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Bears win medley, 3200 at West Liberty
by Matthew Dickenson, sports editor · Sports · April 24, 2024
On a cold, wet April 18 evening, the West Branch boys’ track team managed a tie for third place with 78 points at the first-ever boys’ track meet held at the new West Liberty all-purpose facility.
“In tough conditions, the mindset of kids is tough,” Bears Head Coach Taylor Larson said. “When you train all day, it’s cold, it’s windy, and you feel a little sorry for yourself. I thought we did an okay job. You need to run through it, adjust, and compete. We had some good things happen tonight.”
Lisbon earned the team win with 188 points. Durant placed second with 86, while the Bears tied with Tipton for the third spot. Wilton was the fifth team with 67, edging the host Comets by a point.
West Branch had two winning entries on the day. Lynden MacGillivray started things off in the 3200 meter run, turning in an 11:25.93 to comfortably take the meet victory.
The coach said MacGillivray “ran really well” in the distance race.
The distance medley of Spencer Green, Zachary Capper, Reid Hansen, and Lincoln Naber had a winning time of 3:58.03.
Larson said that Naber ran the 800 leg to get him some more training at that length, which will help his performance in the 400 meter runs he normally handles.
The 4x800 meter relay also performed well, with Joe Hamann, Oliver Trepanier, Shay Kinsinger, and Preston Mayhew combining for a 10:02.35 and second place.
Sprint relays stacked up points, with the 4x100 of Conner Capper, Connor Rios, Logan Christoffel, and Brandon Pedersen taking third with a 48.06 and the same group taking third in the 4x200 with a 1:38.33 while running in a different order.
Larson said the 4x200 had a better time. The 4x400 also placed third, with Naber, Hansen, Hamann, and Christoffel turning in a 3:43.46.
Reese Trepanier continued a strong senior throwing season, taking second in the discus with a 128-02 and third in the shot put with a 44-10.00.
Other relays had strong results, with the shuttle hurdle team of Nolan Staker, Auron Marsh, Pedersen, and Jake Swisher finishing fourth in 1:10.68.
Larson said the shuttle hurdle had an improved time.
The sprint medley of Zachary Capper, Christoffel, Hansen, and Rios took fourth with a 1:46.04.
Several individual events accumulated points. Staker had a sixth-place effort in the 110 meter hurdles with a 17.65 while Eli Farmer took sixth in the 400 hurdles in 1:22.99.
Marsh placed seventh in the 200 meter dash in 25.32. The 800 had two placings, with Swisher taking seventh in 2:23.63 and Shay Kinsinger taking eighth in 2:26.97.
Larson said that there were some good PR’s in the event. In the 1600, Preston Mayhew finished seventh in 5:49.10 and Oliver Trepanier had an eighth-place 5:56.90.
The conditions limited the points the Bears were able to typically get. Field events were affected greatly, with West Branch scratching all entries in both the long jump and high jump due to injuries and weather not being ideal for competing in the events. West Branch also had to adjust to the speed of the meet, which had a handful of teams and only boys’ events to account for. With faster race times in the meet that took around two and a half hours to complete, several runners had to warm up quicker than anticipated.
“It’s just a tough night,” the coach said. “It’s fast. You’re sometimes not expecting that fast of a turnaround. You’re pretty much warming up, running a race, cooling down, and then warming up again. I told the guys to stay out of camp, stay in the infield, it’s going to be fast.”
Despite the poor weather, the new venue was a positive. After West Branch had hosted West Liberty home meets while the facility was under construction, the Bears were able to return the favor and run on the new track.
“Nice facility,” Larson said of the West Liberty stadium. “Wide open, clean track, nice, colored track.”
The Bears also had a few missing pieces from their normal rotation. Hamann raced in two events out of four possible, while Trenton Schutte had to be scratched from three events after sustaining an injury playing soccer. With several events being scratched or not being at full strength due to personnel or the weather, Larson said that he hopes the team learns from battling adversity and takes on the challenge of improving in future meets.
Going forward, the Bears had another meet against larger schools April 23 at Cedar Rapids Xavier before an extended break to train for the River Valley Conference meet. Larson said working on finishing races will be a priority.
The coach also said that some of the events he hopes perform well at the end of the year and qualify for state include the distance medley, shuttle hurdle, 800, 4x400, and some field events.
Team scores: 1. Lisbon 188 2. Durant 86 3. Tipton 78 3. West Branch 78 5. Wilton 67 6. West Liberty 66.
100 meter dash: 15. Josh Zoulek 13.21; 18. Eli Farmer 14.21; Spencer Green NT
200 meter dash: 7. Auron Marsh 25.32; 13. Spencer Green 26.14; 16. Josh Zoulek 27.27
4x100 meter relay: 3. (Conner Capper, Connor Rios, Logan Christoffel, Brandon Pedersen) 48.06
4x200 meter relay: 3. (Logan Christoffel, Brandon Pedersen, Conner Capper, Connor Rios) 1:38.33
800 meter run: 7. Jake Swisher 2:23.63; 8. Shay Kinsinger 2:26.97; 17. Carter Hetrick 3:21.73
4x400 meter relay: 3. (Lincoln Naber, Reid Hansen, Joe Hamann, Logan Christoffel) 3:43.46
4x800 meter relay: 2. (Joe Hamann, Oliver Trepanier, Shay Kinsinger, Preston Mayhew) 10:02.35
1600 meter run: 7. Preston Mayhew 5:49.10; 8. Oliver Trepanier 5:56.90; 11. Joseph Schlitz 6:16.02
Sprint medley relay: 4. (Zachary Capper, Logan Christoffel, Reid Hansen, Connor Rios) 1:46.04
Distance medley relay: 1. (Spencer Green, Zachary Capper, Reid Hansen, Lincoln Naber) 3:58.03
110 meter hurdles: 6. Nolan Staker 17.65; 10. Eli Farmer 23.16
400 meter hurdles: 6. Eli Farmer 1:22.99; Jake Swisher SCR
Shuttle hurdle relay: 4. (Nolan Staker, Auron Marsh, Brandon Pedersen, Jake Swisher) 1:10.68
3200 meter run: 1. Lynden MacGillivray 11:25.93
Long jump: Auron Marsh DNS
High jump: Nolan Staker DNS; Nathan Hills DNS
Shot put: 3. Reese Trepanier 44-10.00; 16. Finn McCullough 31-04.00
Discus: 2. Reese Trepanier 128-02; 12. Shay Kinsinger 69-09; Finn McCullough DNS
West Branch
9th at DeWitt
The Bears earned 39 points on April 15 when they traveled to Central DeWitt to face eight teams.
Team scores: 1. Central DeWitt 142 2. Maquoketa 70 3. Durant 67 4. Iowa City High 62 5. Camanche 56 6. Bellevue 52 7. Northeast 50 8. Assumption 46 9. West Branch 39.
100 meter dash: 11. Zachary Capper 12.35; 13. Spencer Green 12.74
200 meter dash: 13. Josh Zoulek 27.13
400 meter dash: 6. Lincoln Naber 53.79; 12. Lynden MacGillivray 1:01.07
800 meter run: 10. Oliver Trepanier 2:28.77; 14. Carter Hetrick 3:05.83
1600 meter run: 5. Lynden MacGillivray 5:04.52; 15. Joe Schlitz 6:11.78
3200 meter run: 7. Preston Mayhew 12:32.86; 10. Joe Schlitz 13:51.24
110 meter hurdles: 8. Nolan Staker 18.04; 11. Eli Farmer 23.36
400 meter hurdles: 7. Reid Hansen 1:04.61
Sprint medley relay: 1. (Zachary Capper, Connor Rios, Conner Capper, Lincoln Naber) 1:40.69
Shuttle hurdle relay: 4. (Nolan Staker, Auron Marsh, Brandon Pedersen, Eli Farmer) 1:12.67
4x200 meter relay: 6. (Connor Rios, Brandon Pedersen, Nolan Staker, Auron Marsh) 1:38.96
4x100 meter relay: 5. (Logan Christoffel, Brandon Pedersen, Conner Capper, Lincoln Naber) 45.94
4x400 meter relay: 6. (Logan Christoffel, Reid Hansen, Lincoln Naber, Connor Rios) 3:57.51
High jump: 7. Nolan Staker 5-06.00; Nate Hills SCR
Long jump: 2. Auron Marsh 19-06.50; 12. Logan Christoffel 15-11.50
Discus: 2. Reese Trepanier 139-6; 15. Finn McCullough 70-0
Shot put: 5. Reese Trepanier 44-11; 13. Finn McCullough 34-5
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