 1:07.46. 8. Sneller, PCM, 1:08.07.
4x100-m relay: 5. PCM (Dredge, Reeve, Greiner, Herndon), 47.88, 6. CMB (Coughenour, Ritter, Nissen, Stover), 48.91.
4x200-m relay: 4. CMB (Cather, Engle, Ritter, Birchmier, 1:38.43, 6. PCM (Reeve, Pendroy, Greiner, Brady North).
4x400-m relay: 3. CMB (Birchmier, Cather, Coughenour, Gunderson), 3:42.36, 4. PCM (Dredge, McAtee, Kohlhof, Anderson), 3:51.27.
4x800-m relay: 3. CMB (Caple, Deutsch, Birchmier 3:42.36, 4.
Distance medley relay: 2. CMB (Schafer, Engle, Coughenour, Gunderson), 6:46.44, 7. PCM (Anderson, Sheldon Speers.
Shuttle hurdle relay: 1. CMB (Cather, Ritter, Stover, Nissen), 1:03.74.
High Jump: Gunderson, CMB, 6-0, Koder, PCM, 6-0, 6. Nissen, CMB, 5-4.
Long Jump: 1. Bryce Kemp, CMB, 20-6, 2. Stover, CMB, 20-6.
Shot Put: 2. Patrick Girard, CMB, 53-4.75, 5. Colton Warrick, PCM, 41-9.25, 7. Leevi Telfer, PCM, 40-6.75, 12. Brady Kemp, CMB, 37-9.
Discus: 3. Logan Gilman, PCM, 118-10, 6. Brady Kemp, CMB, 115-9, 8. Girard, CMB, 104-8, 10. Tyler Foster, PCM, 103-4.