March 28, 2024

Raiders can’t catch distance-heavy North Polk

HUXLEY — The Collins-Maxwell/Baxter girls’ track and field team made a valiant comeback, but the points North Polk scored in four distance races was too much to overcome Friday night at the Ballard Invitational.

The Comets scored 60 of their 127 points in going 1-2 in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs, 2-3 in the 3,000 and first in the 4x800 and that was enough to hold off runner-up Roland-Story and third-place CMB.

North Polk’s 127 points was 13 better than the Norse (114) and 17 clear of the Raiders (110).

CMB’s evening included three wins and 11 top-three finishes.

“I was pleased with the performance and effort of our girls tonight,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “We scored points in every event, but North Polk was just too good in the distance races. They just scored too many points in those races to catch them at the end.”

Clarion-Goldfield also surpassed the 100-point barrier with 102 points in fourth place. Madrid was next at 84 followed by South Hamilton’s 43 and Ogden’s eight.

Winter Brown and Toni Spencer won individual events, while the Raiders’ 4x100 relay team also claimed the gold.

Brown won the 3,000 easily with a time of 12 minutes, 44.68 seconds.

Spencer won the 100 in 13.31, besting teammate MacKenzie Schmitz by .02 seconds. Schmitz’s 13.33 was a season-best time.

Spencer and Schmitz teamed up with Maddy Poage and Megan Ritter to break the tape in the 4x100 in 52.88 seconds.

CMB’s four silver-medal performances were all in individual events.

Aside from Schmitz in the 100, Payge Jurgens also was runner-up in the shot put with a career-best throw of 37 feet, 9.5 inches.

Mikayla Eslinger was second in the discus with a season-best toss of 107-0 and Bridget Hurley finished her open 200 in 27.50 seconds to claim the silver.

Spencer and Hurley also were bronze medal winners. Spencer was third in the long jump with a leap of 14-10 and Hurley took third in the 400 in 1:02.02.

Both Spencer and Hurley were a part of third-place relays.

Spencer opened the 4x200 and teamed up with Ritter, Sailor Hinegardner and Schmitz to finish in 1:55.01. Hurley anchored the 4x400, teaming up with Hinegardner, Eslinger and Carter Larson to cross in 4:33.18.

CMB has a week of competition. The Raiders head to Newton for the Cardinal Relays on Thursday. Action kicks off at 4:30 p.m.