By Becky Walz,
Ben Wymer (left) and Dakota Johnson are in the first exchange zone of the boys’ sprint medley. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Becky Walz)
It’s been nearly two decades since the Decorah girls’ track team has given up the Northeast Iowa Conference crown as the Vikes posted 187 points for the title Thursday in New Hampton. The Chickasaws was a distant second with 122 points.
Waverly-Shell Rock took over at the top of the boys’ team standings after Decorah had won the last six titles, but it was a close one. The Go-Hawks tallied 146 points, just ahead of the Vikes’ 140.
What a night
The Decorah girls scored first in 10 of the 19 events.
Taking the top spot in the shot put with a best of 39 feet, 6 inches was Chloe Reiser, while Julia Alberts bested the discus field with a throw of 127 feet, 9 inches.
Decorah swept the sprint titles. Hayley Stowe was the fastest woman on the track in the 100-meter dash in 12.57 seconds. Teammate Lani Hubka captured the 200-meter dash title with a new school record time of 25.55 seconds. In 1:00.76, it was McKenzie winning the 400-meter dash gold.
Five relays were also the best on the oval. Combining to win the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:08.61, were Sydney Kipp, Renae Wilson, Kelby Kerndt and Leslie Campbell. Ava Holthaus, Brinley Krivachek, Kailyn O’Gara and Dahlyn Headington won the 4×100 relay in 51.39 seconds. A. Holthaus, Sami Mount, O’Gara and Krivachek clocked in at 1:47.26 to win the 4×200 relay.
In 10:02.95, Lillian Olson, Paige Werner, Lily Sandhorst and Danielle Losen combined to win the 4×800 relay. Breaking the tape in the sprint medley in 1:52.27, were A. Holthaus, O’Gara, Hubka and Mount.
“We never take for granted the efforts and energy needed to perform at the conference meet. We are extremely proud of the girls and their mental readiness to compete,” said Coach Cristy Nimrod. “In the past week three school records have been broken. Congratulations to the 4×200 relay team of Brinley Krivachek, Kailyn O’Gara, Hayley Stowe and Lani Hubka who’s new record of 1:44.00 was set at Drake Relays and Lani Hubka in the 200 with a time of 25.55 at the conference meet and Hayley Stowe’s record in the long jump with a jump of 17-3.75.”
Six golds
The boys had six events take first place.
Dakota Johnson was responsible for two individual golds and added two relay titles to his night. In the 110-meter hurdles Johnson had the winning time of 15.39 seconds. Later he broke the tape in the 400-meter hurdles in 57.84 seconds.
Johnson anchored the come-from-behind win in the shuttle hurdle relay with Joshua Adam, Tommy Sexton and Gavin Groux. The quartet edged Waverly-Shell Rock at the finish in 1:03.67. The junior also led off the winning sprint medley relay where he joined forces with Ben Wymer, Gavin Groux and Cade Olson in a new school record time of 1:36.03.
Kelley Gates broke the tape in the 200-meter dash in 22.93 seconds, while Olson came home first in the 400-meter dash in 51.91 seconds.
“The boys battled, scratched and clawed for every place at the conference meet. We were extremely proud of their efforts. By count, we placed nine events on the Hall of Fame Top 15 all-time list. The night included some of the tightest and most exciting finishes in recent memory,” said Viking boys’ coach Joel Rollinger.
Ready for state
The Vikings are at the state-qualifying meet Thursday, May 11, at 4 p.m. Both boys and girls compete at Independence.
The top two place winners in each event at every state qualifying site automatically advance to state. The next eight best times/distances throughout the state also qualify, making 24 total entries for each event.
NEIC girls team scores
1. Decorah 187; 2. New Hampton 122; 3. Waverly-Shell Rock 76.5; 4. Crestwood 74; 5. Waukon 63; 6. Charles City 59.5
NEIC boys team scores
1. Waverly-Shell Rock 146; 2. Decorah 140; 3. Waukon 109; 4. Charles City 77; 5. Crestwood 56; 6. New Hampton 54
Girls results
High jump – 10. Ava Steine 4-2; 10. Lauren Holthaus 4-2
Long jump – 2. Hayley Stowe 17-3.75; 4. Sydney Kipp 15-8.75
Shot put – 1. Chloe Reiser 39-6; 10. Lauren Luzum 28-10.5
Discus – 1. Julie Alberts 127-9; 3. Sally Laybourn 104-7
100m – 1. Stowe 12.57; 2. Brinley Krivachek 12.62
200m – 1. Lani Hubka 25.55; 2. Stowe 26.32
400m – 1. McKenzie Riley 1:00.76; 2. Lillian Olson 1:02.94
800m – 2. Lily Sandhorst 2:31.33; 4. Brynn Storhoff 2:37.08
1500m – 5. Danielle Losen 5:31.93; 11. Grace Blikre 6:08.25
3000m – 5. Grace Brynsaas 12:27.66; 6. Natalie Stevens 12:57.66
100m hurdles – 3. Renae Wilson 16.45; 12. Kipp 20.77
400m hurdles – 2. Olson 1:10.87; 7. Madison Tollefson 1:17.88
Shuttle hurdle – 1. Kipp, Wilson, Kelby Kerndt, Leslie Campbell, 1:08.61
4×100 – 1. Ava Holthaus, Krivachek, Kailyn O’Gara, Dahlyn Headington, 51.39
4×200 – 1. A. Holthaus, Sami Mount, O’Gara, Krivachek, 1:47.26
4×400 – 3. Riley, Mount, Sandhorst, Paige Werner, 4:17.82
4×800 – 1. Olson, Werner, Sandhorst, Losen, 10:02.95
Sprint medley – 1. A. Holthaus, O’Gara, Hubka, Mount, 1:52.27
Distance medley – 2. Greta Jones, Headington, Losen, Werner, 4:35.77
Boys results
High jump – 3. Peyton Webb 5-8
Long jump – 2. Kaiden Quandahl 20-5.75; 5. Trevor Kuennen 18-10.5
Shot put – 8. William Hahn 40-7.75; 10. Fisher Tweten 38-9.5
Discus – 6. Tommy Sexton 120-5
100m – 2. Kelley Gates 11.16; 3. Ben Wymer 11.18
200m – 1. Gates 22.93; 3. Kaiden Youngblood 24.49
400m – 1. Cade Olson 51.91; 4. Kuennen 54.20
800m – 7. Sexton 2:15.92; 8. D’Mitry Lesser 2:19.22
1600m – 5. Grant Zilka 5:05.57; 6. Garrett See 5:06.52
3200m – 6. See 11:10.18; 8. Zilka 11:56.31
110m hurdles – 1. Dakota Johnson 15.39; 5. Joshua Adam 18.54
400m hurdles – 1. Johnson 57.84; 4. Ashton Saltou 59.81
Shuttle hurdle – 1. Adam, Sexton, Gavin Groux, Johnson, 1:03.67
4×100 – 2. Groux, Webb, B. Wymer, Gates, 44.80
4×200 – 2. Groux, Webb, B. Wymer, Gatese, 1:32.89
4×400 – 2. Kuennen, Olson, Adam, Brayden Hartl, 3:31.27
4×800 – 3. Thomas Hammel, Hartl, Lesser, Carter Dlhy, 8:49.32
Sprint medley – 1. Johnson, B. Wymer, Groux, Olson, 1:36.03
Distance medley – 5. Adam, Saltou, Landon Quandahl, Hammel, 4:01.93
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