Baxter boys edge PCM, win first home coed meet

BAXTER — The Baxter boys track and field team played catch up against PCM for most of the night during the Baxter Coed Relays on Thursday.

The meet championship came down to the final event and the Bolts’ win in the 4x400-meter relay pushed them past the Mustangs on their home track.

Short-handed PCM won five events, but Baxter claimed 12 top-three finishes and edged the Mustangs by a single point.

The Bolts won the team title with 106 points, while PCM was the runner-up with 105. The rest of the top five was tightly contested, too, with Pleasantville (79) edging BCLUW (78) and Lynnville-Sully (77) for third.

Ankeny Christian (62), AGWSR (44), Colfax-Mingo (27), Melcher-Dallas (7) and the Bondurant-Farrar JV (4) completed the 10-team field.

Matt Richardson and Max Handorf went 1-2 in the 3,200, the Bolts won both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays and Baxter finished second five times.

Two of PCM’s wins came from Mark Bussan in the shot put and Evan Jones in the 100 and the Mustangs also sprinted to wins in the 4x100, 4x200 and shuttle hurdle relays.

For Lynnville-Sully, Jack Bowlin won the long jump, Corder Noun Harder was the 200 winner and the Hawks scored a win in the distance medley relay.

Colfax-Mingo’s lone win came from Xavier Woods in the high jump.

The annual event hosted by Baxter used to be a boys’ meet only. The Bolts lost their girls meet that was scheduled around the same time as the Drake Relays so the hosts changed it to coed.

Baxter was the only area girls team at the meet, and the Bolts finished fourth in the six-team field.

Camryn Russell claimed the team’s lone win in the 100 hurdles.

Bondurant-Farrar won the girls team title with 166.5 points. AGWSR was the runner-up with 152 and the rest of the field included BCLUW (109.5), Baxter (64), Melcher-Dallas (43) and Ankeny Christian Academy (28).

The Bolts lone individual boys’ win came from Richardson in the 3,200. He was clocked in 10 minutes, 20.25 seconds, while Handorf was second in 10:35.44.

The duo teamed up with Logan Jones and Cody Samson to win the 4x800 relay in 8:56.89.

Jones and Samson then joined forces with Cael Wishman and Logan Rainsbarger in the 4x400 relay and the foursome won the race in a season-best 3:48.91.

The Bolts were second in five events. Treyton Travis sprinted to second in the 200 with a career-best time of 23.9 seconds and Samson posted a career-best time of 54.6 to take second in the 400. Carter Smith also finished second in the discus with a career-best toss of 127 feet, 11 inches.

Travis, Jones and Richardson teamed up with Lincoln Betterton to grab the silver in the distance medley relay. They finished the race in 3:56.53.

Baxter registered three third-place finishes. Rainsbarger had two of them as he was third in the long jump with a leap of 18-5 1/2 and third in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 16.49.

Richardson (2:13.9) and Jones (2:14.26) were 3-4 in the 800 and Handorf (4:48.4) finished third in the 1,600.

Smith (career-best 41-10) and Travis (5-8) were fourth in the shot put and high jump, respectively.

Baxter did not have the services of Cainan Travis. PCM was without top long jumper and hurdler Gavin Van Gorp as well as sprinter and hurdler Adrien Robbins.

Bussan won the shot put with a toss of 45-6 and Jones rallied to win the 100 in 11.52 seconds. Tad Wilson finished third in 12.03.

The Mustangs’ winning 4x100 relay team featured Griffin Olson, Gabe Hobbs, Jacob Wendt and Jones and they finished in 44.76.

The 4x200 relay team of Wilson, Gavin Steenhoek, Wendt and Hobbs won the race in a season-best 1:35.68.

Olson led off the shuttle hurdle relay and was joined by Jake Winters, Jaden Houser and Steenhoek and they posted a winning time of 1:09.11.

Olson also grabbed PCM’s lone individual runner-up finish. He was second in the 110 high hurdles with a career-best time of 15.72, while Winters placed fifth in a career-best 17.26.

The sprint medley relay team also was second. The foursome of Olson, Hobbs, Jones and Riley Graber completed the race in 1:44.47.

Wendt took third in the 200 in 24.32 and the 4x800 relay team also placed third. That team featured Carson Hansen, Kolby Clark, Joe Shaver and Coby DeRaad and they finished the race in 9:09.04.

PCM was fourth in two relays and Alex Wendt was fourth in the discus.

The 4x400 relay team featured Brevin DeRaad, Gavin DeRaad, Gabe Nessa and Trigg Steenhoek and they finished in 4:02.69. The distance medley relay team of Burns, Jack Jungling, Coby DeRaad and Nessa posted a time of 4:16.60.

Alex Wendt reached a career-best distance of 115-3 3/4 to place fourth in the discus, while Chase Wagaman (5-8) placed fifth in the high jump and Wyatt Heater (17-11) and Finn Wilson (17-6) were 5-6 in the long jump.

Coby DeRaad (career-best 2:16.54) was fifth in the 800 and Wagaman (career-best 1:01.31) took sixth in the 400.

The Hawks posted three wins and nine top-three finishes. Bowlin (19-0 1/2) won the long jump and Noun Harder (career-best 23.82) placed first in the 200. Bowlin took third in the 200 in 24.17.

Lynnville-Sully’s winning distance medley relay team featured Noun Harder, Jaiden Richards, Bowlin and Hendrick Lowry and they won the race in a season-best 3:56.02.

The lone second-place finish came in the 100 as Noun Harder finished in a season-best 11.69 seconds.

Terran Gosselink (career-best 5-8) placed third in the high jump and four Hawk relays were third, too.

The sprint medley relay team of Richards, Kendric Johnson, Austin Larson and Gavin Fisk finished third in a season-best 1:47.81.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Larson, Sawyer Veldhuizen, Gosselink and Connor Deal placed third in 1:13.21.

The Hawks ended the night with back-to-back bronze medals. The 4x100 relay team of Noun Harder, Dawson James, Richards and Bowlin finished the race in 46.93 and the 4x400 relay team of Fisk, Michael Spooner, Larson and Trace Carlson was third in 3:59.68.

Lowry grabbed a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 as he posted a time of 5:07.52.

The Hawks also got sixth-place finishes from James (career-best 41-1) in the shot put, Gosselink (2:17.13) in the 800 and Blake Wilmesmeier (11:59.07) in the 3,200.

Colfax-Mingo’s Woods won the high jump with a leap of 5-10. He also was third in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:00.43 and fourth in the 110 high hurdles in 16.63.

Sullivan Wilkins placed fifth in the 400 in 1:00.71 and sixth in the 1,600 in a career-best 5:19.99.

The Tigerhawks’ shuttle hurdle relay team of Wyatt Thornton, Izaiah Lewis, Kyle Wood and Woods placed fourth in 1:13.49.

Russell claimed the Baxter girls’ only win. She won the 100 hurdles in a career-best 16.51 and placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 13-5.

Gwen Tichy (career-best 6:19.8) placed second in the 1,500 and Avery Wonders took third in the high jump with a mark of 4-8 and sixth in the 200 with a career-best time of 29.77.

Baxter newcomer Makayla True placed fifth in the 3,000 with a time of 13:15.2.

The Bolts’ shuttle hurdle and 4x400 relay teams were second and the 4x100 relay team took third.

The shuttle hurdle relay team featured Grace Anderegg, Rossi Swihart, Kendall Brummel and Russell and they finished in 1:19.09.

The 4x400 relay team of Johnelle Gliem, Caydence Sulzle, Morgan Ratliff and Wonders placed second in 4:51.34.

Anderegg, Camden Moffit, Swihart and Alyvia Burdess were third in the 4x100 relay in 1:00.97.