Boys
MARENGO – North Mahaska has been chasing the 1,600-meter relay record all season and on Friday accomplished the feat. The effort helped them to a second place finish at the South Iowa Cedar League championships in Marengo.
The meet began on Tuesday, April 30 but due to weather did not conclude until Friday. The meet resumed for the running of the 400 and 1,600 meter relays. Lucas Nunnikhoven, Kaleb Stout, Nate Sampson, Andy Knockel chased down a 31-year old mark set in 1993. The Warhawk quartet covered the distance in 3 minutes 30.54 seconds to beat the record held by Charlie Newport, Jeremy DeBoef, Bryan Jackson and Ben DeBoef, who held the record at 3:31.7.
In the meet NM picked up four first place finishes, three seconds and doubled in three events. Iowa Valley won the meet with 132 points with NM scoring 108. Lynnville-Sully was third with 100.5.
Nunnikhoven notched a win the 400 hurdles in 57.67. Andy Knockel won the 400 in 50.30 and teammate Asher DeBoef was sixth in 55.25. The other victory came in the 3,200-meter relay with the team of DeBoef, Sampson, Ben Yang and Brayden Veiseth in 8:37.36.
Knockel took second in the 200 meters in 23.12 and added a fourth in the 100 in 11.43. Veiseth added a second in the 1,600 in 4:51.83 and DeBoef was seventh in 5:13.09. Veiseth and Sampson ran 3-4 in the 800. Veiseth finished in 2:07.86 while Sampson ran 2:10.88.
“I speak for coach Amy Griffin, as well, to say that these kids have been particularly fun to coach throughout the season,” said coach Phil Griffin. “It was a difficult season, weather wise, and we missed several meets, and the hardest one to miss is our own home relays. But, through it all, the kids kept good attitudes and competed to the max, when they did get to compete.
Hunter Wernli, Chance Angle, Stout and Yang placed second in the distance medley in 3:52.75. Wernli. Nunnikhoven, Angle and Gage Ries were third in the sprint medley in 1:40.24. The 800-meter relay team of Wernli, Ries, Angle and Stout was fourth in 1:37.23.
The Warhawks’ 400-meter relay team was fifth in 47.12 and the shuttle hurdle was sixth in 1:11.66. Nunnikhoven was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 19-feet 5-inches. Austin McMahan was eighth in the discus with a throw of 96-5. Max Reed ran eighth in the 100 hurdles in 18.23.
North Mahaska will participate in the Class 1A district meet at Sigourney on Thursday.
Team Scores: 1. Iowa Valley 132, North Mahaska 108, 3. Lynnville-Sully 100.5, 4. Montezuma 93, 5. English Valleys 78, 6. Belle Plaine 67, 7. Sigourney 52, 8. BGM 46, 9. Colfax-Mingo 26, 10. HLV 25, 11. Keota 11.5.
Girls
Sophomore Emmerson Jedlicka and freshman Nataliya Linder picked up individual wins to help the North Mahaska girls track team to a fourth place finish at the South Iowa Cedar League championships the past week. English Valleys took the top spot with 115 points with Lynnville-Sully and HLV tying for second with 113. NM scored 101.5.
Jedlicka won the 3,000 meters in 11 minutes 53.74 seconds and took second in the 1,500 in 5:30.13. Linder captured the long jump with a leap of 16-feet 2-inches and teammate Abby Van Weelden was eight with a jump of 13-8. Jayden Hiner was second in the high jump with a jump of 4-10.
Ally Steil was second in the 800 meters in 2:34.76 and Ava Huffman was eighth in 2:43.38.
The sprint medley team of Regan Grewe, Kieren Perez, Addison Terpstra and Kayla Readshaw was runnerup in 2:02.53. Van Weelden, Amber Knockel, Huffam and Steil was second in the 3,200-meter relay in 11:00.68.
The final runnerup spot came in the 1,600-meter relay with Steil, Alivia Schock, Linder and Readshaw covering the distance in 4:17.35.
The Warhawks finished fourth in the 400-meter and the 800-meter relays in 54.69 and 1:59.15 respectively. Readshaw was fourth in the 400 in 1:06.09 and Sydney Andersen was fourth in the shot with a put of 33-9.
Linder ran fifth in the 400 hurdles in 1:15.95. Addison Terpstra was seventh in the 200 in 29.20 and Perez was seventh in the 100 in 14.26.
North Mahaska will compete in the district meet at Sigourney on Thursday for a spot in the state championships.
Team Scores: 1. English Valleys 115; 2. Tie, Lynnville-Sully, HLV, 113; 4. North Mahaska 101.5; 5. Iowa Valley 59.5; 6. Belle Plaine 55; 7. Tie, Sigourney, Montezuma 52; 9. Colfax-Mingo 43.5; 10. BGM 15.5; 11. Keota 13.
