Huyser headlines L-S at state track meet

DES MOINES — Lynnville-Sully freshman Breah Lowry only got to compete in one event at the state track and field meet this past weekend.

But the blue oval left a big impression with the Hawk youngster, and she hopes to not be as nervous the next time she gets to run on it.

“I walked onto the track and just thought, ‘wow, there’s so many people.’ It was so cool,” Lowry said. “I was really nervous. I’m just glad to get this first year over with so I’m not so nervous next time.”

Lowry was part of the Hawks’ 4x400-meter relay team that once again set a school record in the preliminary round.

L-S did not make the finals or place in the top eight of any relay, but Tatum Huyser returned home with a pair of medals and the Hawk boys registered a handful of career- or season-best performances.

“The Hawks did a lot of great things over the course of the season and at the state meet,” L-S head girls track and field coach Kevin Johnson said. “We appreciate all of the efforts and hard work our athletes put in as they worked hard in the classroom as well as in track.”

The top finisher for the weekend was Huyser, who made the finals and placed in the top eight in both the 100 and 200.

She ran 12.49 seconds in the 100 in the prelims. That was good for third, but finished seventh in the finals after going 12.59.

Madrid’s Paige Richards won the Class 1A 100 in 12.06 and English Valleys’ Ava Gehrking was second in 12.38.

Huyser’s 200 time in the prelims was a career-best 25.59 and it lowered her own school record. That also was fast enough for third, but she finished sixth in the finals after posting a time of 26.17.

Saint Ansgar’s Jacey Johnston won the 200 in 25.26. Richards (25.35) was the runner-up.

“I’ve ran every day in two events. It adds up,” Huyser said when asked about her finishes. “But I’ve never ran the 100 here so making the finals was an accomplishment.”

Huyser missed earning a medal in the high jump by one position. She finished in a tie for ninth with a leap of 5 feet, 0 inches. She stayed alive with a clear of 4-10 on her third attempt and then went over 5-0 on her second try.

Nine jumpers cleared 5-0. Three of those tied for fifth and another grabbed the eighth and final state medal. HLV/TC’s Ema Roberts won her second straight high jump title with a leap of 5-9 1/2.

The next best individual finish for the Hawks came from Terran Gosselink in the 400 hurdles. He nearly won his heat after posting a career-best time of 56.8. That put him 11th overall and he cut his career best from 59.15 to 56.8 this season.

It took a 56.31 to earn the final state medal and Lenox’s Gabe Funk went back-to-back in the event, winning this year in 53.43.

Connor Deal also tied for 11th in the high jump and Dawson James produced a career-best throw and took 12th in the discus.

Deal’s best mark in the high jump was 5-11. He cleared 5-9 on his first attempt and went over 5-11 on his second try.

Paton-Churdan’s Trevor Keely won the title with a leap of 6-8 and Woodbine’s Landon Blume was the runner-up with a jump of 6-7.

“I’m not very happy with it, but at the end of the day, it’s what I did,” Deal said. “My main goal was just to PR, which would have been 6-3.”

Gosselink and Deal teamed up with Sawyer Veldhuizen and Ashton Rozendaal in the shuttle hurdle relay and the quartet finished 10th in the prelims in 1 minute, 2.67 seconds. The final qualifying time was 1:02.03.

The foursome that set a new school record in the event earlier this season loses only Gosselink to graduation.

“We were so close. We didn’t run our best time, but our best time wouldn’t have been top-eight either,” Deal said. “We lose our anchor, but most of us are back next year. We had five good hurdlers so we should be able to put something together. We’ll see how it goes.”

James competed in two events for the first time at the state meet. He was 12th in the discus after uncorking a career-best throw of 146-8 on his first attempt. He also went 137-10 and 131-10 on his other two throws.

It took a 153-4 to advance to the finals and Lamoni’s Ambrose Salvage won the title with a toss 158-10.

James also was 20th in the shot put. His best throw was marked at 43-3 3/4. That came on his third attempt after tosses of 40-8 3/4 and 43-1.

Trenton Warner of Nodaway Valley won the event with a heave of 53-11 3/4.

“His first throw of competition was his best and he came over afterwards saying he didn’t think it was that far as it didn’t ‘feel the best,’ but it was out there,” L-S head boys track and field coach Darin Arkema said. “I’m thankful and proud of his continued work, effort and commitment to getting better in this event. It was just a tremendous season of improvement for him.”

The L-S girls finished 12th in the 4x400 relay. The quartet of Isabelle Vos, Kate Harthoorn, Lowry and Huyser lowered their school-record time to 4:10.58 but needed a 4:08.01 to reach the finals. The Hawks posted a season-best time by 2 seconds.

“This group finished the year strong in districts and ran well at state, breaking the school record in both meets,” Johnson said.

The L-S girls finished 14th in the 4x800 relay with Harthoorn, Emma Parkinson, Olivia Norrish and Peyton Sharp.

The quartet posted a time of 10:17.59 but needed a 10:15.17 to finish in the top eight. Alta/Aurelia won the race in 9:43.53, which edged Earlham (9:43.94) by .41 seconds.

“It was fun to watch senior Olivia Norrish be able to run her last race at the state meet,” Johnson said. “We will miss our two seniors and wish them the best of luck.”

Mandeesa Vos and Isabelle Vos completed the Hawks’ state contingent.

Mandeesa Vos placed 19th in the 3,000 with a career-best time of 11:29.04. Council Bluffs St. Albert’s Lili Denton won the race in 9:42.04 and Collins-Maxwell’s Jayden Peters grabbed the final state medal with a time of 10:52.89. Peters was the 3,000 winner at the Lynnville-Sully state qualifying meet last week.

Isabelle Vos finished 21st in the long jump. Her best mark was her first attempt of 15-0 1/2. She scratched on her second attempt and went 14-11 1/2 on her final attempt.

The L-S boys ran a season-best time of 8:39.85 in the 4x800 relay and placed 18th. The quartet of Sam Terlouw, Gosselink, Blake Wilmesmeier and Hendrick Lowry set a season-best time by five seconds.

“(Gosselink) and (Lowry) were our senior leaders all season, both with their efforts and hard work, along with their model team-first attitude and approaches,” Arkema said. “They both got to finish their high school careers competing at the state meet for the first time. It’s a great examples of hard work and perseverance paying off for their younger teammates to see and follow.”

Oakland Riverside won the race in 8:01.86 and North Linn finished eighth in 8:23.49.

The Hawks’ 4x200 relay team of Jaiden Richards, Ethan Dunsbergen, Jace Johnson and Jack Bowlin placed 19th in 1:33.8.

The eighth-place medal time was clocked in 1:31.24 and Lisbon won the race in 1:28.44.

They were the last qualifiers to state on time but didn’t let being way out in lane 8 distract them from putting together a fast race and improving five spots,” Arkema said.

The Hawks’ final event of the weekend came in the boys 4x400 relay. The foursome of Dunsbergen, Hendrick Lowry, Gosselink and Michael Spooner posted a time of 3:40.84 in 24th.

Spooner was a replacement for Jace Johnson, who got banged up in the 4x200. It was the first time in Arkema’s long career that he needed to use an alternate on a state relay team.

“(Dunsbergen) and (Lowry) both had sub-55 second splits for their carries, Terran’s fourth race in two days led to not one of his better splits and Michael got the baton back a number of meters from the rest of the runners and still pushed himself and ran a season-best split. He finally got under 56 but not to a 55 but rather a 54.5. I’m so happy for him.”