Wolverines, Tigers, Lady Mustangs race in Osceola

Apr. 2—OSCEOLA — Nodaway Valley, Murray and Lenox hit the track in Osecola for the DeWitt Invitational Thursday night, posting strong times early in the season.

Nodaway Valley's team score of 167 firmly put it in first place. Lenox scored 83 points for third and Murray scored 33 points for sixth. The three teams competed in a split division meet, all in Division A.

The Wolverines dominated, winning six events while having a chance to medal in nearly every event. Even with scoring over 150 points, and winning half a dozen events, NV's camp says there's still work to be done after seeing some bright spots.

"I think we've got a lot of bright spots that are going to be brighter than I thought they were going to be," said Nodaway Valley girls track and field head coach Brett Welch. "There's some areas we've got to work on, but overall I think with the basketball girls going as far as they did, and the cold weather, and spring break in there, I think we're a little behind but we're pretty close to where we need to be."

The returning state-qualifying veterans of Maddax DeVault, Jena Yonker, Natlie Yonker and Sophia Broers all shined in their season-opening meet. DeVault, in particular, looked like she was in mid-season form for the Wolverines.

DeVault's season opened with wins in the open 200, clocking a time of 27.00. DeVault also took second in the 400, running a time of 1:04.13. She was also the anchor in the 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay team, helping clinch first over Wayne by a second at 1:12.01.

"Maddax did a great job. The shuttle hurdle did a great job," said Welch. "We've got a lot of bright spots and a lot of things we can build upon. I'm pretty excited. Overall I think we had a pretty good meet."

One noticeable figure was absent from the Wolverine team Thursday. Lexi Shike, an integral part of both Drake Relay-qualifying and state-qualifying 4x100 team from 2019, opted to not go out for track this spring.

The decision to not go out would cripple most teams, but a young freshman and sophomore class will be looked at to fill her spot and continue the team's success.

"Annika Nelson, Maddie Fry, both of those (underclassmen)," said Welch. "... They've got some shoes to fill but I think they're very capable of doing it. ... We're going to do some evaluating and maybe make with some stronger relays here an there. Overall, a good start to the season."

Annika Nelson took first in the 100 meter hurdles, edging Lenox's Cassidy Nelson at a time of 17.79. Fry was the opening leg of the 4x100 shuttle hurdle team, which also qualified for state in 2019, and was the third leg of the 4x100 team that finished second Thursday. The team clocked a time of 55.52.

With plenty of underclassmen seeing the track and field for the first time this season, Welch said the underclassmen and upperclassmen have worked well to stay in shape and work on things in between events.

"It's funny. A lot of times you see the freshmen kind of standing around, and you have to remind them to get warmed up and work on your handoffs," said Welch. "The upperclassmen do a good job, but sometimes I got to get on them too. The 4x100 team, I saw them out there working on handoffs and there were some really good handoffs (Thursday)."

In the field, the Wolverines also showed success, finishing with four medalists. Bella Hogan threw the shot 27-06.50 for sixth-place, Sophia Chafa threw the discus 85-05 for third, and Maddie Fry and Natalie Yonker took first and second in the long jump.

Fry's jump went 16-00.50 and Yonker jumped 15-00.

Lenox, Murray post mixed results

Lenox had multiple first place finishes in relay races, taking first in the distance medley with the group of Cassidy Nelson, Brooklyn Ecklin, TJ Stoaks and McKinna Hogan at 4:43.47.

Nelson, Stoaks and Hogan stayed busy, each winning or finishing as runner-up in events.

In the 800 meters, Hogan took first with a time of 2:43.37. She also took first in the 1,500, running a time of 5:52.22 to edge Nelson's second-place time of 6:00.27.

Stoaks clocked a time of 1:17.04 in the 400 meter hurdles, edging Wayne's Morgan Groetska by a second for first. In the field, Lenox did not have a girl throw discus, but did have Stoaks appear in the shot put.

Stoaks threw the shot 28-11.50 for fourth-place in the field. Murray's Emma Decker edged Stoaks, finishing third with a toss of 29-06.50.

Murray had medalists in the 100 meter and 200 meter drash, getting two fourth-place finishes by Leksi Gannon at 13.97 and 29.70, respectively.

In the relays, Lexie Penick, Jalie Baumfalk, Emma Decker and Gannon scored two points with a fifth-place finish at a time of 2:12.85. The Lady Mustangs also had a fourth-place finish at 1:25.71 in the 4x100 meter shuttle hurdle, scoring four points.

The best finish in the relays for Murray came in the 4x200, with the combination of Penick, Baumfalk, Jayda Chew and Teryn Sheilds taking second at 2:03.80.

Results

100 meters — 1. Reese Brown, Wayne, 13.48; 2. Jena Yonker, Nodaway Valley, 13.63; 3. Kylie Keller, Martensdale-St. Marys, 13.92; 4. Leski Gannon, Murray, 13.97; 5. AMy Kish, Pleasantville, 14.44; 7. Grace Britten, Nodaway Valley, 14.78; 10. Lexie Penick, Murray, 15.59; 12. Ava Junker, Lenox, 16.30; 14. Emilee Reed, Lenox, 17.46

200 meters — 1. Maddax Devault, Nodawat Valley, 27.00; 2. Kylie Keller, Martensdale-St. Marys, 27.94; 3. Annika Nelson, Nodaway Valley, 28.59; 4. Leksi Gannon, Murray, 29.70; 5. Amy Kish, Pleasantville, 30.31; 7. Brooklyn Ecklin, Lenox, 30.81; 10. Jayda Chew, Murray, 31.78; 11. Cadence Douglas, Lenox, 31.83.

400 meters — 1. Maddax DeVault, Nodaway Valley, 1:04.13; 2. Abbie Engles, Nodaway Valley, 1:07.78; 3. Jaide Harvey, Wayne, 1:08.63;b 4. Kate Puderbaugh, Martensdale-St. Marys, 1:09.20; 5. Cadence Douglas, Lenox, 1:11.65; 6. Ava Junker, Lenox, 1:14.71.

800 meters — 1. McKinna Hogan, Lenox, 2:43.37; 2. Mia Shanks, Mormon Trail, 2:52.63; 3. Hailee McCormick, Pleasantville, 2:52.63; 4. Maddy Wood, Wayne, 2:53.95; 5. Abigayle Henderson, Wayne, 3:07.62; 6. Trenidy Shimer, Lenox, 3:14.36; 7. Lilly Dahl, Nodaway Valley, 3:45.95.

100 meter hurdles — 1. Annika Nelson, Nodaway Valley, 17.79; 2. Cassidy Nelson, Lenox, 17.89; 3. Morgan Goretska, Wayne, 18.60; 4. Natalie Yonker, Nodaway Valley, 19.96; 5. Rayne Olson, Pleasantville, 21.21; 7. Jaile Baumfalk, Murray, 21.32; 9. Lyla Riemenschneider, Murray, 22.00; 22. Emile Robinson, Lenox, 22.30.

400 meter hurdles — 1. TJ Stoaks, Lenox, 1:17.04; 2. Morgan Goretska, Wayne, 1:18.04; 3. Morgan Knutson, Wayne, 1:18.41; 4. Genevieve Livingston, Nodawat valley, 1:30.41; 5. Morgan Keller, Murray, 1:32.66; 8. Erin Rhoads, Nodaway Valley, 1:41.43.

Sprint medley — 1. Martensdale-St. Marys, 2:03.43; 2. Wayne, 2:04.17; 3. Nodaway Valley (J. Yonker, Stuva, Davis, Engles), 2:04.91; 4. Lenox (Nelson, Ecklin, Hogan, Stoaks), 2:08.54; 5. Murray (Penick, Baumfalk, Decker, Gannon), 2:12.85.

Distance medley — 1. Lenox (Nelson, Ecklin, Stoaks, Hogan), 4:43.47; 2. Martensdale-St. Marys, 4:45.03; 3. Wayne, 4:54.45; 4. Pleasantville, 5:06.19; 5. Mormon Trail, 5:25.03; 6. Nodaway Valley, Longobardi, Johnson, Davis, Rhoads), 5:32.62; 7. Murray (Shields, Timmons, Keller, Lynn), 5:39.59.

1,500 meters — 1. McKinna Hogan, Lenox, 5:52.22; 2. Cassidy Nelson, Lenox, 6:00.27; 3. Sophia Broers, Nodaway Valley, 6:04.42; 4. Erin Ford, Nodaway Valley, 6:11.68; 8. Jaden Lynn, Murray, 7:02.61.

3,000 meters — 1. Sophia Broers, Nodaway Valley, 12:58.91; 2. Erin Ford, Nodaway Valley, 13:15.05; 3. Emmie Kenyon, Pleasantville, 14:19.54; 4. Dannin Hintz, Pleasantville, 16:08.54.

4x100 shuttle hurdle — Nodaway Valley (Fry, N. Yonker, Nelson, DeVault), 1:12.01; 2. Wayne 1:13.74; 3. Pleasantville, 1:19.34; 4. Murray (Baumfalk, Decker, Riemenschneider, Keller), 1:25.71.

4x100 meters — 1. Martensdale-St. Marys, 54;85; 2. Nodaway Valley (J. Yonker, Lundy, Fry, N. Yonker), 55.52; 3. Wayne, 56.32; 4. Pleasantville, 56.77; 5. Murray (Chew, Penick, Decker, Gannon), 57.99; 7. Lenox (Reed, Robinson, Douglas, Ecklin), 1:02.29.

4x200 meters — 1. Wayne, 1:57.37; 2. Murray (Penick, Baumfalk, Chew, Shields), 2:03.80; 3. Nodaway Valley (J. yonker, Britten, Davis, Engles), 2:06.84; 4. Pleasantville, 2:08.59; 5. Martensdale-St. Marys, 2:09.51.

4x400 meters — 1. Wayne (all names not available), 4:26.70; 2. Nodaway Valley (Davis, Engles, Nelson, DeVault), 4:32.40; 3. Martensdale-St. Marys (all names not available), 4:43.90; 4. Pleasantville (all names not available), 5:20.90; 5. Mormon Trail (all names not available), 5:34.50; 6. Murray (Shields, Timmons, Baumfalk, Riemenschneider), 5:44.10.

4x800 meters — 1. Wayne, 11:40.20; 2. Nodaway Valley (Rhoads, Lundy, Stuva, Livingston), 12:38.10; 3. Martensdale-St Marys, 12:43.50; 4. Lenox (Junker, Reed, Robinson, Shimer), 12:48.30; 5. Pleasantville, 13:15.80.

Shot put — 1. Kaylee Hodnfield, Pleasantville, 34-06; 2. Emily Jones, Wayne, 32-09.25; 3. Emma Decker, Murray, 26-06.50; 4. TJ Stoaks, Lenox, 28-11.50; 5. Anna Parrott, Martensdale-St. Marys, 28-0350; 6. Bella Hogan, Nodaway Valley, 27-06.50.

Discus throw —

Long jump — 1. Maddie Fry, Nodaway Valley, 16-00.50; 2. Natalie Yonker, Nodaway Valley, 15-00; 3. Brynly German, Martensdale-St. Marys, 14-03.50; 4. Hailey Klein, Pleasantville, 13-11; 5. Mya Willey, Wayne, 13-10; 6. Amaiya Hawkins, Wayne, 13-05.