Hawks show off strength, speed in SICL indoor meet

GRINNELL — With so many athletes back from last year’s South Iowa Cedar League outdoor championship team, the Lynnville-sully boys’ track and field team is a clear favorite on paper heading into the 2018 season.

That paper became reality on Monday night as the Hawks dominated the field events, set two meet records in a pair of relays and scored double points in the shot put, long jump and 60-meter hurdles.

Team points were not kept in the meet, but the Hawks may have won the SICL indoor championship if they were.

“The boys were prepared. We look like we have been in a track meet before, and that’s us coming off spring break,” Lynnville-Sully coach Mike Parkinson said. “We have a lot of work to do. We know we have a lot of guys back from last year’s team, but we still have to find some things. There are 19 different events that we have to fill so we have some work to do, but I was excited about our first time out.”

Colfax-Mingo also participated in the meet. The Tigerhawks’ best finish came from senior Reegan Van Dyke in the high jump. They also finished fourth in two other events.

The Hawks started the night with a 1-2 finish in the shot put and a 1-3 finish in the long jump.

Junior Rylan James was the easy winner in the shot put as his gold-medal throw was marked at 46 feet, 6 inches.

Junior Grant Wehrle was second at 41-1. James won his first SICL title after placing third last year.

“I was really happy with that throw. It’s not my best ever, but I knew it would take some time to get to my best,” James said. “I was pretty glad to pop out a 46 tonight. It feels good.

“I am still working on my glide. My end goal is to break 50.”

In the long jump, senior Drake Ehresman won with a leap of 19-4 3/4, and junior Gage Vander Leest finished third with a jump of 18-10 1/4.

Ehresman also tied for the win in the high jump with a leap of 5-8, and Vander Leest won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.85 seconds. Senior Carson Dunsbergen placed third in the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.17, and he was fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-6.

The Hawks set another SICL indoor meet record in the 4x400 relay. The same foursome that set the record last year bested their own effort with another record-setting performance.

The team of Vander Leest, senior Corey McCoy, Dunsbergen and junior Tyson Vander Linden defended their SICL indoor title with a record time of 3 minutes, 41.93 seconds.

“That group really belongs in the upper echelon in the state,” Parkinson said. “We bring a lot back to the table. They have high goals for that race. They are a great foursome to end the night with.”

It wasn’t the only record McCoy and Vander Linden would help set on the night. The Hawks’ distance medley relay team of senior Sage Zylstra, junior Nate Stock, Vander Linden and McCoy won the gold medal with a record time of 3:51.37.

They bested the record set last year by .47 seconds.

“Our field events were good but can get better,” Parkinson said. “Our relays were good even though we can get better with our handoffs.”

Sophomore Kinnick McFarland claimed third in the 400 with a time of 58.29 seconds. Zylstra finished fourth in the 60 dash in 7.61 seconds.

Van Dyke, the 2017 SICL indoor meet champion, was third in 2018. His best jump this time around was 5-8. The top three finishers all cleared 5-8 but Van Dyke was third based on misses.

“He isn’t jumping where I know he can yet, but he’s got great ups and will find his form before too long,” Colfax-Mingo boys’ track coach Matt Barkalow said. “We haven’t worked on it that much either.”

The Tigerhawks’ two fourth-place finishes came in the 4x400 relay and from sophomore Zack Barnes in the 400.

The 4x400 relay team of junior Holister Koenig, Van Dyke, sophomore Trinity Schroeder and senior Zarek Hill finished fourth in 3:52.84. Barnes’ fourth-place run in the 400 was clocked at 58.41 seconds.

“We did a nice job. We have guys still working to get into shape, but I was pleased with our effort,” Barkalow said. “The 4x200 and 4x400 were our four fastest guys and we competed well against some good schools. We had some PRs tonight.

“The kids worked hard. But we are hosting our own meet on Thursday so I didn’t load things up tonight. Most of our guys were only in three events. This was a good baseline for most of our guys, and we have a lot of room to get better.”

Colfax-Mingo’s boys end its indoor season at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Grinnell College. The Tigerhawks host their first-ever indoor meet. Their first outdoor meet is at 4:30 p.m. next Tuesday at Pella Christian.

Lynnville-Sully starts its outdoor season at 4:15 p.m. next Tuesday at the BCLUW Invitational in Conrad.