Richardson’s four wins lead Bolts to team title at L-S qualifier

SULLY — The Baxter boys track and field team won five events and finished second in five others during the Class 1A state qualifying meet at Lynnville-Sully on Thursday.

The Bolts were good enough to put themselves in position to win a district championship.

Their toughest competition coming into the night was expected to be Iowa Valley. The Tigers were every bit as good as the Bolts, but a false start before the 4x100-meter relay opened the door for Baxter, and it walked through it on its way to the district championship.

“I was really excited from the start and getting some points on the board early helped us,” Baxter head boys track and field coach Ryan Hermes said. “We had some confidence going into the night and believing in ourselves, doing what we actually knew we can and trusting ourselves was a big part of it, too.”

Baxter led Iowa Valley by eight points with two events to go. The Tigers were heavily favored in the final two events of the night, but the false start took away 10 points, and the Bolts took advantage on the scoreboard with a five-point victory.

Baxter won the district championship with 126 points. Iowa Valley was second with 121, and the rest of the top five included Lynnville-Sully (116), BCLUW (63) and BGM (58).

“Coy Mergen got us an extra three points in the 200, and we needed any point we could get tonight,” Hermes said. “It just bounced our way. A few things here and there didn’t go our way, but we put kids in the best positions to qualify and I think we gave them the best chance to get to state.”

The top finisher in each Class 1A state qualifying meet advances to the state meet, and the next best 14 performances from around the state clinch at-large berths.

The Bolts left the state qualifying meet with five automatic bids into the state meet. They found out the next day that four other events earned at-large berths.

Matt Richardson headlined the group with four state events, Max Handorf clinched a state berth in three events on his 16th birthday and the duo led the Bolts with 1-2 finishes in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

Lynnville-Sully left its home track with a pair of automatic state bids, but the Hawks locked up six at-large berths on Friday afternoon.

“The opportunity to host our first-ever state qualifying meet, and for the members on the teams to have the chance to qualify for state for the first time ever on our home facility was just an awesome experience,” L-S head boys track and field coach Darin Arkema said. “Our guys competed awesome. They seized the opportunity in front of them and had an outstanding meet.”

The rest of the 14-team field included Montezuma (55), Collins-Maxwell (51), Colfax-Mingo (49), North Mahaska (30), North Tama (25), GMG (24), Meskwaki Settlement School (8), Twin Cedars (5) and Melcher-Dallas (3).

The Tigerhawks had to wait until Friday to see if they qualified for state in any event. They got good news though as the runner-up distance medley relay team was fast enough to lock up the final at-large bid.

“Sully Wilkins is one of the hardest workers I’ve coached,” Colfax-Mingo head boys track and field coach Matt Barkalow said. “His offseason running and year-round weightlifting have been difference makers for him. After narrowly missing state cross country this fall, I’m so happy for him that he qualified for state track this spring.”

Wilkins anchored the Tigerhawks’ distance medley relay to second. Colfax-Mingo’s quartet also included Tony Buenrostro, Wyatt Thornton and Chase Trotter and they posted a season-best time of 3 minutes, 48.11 seconds.

“Chase Trotter is a special talent and young man,” Barkalow said. “As a freshman, he turned in a 51.3-second leg on the distance medley at the state qualifying meet, and he’s going to be returning to Drake an awful lot the next three years.”

Colfax-Mingo had the lead for most of the race, but Baxter’s Richardson rallied his group to a win on the final leg.

Richardson passed Wilkins with about 300 meters to go in the race. The Bolts’ foursome also included Lincoln Betterton, Logan Rainsbarger and Eli Dee, and they won the race in 3:44.09.

It was just part of Richardson’s big night as he won the 1,600 and 3,200 and anchored the Bolts to a win in the 4x800 relay, too.

Richardson and Handorf both enter the state meet with top-10 times in the mile and two mile.

Richardson started his night with a win in the 3,200. He won the race in 10:07.6 and Handorf grabbed an at-large bid in second with a time of 10:16.82.

The duo also went 1-2 in the 1,600 as Richardson won in 4:34.42 and Handorf was second in 4:38.72.

Richardson will compete at state in four events for the first time in his career. He was 21st in the 3,200 as a sophomore and 10th last year and finished 12th last spring in the 1,600. Handorf was 22nd in the 3,200 as a freshman last season.

“I’m excited, and the four events are spread out on all three days,” Richardson said. “So I can run fresh mostly.”

Handorf and Richardson joined freshmen Maddux Tuhn and Hayden Burdess in the 4x800 relay shortly after the 3,200 and the Bolts still won the race in a season-best and school-record time of 8:34.11. That’s the 10th-best qualifying time in Class 1A.

The Bolts’ fifth win came from Dee in the long jump. He won the event with a career-best leap of 20 feet, 11 1/4 inches.

Dee scratched on his first two jumps and had to have a decent mark on his third attempt just to make the finals.

“I was nervous, but I knew I had to get one out there,” Dee said. “I was way off the board to make sure I got it in. I just started earlier this season. The more I practice, the better I get. I’m more comfortable with it.”

The other two state qualifiers were Rainsbarger in the 110 highs and Handorf in the 800.

Rainsbarger finished second in the 110 high hurdles in a career-best time of 15.23 seconds and Betterton was sixth in 16.63.

Rainsbarger was 17th in the event last year and placed 15th as a sophomore.

“It feels utterly amazing,” said Rainsbarger, whose career-best time in the event also broke his own school record. “I did not have a good year last season so I had to come out and prove myself again. And to do it on a night that’s potentially my last feels incredible.”

Handorf was the runner-up in the 800 in 2:04.51, but that was good enough to lock up an at-large berth.

Carter Smith missed out on a state berth in his final try. He took second in the discus with a toss of 135-0 and placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 43-3.

Betterton (career-best 23.24) and Coy Mergen (career-best 24.14) went 3-6 in the 200. Betterton missed out on an at-large berth by .03 seconds.

Dee also placed fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5-4, and the Bolts 4x100 relay team of Mergen, Dee, Betterton and Rainsbarger finished third in a season-best 45.91 seconds. The final at-large time was 44.91.

The Hawks’ two automatic berths came in field events. Connor Deal won the high jump with a leap of 6-0 and James uncorked a career-best throw of 135-8 to win the discus.

James also clinched an at-large bid in the shot put as he was third with a career-best throw of 46-1 1/2.

“I’ve been throwing discus for two and a half years and just haven’t been good at all,” James said. “I even told my coach I didn’t want to throw it anymore. I wanted to be done with it a few weeks ago. Then it clicked one day, and it’s gotten better every meet since then.

“I had three PRs on the night. 132-133-135. A lot of people were struggling with the wind, but it didn’t affect me as much.”

The other individual state qualifier was Terran Gosselink. He was the runner-up in the 400 hurdles, but his career-best time of 57.33 was the 20th-best qualifying time. Sawyer Veldhuizen finished fifth in the event in 1:00.03.

Colton Alberts finished third in the 3,200 with a time of 10:46.61. The final at-large time was 10:46.01 and Madden Gunsaulus (12:11.76) placed sixth.

Alberts wasn’t the only Hawk to just miss out on a state berth. Jace Johnson was sixth in the 100, but his time of 11.56 was .01 seconds off the final state qualifying time. He also was faster than two champions at other sites.

Deal ran a career-best 16.05 in the 110 high hurdles and placed third. Alberts (career-best 4:49.76) and Blake Wilmesmeier (career-best 4:54.26) went 3-4 in the 1,600, too.

The Hawks are headed to state in four relays. While they came up short in some individual races, L-S grabbed the final at-large times in both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

The 4x200 relay team of Jaiden Richards, Ethan Dunsbergen, Johnson and Jack Bowlin finished third in a season-best 1:33.67.

Dunsbergen, Hendrick Lowry, Johnson and Gosselink were second in the 4x400 relay in a season-best 3:32.81.

L-S opened its night on the track with a runner-up finish in the 4x800 relay. The team of Sam Terlouw, Gosselink, Wilmesmeier and Lowry grabbed one of the final at-large berths with a time of 8:44.88.

The shuttle hurdle relay also is headed to state after posting a time of 1:02.8. That quartet featured Deal, Veldhuizen, Ashton Rozendaal and Gosselink.

“I think our time is fast enough,” Deal said about the Hawks’ shuttle hurdle time. Iowa Valley ran a big PR today, but our time was better than our conference time. It’s still top 11 or so. I think it will hold up.

“I moved my steps a little in the high jump. The wind was pushing it a little bit so if you barely hit it, it was falling today.”

Colfax-Mingo’s distance medley crew is heading to the state meet for the first time.

Three of them also ran the 4x400 relay and finished third in 3:37.56. That quartet was Trotter, Thornton, Izaiah Lewis and Buenrostro. It was their second-best time of the season but not quite fast enough for an at-large berth.

“It’s been great having Tony Buenrostro back out as a senior following a two-year hiatus,” Barkalow said. “He’s an amazing starter — both quick out of the blocks and a very fast sprinter when in full-stride.”

The Tigerhawks’ sprint medley relay team also was third. The foursome of Isaiah Baucom, Camden Cunningham, Fisher Grove and Lewis posted a time of 1:44.77.

Thornton was the closest individual to earning an at-large berth. He was fourth in the 400 hurdles in a career-best 58.13 seconds. The final at-large time was 57.75.

Thornton wasn’t sure if his time would be good enough, but he felt like it gave him a shot.

“Wyatt Thornton would have won one of the other districts in the 400 hurdles from his state qualifying time but it’s great to see him qualify on the distance medley,” Barkalow said.

Wilkins ran a career-best 2:06.31 and placed fourth in the 800, Xavier Woods took fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-6 and Grove (56.96) was sixth in the 400.