Tuesday night’s Trojan Relays at Fairfield High School on April 14th was anything but ordinary. What was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. was delayed by lightning and thunder before a tornado warning struck Jefferson County, sending the storm north of Fairfield toward Packwood, Richland, and Wayland near the northern edge of the county line. The meet did not resume until 6:25 p.m. and ran past 10 p.m. before it was finished. The night was not without incident, as Van Buren County’s Camden Wells suffered a wrist injury during the shuttle hurdle relay earlier in the evening and was carted off the track. Through it all, Fairfield claimed the team title while Van Buren County and Pekin each picked up several standout performances throughout the long night.
Team Standings
Fairfield won the team title with 126 points, followed by Mount Pleasant with 95, Keokuk with 93, Fort Madison with 90, Pekin with 81, Van Buren County with 63, Burlington with 54, Pella with 47, Central Lee with 41, and Oskaloosa with 31.
Fairfield Results
Ethan Bisgard won the 100-meter dash in 11.30. Spencer McCready won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.03 and tied for first in the long jump with Chayce Smith of Keokuk, both clearing 21-06.50.
In the 200-meter dash, Bisgard placed second in 22.79 and Dayson Workman third in 23.57. Workman also placed third in the 100-meter dash in 11.43. Jacob Crew placed eighth in the 400-meter dash in 56.25 and Angel Quimby 12th in 1:07.10. McCready placed second in the 400-meter hurdles in 59.15 and Elijah Hamilton sixth in 1:03.11. Sawyer McCready placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.29.
Parker Reid placed fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:10.91 and River Fulton 11th in 2:17.53. John Miller placed fifth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:09.50 and Brice Boatright sixth in 5:10.68. Jordan Miller placed eighth in the 3,200-meter run in 13:06.31.
Both Fairfield’s 4×100 and 4×400 were disqualified. The 4×200 team of Eli Hoffman, Jaxon Coleman, Blake Burnett, and Voss Richardson placed third in 1:35.80. The 4×800 team of Brice Boatright, River Fulton, Elijah Hamilton, and John Miller placed fourth in 8:58.27. The sprint medley team of Dayson Workman, Voss Richardson, Ethan Bisgard, and Jacob Crew placed fourth in 1:39.91. The distance medley squad of Brady Wigle, Aiden Holthus, Brock Atwood, and Parker Reid placed second in 3:53.35. The shuttle hurdle relay group of Spencer McCready, Tucker Robertson, Sawyer McCready, and Blake Burnett placed third in 1:08.96. In JV action, the 4×400 team of River Fulton, Sam Nelson, Jordan Miller, and Angel Quimby won their event in 4:11.74.
Blake Burnett placed second in the high jump, clearing 6-00 behind Fort Madison’s Nolan Guzman at 6-02. Eli Hoffman placed seventh in the long jump at 19-03.50. Aiden Mizelle placed third in the discus at 123-09 and Clayton Greiner 13th at 106-03. William Bryant placed eighth in the shot put at 37-09 and Mizelle 12th at 36-04.
Head coach Brian Dunlap praised the team’s collective effort across all events. “I was very pleased with the entire team effort,” Dunlap said. “It takes everyone to win a team title. I thought Spencer McCready had a great night in the long jump and hurdle events. Workman and Bisgard scored well in the short sprints. But all areas scored points and contributed to the team title.”
Van Buren County Results
Lincoln Bainbridge won the 200-meter dash in 22.56. Jace Duncan set a new meet record in the 400-meter hurdles, winning in 56.08. The 800-meter sprint medley team of Jace Duncan, Gavin Noll, Jaren Troxel, and Lincoln Bainbridge set a new meet record with a time of 1:35.61, with Bainbridge receiving the baton in third place on the anchor leg and running down the leaders to claim the victory.
Jaren Troxel placed fifth in the 200-meter dash in 24.66. Aiden Cooper placed 10th in the 100-meter dash in 12.36. Marion Yoder placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.65. Landry Loeffler placed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:11.37 and Kayden Farris ninth in 2:17.20. Gavin Noll placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:04.56 and Sawyer Spiker 18th in 6:50.12. Spiker also placed seventh in the 3,200-meter run in 12:13.95.
The 4×100 team of Kaimrin Ellingson, Kavin Carter, Thomas Roberts, and Aiden Cooper placed fifth in 48.88. The 4×200 team of Kaimrin Ellingson, Thomas Roberts, Jackson Meek, and Aiden Cooper placed ninth in 1:40.11. The 4×400 team of Jackson Meek, Camden Wells, Kayden Farris, and Carver Goehring placed ninth in 3:57.61. The 4×800 team of Gavin Noll, Landry Loeffler, Thomas Roberts, and Jackson Meek placed third in 8:55.63. The distance medley team of Kavin Carter, Jaydan Pilcher, Jayce Simmons, and Kayden Farris placed fourth in 4:17.86. In JV action, Parker Boley won the 110-meter hurdles in 19.44.
During the shuttle hurdle relay, Van Buren County was leading in their heat against Pekin when anchor leg hurdler Camden Wells fell over the hurdles on the final leg, suffering a wrist injury and being carted off the track. The team did not finish the event.
Joni Yoder placed 16th in the long jump at 16-10.50 and Carver Goehring 17th at 16-03. Ryder Simmons placed 11th in the shot put at 36-09 and eighth in the discus at 114-08. Kaden Miller placed 15th in the shot put at 36-02. Jackson Meek placed 11th in the discus at 108-07.
Head coach Mike Bainbridge noted the team made a conscious decision to rest some athletes and experiment with lineups given back-to-back meets and some banged-up personnel. “With back-to-back meets and being a little banged up, we decided to rest some of the guys and try a few new things out tonight,” Bainbridge said. “I thought the stuff we did run, ran well.”
Bainbridge also praised the younger athletes who stepped up on the night. “It’s fun to run some JV stuff and get an opportunity to get some medals there,” he said. “Some of the young guys really stepped up and showed some grit tonight, which I love to see. We did get a couple of meet records so I was proud of the effort from those guys.”
He closed by addressing Wells’ injury directly. “We would like to say that we are all thinking about Camden and we are wishing him a speedy recovery,” Bainbridge said. “He’s a tough kid and I know he’ll bounce back from this difficult situation.”
Pekin Results
Pekin won four relay events, including a new meet record. The 4×200 team of Riley Smith, Aliyas Brock, Nolan Glick, and Alijah Brock set the new mark with a time of 1:30.93. Pekin also won the 4×400 relay with Riley Smith, Alijah Brock, Mason Dahlstrom, and Nolan Glick in 3:30.02, the 4×800 relay with Mason Dahlstrom, Cody Silvers, Brody Sobaski, and Lane Fariss in 8:40.07, and the distance medley with Aliyas Brock, Alijah Brock, Mason Dahlstrom, and Lane Fariss in 3:51.13. In JV action, Garett Greiner won the 3,200-meter run in 13:41.39 and the distance medley team of Asaa McCabe, Ryann Hammes, William Daniels, and Conor Cloyd won their event in 4:31.92.
Nolan Glick placed fourth in the 100-meter dash in 11.64 and Alijah Brock 15th in 12.84. Aliyas Brock placed sixth in the 200-meter dash in 24.84 and Henry Eubanks 10th in 26.41. Brody Sobaski placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in 54.11 and Cael Silvers sixth in 54.68.
Jaxon Mefford placed 10th in the 110-meter hurdles in 21.52 and seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.94. Cael Silvers placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.25. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Ryann Hammes, Jaxon Mefford, Ethan Porter, and Keegan Dickey placed sixth in 1:21.68.
Cody Silvers placed 14th in the 800-meter run in 2:22.14. Cole Millikin placed eighth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:18.31 and fourth in the 3,200-meter run in 11:35.69.
The sprint medley team of Aliyas Brock, Riley Smith, Alijah Brock, and Nolan Glick placed second in 1:35.93 — just 32 hundredths of a second behind Van Buren County’s meet record time.
Brody Sobaski placed fourth in the high jump clearing 5-08. Henry Adam placed 10th in the long jump at 18-02.50 and Keegan Dickey 13th at 17-06.50. Johnathan Delaney placed 17th in the shot put at 33-09 and 15th in the discus at 99-07. Cowen Weaver placed 18th in the discus at 83-05.
Other Winners
Among the other event winners on the night, Fort Madison’s Nolan Guzman won the high jump with a clearance of 6-02 and the 800-meter run in 1:59.42. Ryan Bair of Keokuk won the 400-meter dash in 51.60. Silas Hulett of Mount Pleasant won the 1,600-meter run in 4:43.45. Riley Tripp of Fort Madison won the 3,200-meter run in 10:31.07. Chayce Smith of Keokuk won the long jump with a leap of 21-06.50, tying with Fairfield’s Spencer McCready. Urijah Brooks of Fort Madison won the shot put with a throw of 57-03.50. Mason Frueh of Mount Pleasant won the discus at 133-06. Mount Pleasant won the 4×100 relay in 44.68 and Burlington won the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:06.50.
Photos by A.J. Roe.
