C-M girls finish third, Baxter fifth in outdoor openers

COLFAX — The Baxter girls track and field team claimed three victories on Thursday, while Colfax-Mingo collected just one gold medal for the night.

But the host Tigerhawks finished ahead of the Bolts in the final team standings because of their depth. Colfax-Mingo finished third five times and posted plenty of fifth- and sixth-place finishes to score 95.5 points.

Colfax-Mingo hosted its first outdoor meet since the 1990s and edged conference rival Iowa Valley for third place in the seven-team field.

Collins-Maxwell won the Colfax-Mingo Coed Relays with 151.5 points. Grand View Christian was the only other school in triple figures as the Thunder placed second with 123 points.

Colfax-Mingo (95.5), Iowa Valley (93.5), Baxter (87), Ankeny Christian Academy (75) and Colo-NESCO (33.5) completed the field.

The Tigerhawks’ lone win came from Grace Hunsberger. She won the high jump with a career-best leap of 4 feet, 10 inches.

Three participants cleared 4-10 and three others went over 4-8, which included Katelyn Steenhoek in fourth.

Camryn Russell had a big night for Baxter. She won the 100-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 16.54 seconds.

She also anchored the Bolts’ shuttle hurdle relay team to a come-from-behind win. The group of Grace Anderegg, Rossi Swihart, Kendall Brummel and Russell finished in 1 minute, 16.45 seconds.

The Bolts’ final win came in the last event of the night. Their 4x400 relay team of Avery Wonders, Brummel, Johnelle Gliem and Caydence Sulzle posted a winning time of 4:44.6.

Russell’s big night also included third-place finishes in the long jump and 400 hurdles.

She was one of three jumpers to reach 15-9 in the long jump but finished third based on the second-best mark.

Russell debuted in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:16.92.

Colfax-Mingo’s lone second-place finish came in the shuttle hurdle relay. The team of Lily Webster, Cadence Linn, Evalyn Anderson and Arlo Steck finished in 1 minute, 17.04 seconds.

The Tigerhawks came in third five times, including the 4x200 and 4x800 relays.

In the 4x200 relay, the team of Rachael Uecker, Charlotte Donahue, Krissy Snow and Karmylia Snyder finished in 2:07.

Addie Schroeder, Uecker, Shae Wilkins and Mallory Sipma completed the 4x800 relay in a season-best time of 11:36.18.

The rest of the bronze-medal performances came in individual events.

Webster and Steck went 3-4 in the 100 hurdles. Webster finished in 18.58, while Steck hit the finish line in 18.81. Cadence Linn was sixth in 19.51.

Lilly Arndt and Britney Keeney gave the Tigerhawks double points in both the shot put and discus.

Arndt was third in the discus with a throw of 73-1 and Keeney was fifth with a career-best throw of 72-3.

They flipped those results in the shot put. Keeney was third with a career-best throw of 27-2 and Arndt was fifth with a career-best toss of 25-7.

Snow finished fourth in the 100 with a time of 14.61 and Steck placed fourth in the 400 hurdles in 1:25.74. Anderson was fifth in the 400 hurdles in 1:37.43.

Snyder ran a career-best time of 28.1 seconds in the 200 to place sixth, while Sipma was sixth in the 800 with a career-best time of 2:56.15. Schroeder also was sixth in the 1,500 with a time of 6:04.39.

Baxter had one second-place finish. It came in the 4x800 relay. The team of Brummel, Gliem, Gwen Tichy and Morgan Ratliff finished in a season-best 11:20.96.

Wonders was one of three jumpers to clear 4-10 in the high jump but she was third in the final standings. The 4-10 was a career-best mark and a new school record.

Jo Harder (25-10) and Callie Cross (25-5) were fourth and sixth, respectively, in the shot put and Mallory Bottorff reached a career-best 65-10 to place sixth in the discus.

Tichy ran in the 800 and finished fourth with a carer-best time of 2:51.41.