Baxter girls grab first team track meet title

URBANDALE — Baxter’s girls track and field team won seven events and claimed its first team title in program history on Monday night at the DMC High School Invitational.

Senior Sailor Hinegardner was part of three wins, the Bolts doubled up in five events and were 1-2 in the discus and 800-meter run.

Baxter scored 185 points on the night. That was 36 points better than Class 2A West Central Valley (149) and 48.5 points in front of 3A Bondurant-Farrar (136.5). The rest of the field included Ogden (116), Des Moines Christian (51), Iowa Christian Academy (31.5) and Ames (8).

The Baxter boys were led by two runner-up finishes by junior Will Clapper. The Bolts also were second in a pair of relays. They finished fifth in the seven-team field.

Waukee won the boys’ team title with 170 points. Ames was second with 141 followed by Des Moines Christian (115), Woodward Academy (110), Baxter (67), Iowa Christian Academy (56) and the Bondurant-Farrar JV (35).

Hinegardner’s two individual wins came in the long jump and 100 hurdles, and the results put her in the top five in 1A in both events.

Hinegardner won the long jump with a season-best leap of 16 feet, 7 1/4 inches, which puts her fifth overall in 1A. Her personal-best time of 16.05 seconds in the 100 hurdles was good for the gold and is the second best time this year in 1A.

Hinegardner’s third came in the shuttle hurdle relay, and she was second in the 100 with a time of 13.9.

Her shuttle hurdle team included senior Mary Schabilion, sophomore Maddy Pierce and senior Jordynn Wesselink, and they finished in 1 minute, 14.51 seconds.

The Bolts also won the 4x100 relay. That team included sophomores Rachel Kenney and Emily Nation, Pierce and junior Avery Backus, and they finished in 54.65 seconds.

Baxter was 1-2 in the discus. Junior Kaylin Van Ryswyk won with a toss of 104-2, and sophomore Amber Weltha was the runner-up with a throw of 98-7. Van Ryswyk also placed third in the shot put with a mark of 33-3 1/4.

The Bolts’ distance runners produced a bunch of points, too. Junior Brenna Thomson won the 3,000 in 12:22.59, junior Lauren Ratliff and sophomore Holly Jessen were 1-2 in the 800 and senior Ashlee Johnson and Ratliff were 2-4 in the 1,500.

Ratliff won the 800 with a time of 2:40.71, and Jessen was next in 2:55.98. Johnson produced a season-best time in the 1,500, taking second in 5:34.81. Ratliff finished in 5:47.37.

Wesselink was third in two individual events. She tied teammate and sophomore Bekka Watt in the high jump as both athletes had a mark of 4-4. Wesselink also was third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:17.81.

Kenney gave the Bolts double points in the 100. She was fourth with a time of 13.98. Backus finished fourth in the 200 in 30.0.

The 4x200 relay produced a runner-up finish. The foursome of Schabilion, Nation, Backus and Pierce crossed the finish line in 2:00.59.

For the boys, Clapper’s best throw in the shot put was marked at 49-9 1/4. He also was second in the discus with a toss of 139-7.

Lindemoen had the other individual top-five finish. He was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 19-3 1/2.

The 4x100 and shuttle hurdle relays were both second. The 4x100 team included Xander Huff, Braydon Aker, Marcus Mitchell and Lindemoen and they finished in 46.76. The shuttle hurdle relay team featured Mitchell, Brady Geilenfeldt, Joe Keeling and Lindemoen, and they finished in 1:06.90.

Baxter’s girls compete at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in State Center, and the boys are back it at 4:30 p.m. Friday in State Center.