Baxter takes third at home coed track meet

BAXTER — Baxter’s first scheduled home track and field meet of the season was wiped out due to cold temperatures.

The second meet, the annual coed version, did not happen on its original night, but weather cooperated enough to allow the Bolts to get through a make-up night and the home teams placed third in the team standings.

Baxter’s boys won just one event but doubled up in the shot put, discus and the 3,200-meter run, while the girls used four wins and 10 top-three finishes to crack the 100-point barrier.

Colfax-Mingo also was in attendance. The Tigerhawk boys, led by another record-setting shuttle hurdle relay performance, placed sixth, while the girls were seventh.

West Marshall won the girls’ title with 153.5 points. Madrid was next with 130.5. Baxter was 42 points clear of fourth-place Collins-Maxwell (65) and the rest of the field included East Marshall (54), South Hardin (39) and Colfax-Mingo (37).

East Marshall won the boys’ team title with 115 points. The Mustangs were 14 points better than Denver (101), while Baxter was third with 95 points. West Marshall (77), Saydel (74), Colfax-Mingo (71) and Collins-Maxwell (55) rounded out the field.

Baxter senior Sailor Hinegardner won another long jump title with a leap of 15 feet, 9 inches. Juniors Brenna Thomson and Lauren Ratliff also won the distance races.

Thomson was victorious in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11 minutes, 58.18 seconds, and Ratliff won the 1,500 in 5:40.31. She led wire-to-wire and was out in front by herself most of the race.

“It’s definitely something I need to work on,” Ratliff said of running out front by herself. “I would rather chase down runners than be way out in front. That’s what I like best about this sport.”

Ratliff also anchored the distance medley relay to a win as that foursome finished in 4:55.03.

“I think we have to learn how to win before we learn how to run fast so it was nice to get some wins under our belts,” Ratliff said. “It doesn’t feel like it, but conference is in like three weeks so we have to get back to work to get ready for that.”

Hinegardner was second in the 100 hurdles as she hit the finish line in 17.17 seconds.

Baxter senior Jordynn Wesselink and Colfax-Mingo senior Ries Wilson both got over the high jump bar at 4-8, but Wesselink finished second because of less misses. Wilson finished third.

Baxter sophomore Rachel Kenney finished third in the 100 with a time of 14.28 seconds. Thomson was fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:46.13.

The Bolts doubled up in the discus. Sophomore Amber Weltha was fourth with a throw of 102-7, and junior Kaylin Van Ryswyk had a toss of 101-4 1/2.

The Bolts also placed third in the 4x100, 4x200 and shuttle hurdle relays, and the 4x400 and 4x800 relays placed fourth.

The Tigerhawk girls’ best finish came from freshman Crystal Lincoln, who was second behind Ratliff in the 1,500 with a time of 5:43.99. She also was fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:12.94.

“It’s my favorite race. I like to compete,” Lincoln said. “I just need to work on my finishes now. I have to try to get going sooner. I can’t wait until the last lap to try to make a move.”

Junior Jordan Atwood placed fourth in the 200. She finished in 29.57 seconds.

The Tigerhawks doubled up in the shot put. Junior Braedynn Rawlins was fourth with a toss of 34-3 1/2 and senior Rhiannon Haley took fifth with a throw of 32-10.

Colfax-Mingo’s best two relays were the 4x200 and the 4x400.

The 4x200 relay team included Samantha Jeter, Colbee Cunningham, Megan Earles and Courtney Burdess and they finished fifth in 2:11.85. The 4x400 relay featured Atwood, Earles, Olivia Van Heukelom and Chelsey Atwood, and they finished fifth in 5:05.68.

BOYS

Baxter junior Will Clapper led the Bolts with a win in the discus and a runner-up finish in the shot put.

All four of Clapper’s throws in the discus were personal-best tosses. His winning throw was marked at 151-11. That’s the fourth best toss in Class 1A this season.

“I just kept it high and really worked on keeping it level,” Clapper said. “The wind was perfect today, too. It was soaring out there.”

Clapper did not enter the night as the favorite to win the event. He elected to take all four of his throws at the same time, while Denver’s Brock Farley threw two early and two late.

“He threw two and then saved two to try to beat me. I knew I had to set the bar for him,” Clapper said.

His second-place throw in the shot put covered 48-11.

Colfax-Mingo had more wins than the Bolts.

The first win for the Tigerhawks came in the shuttle hurdle relay as the foursome of Trinity Schroeder, Reegan Van Dyke, Nick Barnes and Zarek Hill broke their own school record with a time of 1:02.39. Hill’s split was clocked at 14.61 seconds.

That time currently ranks fifth in Class 2A.

“We have been focusing on this event since the end of last year. It felt good today,” Nick Barnes said. “I think we can still get a lot better. We are taking chunks of time off each time.”

The other two wins came from Van Dyke in the high jump and Hill in the 400. Van Dyke’s best leap covered 4-8, and Hill won the 400 with a time of 53.76.

The Bolts won just one event, but had nine top-three finishes.

Junior Ian Thomson placed second in the 3,200 with a time of 11:15.02, and he was third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:14.95. The Bolts doubled up in the 3,200 as junior Josh Bruntz was third in 11:25.07.

Senior Joe Keeling had the next best individual finish as he was third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:02.61.

The Bolts were second in the 4x100 and shuttle hurdle relays.

The 4x100 included Marcus Mitchell, Braydon Aker, Alexander Huff and Travis Lindemoen, and they finished in 48.01. The shuttle hurdle relay included Mitchell, Brady Geilenfeldt, Keeling and Wade Zahurones, and they finished in 1:10.66.

The Bolts’ distance medley relay was third. That foursome included Mitchell, Aker, Cole Damman and Logan Berg, and they were clocked at 4:06.07.

Jesse Garr helped the Bolts double up in the shot put and discus. He was fourth in the shot put with a throw of 38-4 1/4, and he was fifth in the discus with a toss of 120-1.

Huff placed fourth in the 100 in 12.04 and was fifth in the 200 with a time of 24.96. Logan Berg also placed fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:13.41.

The final two fourth-place finishes came in the 4x400 and sprint medley relays.

The 4x400 included Berg, Aker, Huff and Lindemoen, and they finished in 3:51.17. The sprint medley relay team of Keeling, Damman, Aker and Berg crossed the finish line in 1:48.11.

The Tigerhawks’ next best finishes after their wins came in the 4x200 and sprint medley relays. Both teams finished third.

The 4x200 team included Ethan Summy, Cauy Fitch, Holister Koenig and Van Dyke and they finished in 1:41.99. The sprint medley relay foursome of Summy, Koenig, Hill and Zack Barnes finished in 1:46.48.

The distance medley relay placed fourth with a time of 4:08.66. That team included Fitch, AJ Gibson, Zack Barnes and Nick Barnes.

Schroeder was fourth in two individual events, the long jump (18-8) and the 110 high hurdles (16.57).

Colton Lourens scored a pair of top-five finishes in the shot put and discus. He was fourth in the discus with a personal-best throw of 131-0 and finished fifth in the shot put with a toss of 37-8 3/4.

Two other Tigerhawk relays were fifth.

The 4x800 relay team of Colton Hernandez, Noah Strohmeyer, Trystin Ross and Jarod Nichols finished in 10:12.14. The 4x400 relay of Schroeder, Zack Barnes, Summy and Koenig finished in 3:51.71.