Van Buren County’s track and field programs made a strong statement at the Southeast Iowa Superconference Meet at WACO on Thursday, May 7th, with the girls finishing second in the South Division and the boys also placing second — all while racking up conference championships, meet records, and personal bests heading into next week’s state qualifying meet.
Girls South Division Standings
Mediapolis won the South Division girls title with 176 points, followed by Van Buren County with 145, West Burlington with 98, Danville with 66, Central Lee with 65, and New London with 19. WACO won the North Division with 139 points.
Van Buren County Girls
The Van Buren County girls placed second in the South Division with 145 points, claiming five conference championships and setting personal records in three of those winning efforts.
Adalyn Snowgren dominated the 3,000-meter run, winning the conference championship in a personal record 12:24.68 — more than 21 seconds ahead of runner-up Macy Anderson of Central Lee at 12:46.46 — with Jacqueline Singer fourth in 13:25.59. Aubrey Loeffler claimed the 400-meter hurdles conference title in 1:13.80, pulling away from runner-up Allison Gillip of New London at 1:15.26, with Adalyn Snowgren fifth in 1:20.09. The 4×100 relay crew of Emma Coffin, Aida Troutman, Daphny Wells, and Ava Loeffler ran away with the conference title in a personal record 51.96 — nearly two seconds clear of Danville’s second-place 53.84 — a time that also would have topped the North Division. The 4×200 relay foursome of Emma Coffin, Aubrey Loeffler, Aida Troutman, and Ava Loeffler seized the conference championship in a personal record 1:50.24, with Danville a close second in 1:51.15 — a time that also would have won the North Division. The 4×800 relay unit of Rory Philips, Rylee Philips, Gabby Titus, and Kayley Snowgren dominated the conference title in a personal record 10:16.83 — more than 23 seconds ahead of Mediapolis’s second-place 10:40.16 — a time that also would have topped the North Division.
Emma Coffin placed second in the 100-meter dash in 13.85 behind winner Kaylee Webb of West Burlington at 13.41, with Grace Richards ninth in 15.83. Daphny Wells placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 29.63 behind winner Meadow Bennett of West Burlington at 28.55, with Willow Worley eighth in 31.86. Adalyn Snowgren placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 1:07.61 and Gabby Titus sixth in 1:09.23, behind winner Alaina Gourley of Danville at 59.76.
Kayley Snowgren placed third in the 800-meter run in 2:28.26 behind winner Avery Dietz of Mediapolis at 2:22.33, with Titus seventh in 2:49.12. Rylee Philips claimed second in the 1,500-meter run in 5:17.87 and Rory Philips third in 5:32.24, behind winner Bryn Wright of Mediapolis at 5:09.91.
Armoney Adams placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles in 19.45 behind winner Layne Price of Mediapolis at 17.37. Adalyn Snowgren placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:20.09 behind winner Loeffler.
The sprint medley foursome of Ali Pedretti, Emma Coffin, Aida Troutman, and Ava Loeffler placed second in 1:57.08 behind winner Danville at 1:55.52. The shuttle hurdle relay crew of Ali Pedretti, Aubrey Loeffler, Willow Worley, and Armoney Adams was third in 1:21.72 behind winner West Burlington at 1:12.99. The 4×400 squad of Ali Pedretti, Kayley Snowgren, Elli Daugherty, and Gabby Titus placed fourth in 4:39.62 behind winner West Burlington at 4:15.37, and the distance medley unit of Daphny Wells, Ali Pedretti, Rory Philips, and Kayley Snowgren rounded out the relay results with a third-place finish in 4:37.36 behind winner Mediapolis at 4:21.62.
Adalyn Snowgren placed third in the high jump clearing 4-06, with Aubrey Loeffler fifth also at 4-06, behind winner Avery Crear of Mediapolis at 4-10. Aida Troutman placed second in the long jump at 15-00.50 behind winner Evie Schmidgall of Mediapolis at 15-07.25. Briley Losey placed fourth in the discus at 86-11 and third in the shot put at 31-03, with Sophia Scharf 10th in the discus at 69-02 and Elli Daugherty sixth in the shot put at 27-08, behind winner Payton Harris of Mediapolis in the discus at 114-10 and Marlia Kluyts of West Burlington in the shot put at 33-08.
Head coach Lucinda DeHart said the night was exactly what the coaching staff had been building toward all season. “Our girls competed extremely well tonight at the conference meet, and we were very proud of their effort and performances. Although we finished second behind Mediapolis, we saw many personal records and strong performances across the board. As coaches, we have tried to train the girls all season, intending to be at our best at the end of the year, especially during conference and the state qualifying meet. We were excited with the way the girls competed tonight and the progress they continue to make. We still have areas we can improve and fine-tune, but overall, things are moving in a positive direction as we prepare for next week’s state qualifying meet,” DeHart said.
Boys South Division Standings
Mediapolis won the South Division boys title with 161 points, followed by Van Buren County with 115, New London with 110, West Burlington with 93, Danville with 65, and Central Lee with 31. Columbus won the North Division with 172 points.
Van Buren County Boys
The Van Buren County boys placed runner-up in the South Division boys standings with 115 points, but the night belonged to them in the individual and relay events — claiming six conference championships, breaking three meet records, and a new school record in the 4×400 relay. Lincoln Bainbridge was the individual star of the evening, claiming four conference championships across his two individual events and two relay appearances.
Kayden Simmons seized the 110-meter hurdles conference championship in 15.75, edging Gannon Gunn of Mediapolis by just 23 hundredths at 15.98, with Parker Boley fifth in 18.11. Lincoln Bainbridge obliterated the field in the 400-meter dash, winning the conference championship in a meet record 48.88 — more than two seconds ahead of Nathan Schmidgall of Mediapolis in second at 51.23 — a time that also would have won the North Division race, with Aiden Cooper fourth in 54.39. Jace Duncan dominated the 400-meter hurdles in 55.21 — a conference championship that also would have won the North Division — with Kayden Simmons right behind him in a remarkable second-place finish at 56.80, giving Van Buren County a one-two sweep ahead of Logan Hamma of West Burlington in third at 57.33.
Bainbridge continued his dominant evening by winning the 800-meter run in 1:58.35 — another conference championship that also would have topped the North Division — with runner-up Noah Horn of Danville at 2:01.73 and Gavin Noll seventh in 2:12.45. The sprint medley foursome of Jace Duncan, Gavin Noll, Jaren Troxel, and Lincoln Bainbridge blew away the competition to win the conference title in 1:35.20, breaking the meet record and pulling more than six seconds clear of Danville’s second-place 1:41.23. The 4×400 squad of Kayden Simmons, Jaren Troxel, Jace Duncan, and Lincoln Bainbridge delivered the signature performance of the night — winning the conference championship in a meet record and new school record of 3:26.20, more than six seconds ahead of Mediapolis’s second-place 3:33.01, a time that also would have won the North Division race.
Jaren Troxel placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 23.52 behind winner Henry Luttenegger of Mediapolis at 22.42. Aiden Cooper placed 10th in the 100-meter dash in 13.00 and Braxton Headley 11th in 16.51, behind winner Landry Haberichter of West Burlington at 10.91.
Landry Loeffler placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 4:47.70 and Kayden Farris ninth in 5:34.48, behind winner Simon Wendel of Mediapolis at 4:33.35. Loeffler also placed second in the 3,200-meter run in 10:14.12 — just over ten seconds behind winner Wendel at 10:04.22 — with Sawyer Spiker sixth in 11:57.56.
The shuttle hurdle relay crew of Parker Boley, Jaydan Pilcher, Marion Yoder, and Jayce Simmons placed second in 1:11.47 behind winner Mediapolis at 1:06.63. The 4×800 unit of Thomas Roberts, Jackson Meek, Kayden Farris, and Carver Goehring was third in 9:15.23 behind winner Mediapolis at 8:37.60, and the distance medley foursome of Jace Duncan, Jaren Troxel, Kayden Simmons, and Gavin Noll also placed third in 3:48.57 behind winner Danville at 3:43.34. The 4×100 squad of Aiden Cooper, Jackson Meek, Thomas Roberts, and Joni Yoder finished sixth in 49.74 behind winner Mediapolis at 43.40, and the 4×200 group of Jayce Simmons, Lyrick Krouse, Andy Durflinger, and Marion Yoder placed fifth in 1:46.26 behind winner New London at 1:30.79.
Jackson Meek placed fifth in the discus at 111-08 and Ryder Simmons 11th at 94-05, behind winner Jack Benner of Central Lee at 127-10. Ryder Simmons placed ninth in the shot put at 33-06.75 and Kaden Miller tied for ninth at 33-06.75, behind winner Trevon Herman of Danville at 41-04.25. Joni Yoder placed ninth in the long jump at 15-03.75 behind winner London Franklin of New London at 21-00.
Head coach Mike Bainbridge was effusive in his praise afterward. “I can’t say enough about the overall performance tonight. I think we ended up with six events being conference champions, two meet records, and a new school record in the 4×400. We knew there would be some tough competition and I thought the boys responded well. We’ll look to take some momentum into districts next week and I think the boys will be ready to go,” Bainbridge said.
The Warriors now prepare to qualify for state at Sigourney on Thursday, May 14th.
