Tri-County Times sports round-up: Ballard's Paityn Noe wins 3A girls 3,000 at state co-ed track meet
Ballard junior Paityn Noe didn't have her best time in the Class 3A girls 3,000-meter run Thursday at the state co-ed track meet.
It didn't matter.
Noe won the race in decisive fashion on a hot and windy afternoon. Her time of 10 minutes, 22.05 seconds was 32 seconds ahead of the rest of the 3A field.
“It feels awesome,” Noe said. “A lot of hard work during the season has paid off. I’m really happy with it.”
Noe got off to her usual strong start. Then she kept pulling away.
By the time she crossed the finish line Noe was more than 200 meters ahead of her nearest competitor — MOC-Floyd Valley's Emily Haverdink.
She admits she would have liked to run a faster time — Noe won the Drake Relays in 9:53.31. But Noe had West Des Moines Valley's Addison Dorenkamp, the 4A 3,000 champion Thursday morning, to push her in that race.
On Thursday Noe's stiffest competition came from the weather conditions.
“It’s definitely harder when you don’t have girls pushing you and I think the heat and the wind – especially down that backstretch – was brutal during the race,” Noe said. “You’ve just got to push through it.”
Considering the conditions, it was a very impressive performance.
“Paityn is such a fantastic teammate,” Ballard sophomore Ava Vance said. “It’s so awesome to watch her run and just demolish every race.”
And she wasn't done. Later on Friday Noe turned in an outstanding split in the second leg of the 3A girls 4x800 relay to lead Ballard to a sixth-place finish.
"It was definitely hard, but with these girls on this team you really just want to do your best," Noe said. "We did exactly what we wanted to do. I'm really proud of them."
Ballard finished the race in 9:55.87. The Bombers ran two freshmen in Annika Larson and Ava Richardson along with Noe and senior Kate Huisinga.
Huisinga ran on last year's fifth-place 4x800 team for the Bombers. As the only returning runner she was happy to share in the glory with her new teammates.
"I'm so proud of this team," Huisinga said. "I think we peaked at the right moment."
Vance placed 17th in the 3,000 with a time of 11:53.18. She was happy to run on the blue oval after battling tendinitis in her knee.
“I’ve had a rough start to the season, so I’ve just been trying to catch up,” Vance said. “I’m just grateful to make it to state and run with some really awesome ladies.”
Paityn Noe followed up her 3,000 state title with a runner-up finish to record-setting Carlisle star Ainsley Erzen in the 3A girls 1,500 Saturday.
Noe ran an outstanding time of 4:40.76, just off the old state record of 4:39.00. But Erzen was too much over the final 150 meters, using her elite sprinter speed down the stretch to win the race and break the state mark with a time of 4:36.96.
"My goal was to take it out as hard as I could and give it a little bit more at the end, but she had a strong kick at the end," Noe said. "Obviously I tried to keep up with her, but her speed is a little better than mine. But I'm proud with how I ended it with a PR."
Noe wasn't the only Bomber running in the race. Larson capped a fantastic finish to her first year of varsity track by placing fourth in the 1,500 with a time of 4:51.18.
"She did amazing," Noe said. "She came out at the end of the year and found her rhythm."
Larson surprised herself with her performance.
"Two months ago I didn't even want to get put in the 1,500," Larson said. "I had no idea I'd be here today."
Huisinga took 18th in the 3A girls 800 Saturday with a time of 2:28.67.
The Ballard girls distance medley team also placed 14th Friday. The Bomber team of Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson, Huisinga and Noe ran a time of 4:23.20.
Jameson Witt places 11th in 3A boys 400
Ballard sophomore Jameson Witt came in 11th in the 3A boys 400 Thursday.
Witt crossed the finish line in 51.16. Washington's Elijah Morris won the 3A boys 400 in 48.96 and Pella's Karl Miller was second in 49.48.
Witt also competed in the boys sprint medley relay Saturday. He was joined by Jayden Swain, Blake Stover and Chance Lande in running a 1:38.74 to place 18th in 3A.
Bomber sophomore Eli Rouse ran in the 3A boys 200 prelims Thursday. Rouse took 22nd in 23:45.
Collins-Maxwell takes fourth in 1A girls sprint medley, 4x100
The Collins-Maxwell girls sprint medley and 4x100 teams of Marissa Boege, Avery Fricke, Chloe Wierson and Houge both took fourth in 1A Saturday.
“We’ve never placed as high as fourth in an event here before,” Houge said. “To do what we did today was awesome.”
The sprint medley team ran a 1:53.28 to trail only Nashua-Plainfield (1:51.44), Mount Ayr (1:51.84) and Audubon (1:52.75).
“This whole season we’ve been building to be the best that we can be,” Boege said. “We just went out and proved ourselves.”
The 4x100 team clocked in with a season-best time of 51.11. Madrid won in a record time of 49.12, Wapello took second in 50.27 and Riverside was third with a 50.94.
Houge also placed sixth in the 1A girls 400 Thursday. She completed the race in 1:00.14.
"I feel like I gave it everything I had," Houge said. "I've been wanting a medal. Obviously I wanted to place higher, but it's OK. A medal is a medal."
Nashua Plainfield's Cadence Huck won the 1A girls 400 in 57.35.
Houge also ran in the 100 prelims Thursday, but she was disqualified for a false start.
The Collins-Maxwell girls shuttle hurdle team of Boege, Gracie Leslie, Hannah Kimberly and Fricke took 16th overall during Thursday's prelims with a time of 1:12.57.
Mary Staudt placed 14th in the 1A girls shot put for the Spartans with a personal-record throw of 33 feet, 10.5 inches.
Luke Huntrods and Ethan Haus competed individually for the Collins-Maxwell boys at state.
Huntrods threw the discus Friday. He finished 12th in 1A with a throw of 138-7.
Haus took 20th in the 1A boys 3,200 Thursday with a personal-record time of 10:47.05.
Ballard girls finish eighth at 3A regional golf meet
The Ballard girls golf team took eighth out of 12 teams at the 3A regional golf meet held at the Terrace Hills Golf Course in Altoona May 18.
The Bombers shot a 416 as a team over 18 holes. Gilbert and Adel-Desoto-Minburn were the two teams to advance to state from the regional with respective scores of 319 and 366.
Maddie Kielsmeier tied for 24th with a round of 101 to lead Ballard individually. Alliyah Thompson and Rylee Scherder were part of a five-way tie for 29th with identical rounds of 103 and Chastyn Gering tied for 41st with a 109.
Ballard baseball team starts off 1-3
The Ballard baseball team opened the season with a 1-3 record.
The Bombers defeated Dallas Center-Grimes in their opener May 16 by a 3-1 score at Nite Hawk Field in Slater. They lost at Webster City by a 3-1 score May 19 and dropped both games of doubleheader with Grinnell Friday by respective scores of 6-2 and 1-0.
Ballard jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings against DCG. The Bombers coasted the rest of the way behind a strong pitching performance from Rouse, who gave up 1 run on just 2 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts in 6 innings as the winning pitcher.
Jaden Peasley had 1 strikeout and walk apiece in 1 inning of relief against DCG. Jacob Ross drove in 2 runs, Jaren Njos was 1-for-3 with an RBI, Rouse singled and scored and Peasley also crossed the plate once.
In the loss to Webster City the Bombers gave up 2 runs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie and they couldn't respond.
Peasley doubled and scored, Njos had a double and an RBI and Rouse singled once against Webster City. Stover took the loss in relief after allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with 1 strikeout and 2 walks in 1 inning and Ross gave up 1 run on 7 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts in 5 innings as the Bomber starter.
In the 6-2 loss to Grinnell the Bombers fell behind 4-0 after two innings and never fully regrouped. Rouse, Jayden Cattell and Colby Calvert each had 2 hits, with Rouse also scoring twice and Cattell picking up an RBI.
Njos, Peasley and Haessig each singled once in the loss. Peasley was the losing pitcher after giving up 4 earned runs on 5 hits with 2 strikeouts and 3 walks in 5 innings and Owen Greco surrendered 1 run on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts in 2 innings.
In the 1-0 setback to Grinnell the Bombers were held to 4 hits. Njos was 2-for-4 and Haessig and Tristan Preston each singled once.
Grinnell scored its only run in the second inning. Haessig took the loss despite allowing just one unearned run on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks in 6 innings.
Jaxon Hermann had 1 walk and 1 strikeout in an inning of relief for the Bombers.
Spartan baseball team starts 1-1
The Collins-Maxwell baseball team opened its season with a 10-0 victory over BCLUW in 6 innings at Conrad May 17.
The Spartans broke a scoreless tie with 5 runs in the fourth inning. They added 3 more runs in the fifth and 2 in the sixth to end the game an inning early.
Jace Huntrods got the win after giving up 1 hit and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts in 4 shutout innings of work. Caden Hasbrouck and Cooper Wierson both threw a scoreless inning of relief, combining for 6 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Luke Huntrods was 2-for-3 with 2 runs and an RBI, Blake Huntrods went 1-for-3 with 1 run and RBI apiece, Hasbrouck was 2-for-4 with a run, Caleb Dvorak singled once and scored twice and Jace Huntrods was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run. Wierson added a single, Austin Kepple 1 run and RBI apiece, Josef Dvorak an RBI and Weston Kahler 1 run.
The Spartans suffered a 5-2 loss to Lynnville-Sully in 8 innings May 20 in Collins. Lynnville-Sully broke a 2-2 tie with 3 runs in the eighth and Collins-Maxwell couldn't respond.
Wierson was 2-for-2 with a double, Dvorak doubled once, Hasbrouck singled and drove in a run and Jace Huntrods singled once. Luke Huntrods had 1 run and RBI apiece and Blake Huntrods scored a run.
Kepple took the loss after giving up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts in 5 innings. Kahler allowed 1 earned run on 3 hits and 4 walks with 2 strikeouts in 3 innings.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: TCT sports round-up: Ballard's Paityn Noe wins 3A girls 3,000 at state
