Noun Harder leads L-S boys to fourth at Belle Plaine

BELLE PLAINE — Corder Noun Harder was part of two of the Hawks’ three victories and the Lynnville-Sully boys’ track and field team placed fourth in its outdoor opener at the Belle Plaine Invitational on Thursday.

The Hawks scored 84 points and finished ahead of conference rivals North Mahaska (41), Sigourney (36) and HLV (33) and North Linn (23).

Grundy Center won the meet championship with 141 points, while Iowa Valley was next with 130. Alburnett completed the eight-team field in third with 100 points.

“It was great to be able to compete in our first outdoor meet of the season after weather forced a cancellation earlier in the week,” L-S head boys track and field coach Darin Arkema said.

Arkema knew the top three teams in front of the Hawks would be tough to beat. His biggest interest was South Iowa Cedar League foe Iowa Valley.

“Iowa Valley has a strong team and does a number of things well so we need to keep working and close the gap through our efforts and focus in practices and be ready for the next time we get to compete again,” Arkema said.

Noun Harder and Hendrick Lowry collected the team’s lone individual wins.

Noun Harder won the 100-meter dash in 11.7 seconds and then took fourth in the 200 in a career-best 24.08.

“I couldn’t think of a better outcome for Corder in his first 100 dash of the season,” Arkema said. “He wished the time was a little faster, but it was Corder doing what he does best. He backed up his 100 performance with a strong race and time in the 200.”

Lowry’s win came in the 1,600 as he posted a time of 4 minutes, 59.03 seconds. Colton Alberts also competed in the race and was sixth in a personal-best 5:18.83.

“Hendrick and Colton got out to the front early and Hendrick held off a late charge from the Sigourney runner,” Arkema said. “Colton was able to follow up his 3,200 performance with a big PR in the 1,600.”

Lowry also was fourth in the 400 in 57.95, while Michael Spooner took sixth in 1:00.63.

The team’s final win came in the 4x100 relay. The foursome of Noun Harder, Dawson James, Gavin Fisk and Jack Bowlin posted a winning time of 46.79 seconds.

The next best finish came from Bowlin in the long jump. He was second with a leap of 19 feet, 7 3/4 inches.

The throwers had strong nights for the Hawks. James was third in the shot put with a toss of 37-11 1/2 and Davis Utech finished sixth with a throw of 37-3 1/4.

Isaac Vos and Wyatt Mathis both had personal-best throws in the discus. Vos was fifth with a toss of 112-9 and Mathis took sixth with a throw of 105-7.

“All three of our discus throwers were over 100 feet, which is a pretty big landmark for them to start the season with,” Arkema said.

Alberts and Blake Wilmesmeier finished 3-6 in the 3,200. Alberts’ third-place time was clocked in a personal-best 11:01.61 and Wilmesmeier was sixth in a career-best 11:49.15.

“Both freshmen in the 3,200 had tremendous first races at that distance,” Arkema said. “Colton ran one of the top times by anyone for Lynnville-Sully in at least the last five or six years. Blake ran well to be under 12 minutes and made some good passes during the last three laps.”

Terran Gosselink also was third in the 800 and his time was clocked in a career-best 2:10.65. Austin Larson (18.4) was fifth in the 110 high hurdles and Conner Deal (5-6) placed sixth in the high jump.

“It was a gritty race from Terran in the 800,” Arkema said. “He got out with the race leaders and really pushed himself. He’s just barely getting into shape so we are excited to see just how fast he could run this season.”