Raiders break out brooms

BAXTER — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and West Marshall have had several down-to-the-wire battles on the track the past few seasons.

Thursday, at the CMB co-ed meet, was another one of those nights, and it was another Raider win.

CMB claimed five wins, five runner-ups and five third-place finishes during a narrow team win on Senior Night. The Raiders scored 145 points, edging runner-up West Marshall by six. Madrid, which has one of the fastest girls in the state, also made things interesting as the Tigers scored 133 points in third.

“What a great team win tonight,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “I am really proud of our girls, and the way we competed. We had numerous season-best times in individual events and relays.

“This might have been one of the best team performances that we have had in a long time.”

Seniors Toni Spencer and Payge Jurgens and junior Heather Jessen had individual victories, while the 4x800 and shuttle hurdle relay teams also grabbed gold medals.

Colfax-Mingo also was in the seven-team field, finishing fifth with 49 points. The Tigerhawks were led by Dakota Hostetter. The junior won the 1,500 and anchored C-M to a runner-up finish in the distance medley. Sophomore Ries Wilson also was part of the distance medley and finished second in the high jump.

Spencer won the long jump (15 feet, 2 1/2 inches), took second in the 100-meter dash (12.96 seconds) and placed third in the 200 (27.13).

Jurgens’ winning throw in the shot put covered a season-best 37-1, while Jessen won the 3,000 in 12 minutes, 5.16 seconds. Jessen also placed second in the 1,500 with a time of 5:32.09.

The other two wins on the night came in the 4x800 and shuttle hurdle relay.

The 4x800 relay included sophomore Ashley Johnson, freshman Shasta Moody, senior Chasity Moody and freshman Lauren Ratliff and they hit the finish line in 11:13.96.

The shuttle hurdle relay foursome of sophomore Mary Schabilion, freshman Gracie Cheville, junior Sydney Ziesman and sophomore Sailor Hinegardner won with a time of 1:11.90.

Hinegarnder led off the 4x100 team that placed second, too. That group, which included Spencer, senior Bridget Hurley and sophomore Brianda Bane, was clocked at 52.37.

Hurley had another runner-up finish on the night as she was second in the 400 with a time of 1:03.62. Freshman Brenna Thomson gave the Raiders a 1-2 finish in the 3,000 as she hit the finish line in 12:08.94.

Two of the five third-place finishes were claimed by Hinegardner, who grabbed the bronze in the 100 hurdles (17.14) and the long jump (14-5).

The 4x400 and distance medley relays were both third. The 4x400 team of Hurley, Schabilion, freshmen Jordan Atwood and Josie Wierson finished in 4:32.69. The medley team included Wierson, junior Mikayla Eslinger, Schabilion and Ratliff, and they finished in 4:51.48.

“We had great performances in the field events, distance, sprints and hurdles,” Meinerts said. “I can’t say enough about the way we competed. This meet was for our seniors. We wanted to send them out with a win.”

Colfax-Mingo was 10 points back of South Hamilton in fifth. Colo-NESCO finished sixth with 39 points, while Saydel was seventh with 24 points.

Hostetter won the 1,500 with a time of 5:29.33. She joined Wilson and seniors Jessica Albright and McKinzie Tjaden in the distance medley and that unit took second with a time of 5:36.59.

Wilson’s best leap in claiming second in the high jump was marked at 4-8. Junior Amy Russell took third in the shot put with a throw of 32-0. Sophomore Rhiannon Haley gave the Tigerhawks double points in the shot put with a fourth-place finish. Her best throw was 31-2.

CMB competes at 4:30 p.m. Friday at South Hardin. Colfax-Mingo performs at 5 p.m. Monday at Prairie City-Monroe.