Woodward-Granger’s Polich hits hole-in-one, girls track makes big jump
It was a good week to buy some Woodward-Granger stock thanks to a couple of career moves all the way down to the middle school level. (Note: Events covered May 1-7)
Girls Track
Last year, the Hawks found themselves in the last slot at the WCAC track meet. This year, they bumped their point total by over 700 percent and five spots into sixth place at this year’s meet on May 2.
One of the most significant differences proved to be freshman Eva Fleshner who won the 3,000-meter run at 11 minutes 55 seconds and also placed third in the 1,500-meter run, two big lifts to the Hawks’ overall standings. While those are not personal records — a high bar considering she owns the school record in the 3000 now — she’s well-situated for a state qualifying run on Thursday.
Of the schools that will convene in Van Meter along with the Hawks, Fleshner ranks first in the 3,000 and third in the 1,500 (behind the two Van Meter runners that beat her at the previous meet.) A top-two finish gives an automatic berth. At-large bids are handed out to the next eight fastest times from the qualifying meets. As the No. 10 ranked 1500 meter runner this year, the odds still look in her favor for two bids.
The Hawk’s future stock also received a bump when the Hawks’ middle school team tied for first place in the small school division at the state meet on Saturday in Waukee, boasting a couple of school relay records broken throughout the season.
Boys Track
The Hawks walked out of the WCAC meet with a 10th place tag, but nevertheless, found themselves with a number of accomplishments thanks to four personal records set at the meet.
While they didn’t score points, Abraham Bell set his new best in the 400-meter dash, Chandler Drake set his mark in the 800, Alex Younts marked his fastest 1,500 and Bryce Polich tossed his best shot put of the season.
Boys Golf
National Hole-in-One Registry estimates that the odds of an amateur making a hole-in-one is 12,500 to 1. Dane Polich became that one on May 4 at Jester Park when he sunk the par three hole in one swing, marking one of the rarest feats in high school sports.
The day prior at the WCAC meet, Max Behrens led the team with an 88 on the 18 holes at Panorama for ninth place, keeping the Hawks competitive at fourth place among the 11 attending teams. The team’s leader for the lowest score of the season, Nick Bermel was ranked 10th with one stroke behind Behrens.
Girls Golf
Woodward claimed fourth prize at the conference meet with 456 strokes on May 1 at the home course. Had they repeated their previous performance on that same turf from just a few days ago, the Hawks would have topped Van Meter’s 424 for first place.
But there is good reason to believe there was little chance of duplicating that performance considering the inflated numbers down the board. Lindsay Mescher holds the team’s low on 18 holes this year at 93. She managed to walk away from the conference meet with a third place honor with 103 swings. Van Meter’s champion was also three strokes behind her season average.
Signings
After dominating the glass the past three years in Woodward, Gracelyn Deputy signed the dotted line on Friday to continue her basketball career with Iowa Lakes Community College. She was joined by Gabby Griffin who inked her name with William Penn to join their dance team after leading the Hawks’ group through the years.
This article originally appeared on Perry Chief: Woodward-Granger’s Polich hits hole-in-one, girls track makes big jump
