Devin Larsen
The AHS girls’ and boys’ track teams’ seasons have started. The weather has been great so far for the track teams early in the season, unlike previous years. The boys’ team is coming off of a very strong season last year and hope to carry that success into this season.
The boys’ first competition was on March 4 in Mason City, at their new indoor facility. The first meet went well and laid the building blocks for a great season. Highlights from the meet were a first place finish from Evan Allie in the 200m dash, a third place finish in the 60m dash from Will Weichert, and a 4th place finish from the 4x800 relay team of Gavin Weber, Jace Mortensen, Brenden Lucas, and Breckin Borchardt. For the throwers, Max Nevitt threw a 49’10.5” in the shot put, taking home 3rd place.
After a three day break, the boys competed in Ames at the Iowa State Invitational against some of the best in the state. The Bulldogs did very well at the ISU Invitational, showing they can compete with anyone. Starting with the field events, in shot put Max Nevitt threw a 49’11” taking home 3rd place, Jack Limbaugh was not far behind his teammate, throwing 46’7.75” taking home 7th place. Finishing field events up, Will Weichert long jumped 19’4.25” taking home 6th. The runners exceeded expectations next. Allie took home a second place finish in the 400m dash, running a 51.09. Teammate Ashton Moreno trailed him, taking home fifth place, running a 53.37. Allie also took home a fifth place finish in the 200m dash. The 1600m relay took home third place, running 3:41.21; this team is composed of Will Weichert, Evan Allie, Ashton Moreno, and Gavin Weber. The 4x100 relay, consisting of Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Jack Limbaugh, and Evan Allie, took home 4th place, running a 44.60. As a team, the boys finished in 5th place.
Following the week-long break, the boys were back indoors at the Nielsen Family Indoor Meet at Humboldt. After a great team performance at ISU, the Bulldogs were ready to compete. The 1600m relay team had another strong performance, finishing in second place. The 4x200m relay team showed up with a first place finish, running 1:40.71. Jack Limbaugh placed seventh in the 60m dash. Gavin Weber had a strong performance in the 800m dash, finishing first in 2:07.15. Levi Walker got points on the board by finishing in ninth in the 200m dash. Bulldogs’ field events had themselves a day in Humbodlt. Max Nevitt won the shot put, throwing 53’ which is also a big personal record for Nevitt. Right behind was Limbaugh, who finished in second place, throwing 47’06”. Shriji Patel and Will Limbaugh would get points on the board, finishing seventh and eleventh respectively in shot put.
The boys’ next meet is on March 22 and is the North Iowa Indoor Championship at the Clear Lake indoor facility.
The girls’ team is coming into this season looking to avenge the second place finish at Conference last year. The girls have had more practices this year than the boys as they haven’t been as busy with indoor meets. The girls had their first competition on Thursday, March 14, at the Humboldt indoor track. Starting with the running events, sisters Malyn and Mara Davis ran the 800m race where Mara finished second, running a 2:39.8, and Malyn finished 4th, running 2:42.9. In the 200m dash, Natalie Johnson finished third, running 29 flat while teammate Lillian Allie finished fourth, running 29.5. Mara Davis competed in the 1600m as well, finishing second in 5:30.33. Kaitlyn Burns and Sienna Fehr ran the 400m dash where Burns finished 5th and Fehr was in 6th. The 4x200m relay team and 1600m relays both finished 6th. Summer Thompson, Aylee Herke, Lillian Allie, and Natalie Johnson ran for the Bulldogs in the 4x200m and Thompson, Herke, Danica VanGorkom, and Fehr ran the 1600m medley. The 4x400 relay team of Andi Jensen, Charli Dodds, Malyn Davis, and Macy Knapp had a strong finish, placing second. The 4x800m relay team took home first place, composed of Andi Jensen, Charli Dodds, Malyn Davis, and Macy Knapp. The girls’ shot put had a great day with all three throwers placing. Reagan Haynes was in second, Kayla Buscher was in seventh, and Ashley Cantu finished in eighth.
The girls’ next competition is Thursday, March 21, and is the North Iowa Indoor Championship at the Clear Lake indoor facility.