The Van Buren County and Sigourney boys track and field teams competed Tuesday, April 21st at the Warrior Relays at WACO, with Van Buren County claiming the Class A team title and Sigourney finishing second in the Class B division.
Team Standings
In Class A, Van Buren County won with 105 points, followed by Louisa-Muscatine and Cardinal tied with 76, West Burlington with 75, and Central Lee with 56. In Class B, Winfield-Mt. Union won with 100 points, followed by Sigourney with 85, New London with 73, WACO with 68, and Wapello with 23.
Van Buren County Class A Results
Lincoln Bainbridge won the 200-meter dash in 23.05. Jace Duncan won the 400-meter dash in 53.91 and also placed third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.67. Landry Loeffler had a dominant night in the distance events, winning both the 1,600-meter run in 4:57.93 and the 3,200-meter run in 10:26.36. Kayden Simmons won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.71.
Van Buren County also made plenty of noise in the relays, capturing five event victories. The quartet of Jace Duncan, Jaren Troxel, Jayce Simmons, and Lincoln Bainbridge won the 4×100 in 44.31. The 4×800 squad of Gavin Noll, Thomas Roberts, Jackson Meek, and Kayden Farris won in 9:26.97. The sprint medley group of Jace Duncan, Jaren Troxel, Kayden Simmons, and Lincoln Bainbridge won in 1:34.89. The distance medley crew of Kaimrin Ellingson, Kavin Carter, Aiden Cooper, and Landry Loeffler won in 4:00.50. The shuttle hurdle relay group of Parker Boley, Marion Yoder, Jaydan Pilcher, and Jayce Simmons won in 1:13.79.
The 4×100 relay win was made even more special by the fact that it marked the second consecutive night the team broke the school record in the event. On Monday at Central Lee, the team of Jace Duncan, Gavin Noll, Kayden Simmons, and Lincoln Bainbridge broke a school record that had stood since 1991, running a 44.50. Then on Tuesday at WACO, the team of Jace Duncan, Jaren Troxel, Kayden Simmons, and Lincoln Bainbridge broke that record again just 24 hours later with a 44.31 — setting a new school mark for the second night in a row.
Greyson Johnson of Cardinal won the 100-meter dash in 11.85. Jaren Troxel placed third for Van Buren County in 12.21, Joni Yoder 13th in 14.12, Lyrick Krouse 14th in 14.27, and Kaden Miller 15th in 14.28. Aiden Cooper placed fifth in the 200-meter dash in 25.15, Kavin Carter ninth in 26.57, and Andy Durflinger 14th in 29.24. Gavin Noll placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 57.15 behind winner Duncan.
Cavin Denney of West Burlington won the 800-meter run in 2:06.22. Thomas Roberts placed third for Van Buren County in 2:14.68 and Kayden Farris sixth in 2:21.96. Gavin Noll placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:11.46 and Sawyer Spiker ninth in 5:40.94. Spiker also placed sixth in the 3,200-meter run in 12:27.57 behind Loeffler’s winning time.
Oscar Cline of Louisa-Muscatine won the 400-meter hurdles in 57.23, with Duncan placing third in 1:00.67.
A second Van Buren County 4×100 team of Kaimrin Ellingson, Kavin Carter, Lyrick Krouse, and Marion Yoder placed seventh in 53.16. The 4×200 team of Jayce Simmons, Jackson Meek, Parker Boley, and Lyrick Krouse placed fourth in 1:47.02 behind winner Central Lee at 1:36.84. The 4×400 team of Aiden Cooper, Jackson Meek, Thomas Roberts, and Jaren Troxel placed second in 3:43.98, just behind Central Lee’s winning time of 3:43.90 — a difference of just eight hundredths of a second.
Gaije Carter of Louisa-Muscatine and Greyson Johnson of Cardinal tied for first in the long jump, both clearing 18-03. Joni Yoder placed eighth for Van Buren County at 16-01.50. Blake Lamansky of Cardinal won the shot put at 44-11.25, with Kaden Miller placing eighth for Van Buren County at 36-07, Ryder Simmons 12th at 30-10.75, and Cooper Philp 15th at 26-10.50. Lamansky also won the discus at 136-03, with Jackson Meek placing sixth for Van Buren County at 112-01.50, Simmons eighth at 93-09, and Philp 14th at 73-04.
Van Buren County head coach Mike Bainbridge was effusive in his praise for the team’s performance. “I am extremely proud of the team and the complete team performance tonight,” Bainbridge said. “I asked a lot of the guys and they responded well. The growth I’ve seen from this team is amazing. They have been working so hard and to see it paying off makes me so happy for them. Just an overall gutsy performance and one they should be very proud of.”
Sigourney Class B Results
Troy Klett won both the 1,600-meter run in 4:40.95 and the 3,200-meter run in 10:21.53, with Cole Klett placing second in the 3,200-meter run in 11:31.99. The 4×400 relay team of Levi Myers, Brayden Wood, Gauge Little, and Troy Klett won in 3:58.21. The 4×800 relay group of Gauge Little, Jordan Anderson, Isaac Jones, and Levi Myers won in 9:49.58. The distance medley crew of Lance Walden, Aiden Knepper, Brayden Wood, and Troy Klett won in 3:50.17.
London Franklin of New London won the 100-meter dash in 11.36. Carson O’Rourke placed fourth for Sigourney in 12.48, Graham Moore 10th in 13.52, and Aidyn Parker 12th in 14.37. In the 200-meter dash, Hayden Shelman of WACO won in 23.94. Aiden Knepper tied for second for Sigourney with Logan Franklin of New London, both running 24.68, and Brayden Wood placed fourth in 24.94. In the 400-meter dash, Jude Dykstra of WACO won in 52.36, with Cole Klett placing sixth for Sigourney in 1:02.40 and Brentley Weldon Kyle seventh in 1:05.10.
Elijah Ingwersen of New London won the 800-meter run in 2:08.78. Levi Myers placed second for Sigourney in 2:23.15, Jordan Anderson fourth in 2:26.82, and Isaac Jones fifth in 2:28.80. Cole Klett placed fifth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:09.00. Brentley Weldon Kyle placed fifth in the 3,200-meter run in 13:02.25.
The 4×100 team of Carson O’Rourke, Aiden Knepper, Graham Moore, and Lance Walden placed second in 47.07 behind winner New London at 43.17. The sprint medley team of Carson O’Rourke, Lance Walden, Gauge Little, and Brayden Wood placed second in 1:43.84 behind winner Wapello at 1:40.12.
Aiden Knepper placed fourth in the long jump at 19-04 behind winner London Franklin of New London at 22-06.50. Colin Anderson of Winfield-Mt. Union won the shot put at 43-08.25, with Graham Moore placing second for Sigourney at 41-09.25 and Aidyn Parker 10th at 29-11.75. Anderson also won the discus at 125-08.50, with Parker placing seventh for Sigourney at 86-05 and Jordan Anderson 15th at 59-02.
Sigourney head coach Jared Jensen credited his athletes for stepping up despite being shorthanded on the night. “Great effort from a short-handed team last night,” Jensen said. “Had guys gone for FFA and the rest of the guys stepped up big. Left some open events due to guys being gone, which ended up giving up too many points for the team title.”
Photo courtesy of the Van Buren County social media pages.
