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Girls’ track finishes third at Tipton meet
by Matthew Dickinson, sports editor · Sports · April 16, 2025
The West Branch girls’ track team saw plenty of success despite an experimental approach to its lineup, taking second at the April 8 Dennis Riley Relays with 105 points.
Tipton won the meet with 132, while Anamosa finished one point behind the Bears for third with 104. West Liberty had 101 while Durant rounded out the top five with 92.
The brisk pace of the small, girls-only meet forced the Bears to adjust, according to Bears Head Coach Tony Senio.
“With the pace of today’s meet, we came in treating it as though it was a hard workout type of day,” the coach said. “We had some good results and we hung in there in the team race right to the end. If we would have had a few more entries here and there, we’d have been right there with Tipton.”
The coach added that the meet presented a chance for the younger athletes to learn how to prepare for events when there is little downtime as well as checking in for their entries on their own.
Sophomore Grace Hamann had another excellent day with a win in all three of her events. Individually, Hamann won both the 3000 meter run with a 10:56.98 and the 800 in 2:40.92. She also anchored the distance medley relay behind Addi Schultes, Dani Crutchley, and Lexi Skay, which had a time of 4:35.62.
“We were planning for her to have a high volume night,” Senio said of Hamann. “And then aiming for more of a speed day on Thursday. That 3000 isn’t something we put her in a lot, but she tried her hardest to lap the field and darn near did it. And then came back with two more competitive 800’s.”
The coach added that the sophomore was fresh off playing heavy minutes in the school’s soccer game against Tipton the night before, and that Hamann would receive rest on Wednesday.
West Branch had another winning effort in the 200 meter dash, with Schultes posting the top time with a 28.34. Skay finished second with a 29.12 while Olivia Becker added a non-scoring 30.00 for seventh.
Alyssa Pierce had two placing efforts in throwing events, taking second in the shot put with an even 36 foot throw and fifth in the discus with an 88-00.
Senio said that he didn’t see the senior throw but that Pierce had given him a “thumbs down” when he saw her, which he took to mean as she had a high placing but not the distance on her throw that she wanted. The coach also said that Pierce feels like “she’s in a rut right now, and that “I have no doubt she’ll come out of that and find success as well.”
The shuttle hurdle relay had a high placing, as the team of Jenie Gomez, Rena Holmes, Amber Wolf, and Kennedy Simpson claimed second with a 1:18.62. The 4x200 of Skay, Alyssa Vargason, Simpson, and Schultes took third in 1:55.10 while the team of Lila Finzel, Abby Linn, Katlynn Waite, and Lyla Snyder had a non-scoring 2:10.90 in the event. In individual hurdle events, Holmes took fourth in the 100 meter hurdles in 19.18 while Wolf finished sixth in the 400 hurdles in 1:20.48 while Halia Gade took eighth in the event with a 1:25.39.
The coach said that he has a crew of six girls working on the hurdles, and that the coming Thursday’s home meet would provide a chance for extra work due to the special Brad Wargo co-ed relay that would kick off running events in honor of the late West Branch hurdles coach, who died unexpectedly in 2021. The remaining four runners would run the official shuttle hurdle relay to allow all six an opportunity to compete in front of the home crowd.
Lander Malloy finished fourth in the 400 with a 1:08.23 while Becker placed eighth in 1:09.96. The sprint medley team of Cameron Waters, Karlee Hansen, Vargason, and Malloy took sixth in 2:06.16. The 4x100 of Linn, Snyder, Waite, and Greta Voss placed eighth in 1:01.16.
Senio said that he is still working to “keep finding the right combinations” for the relay events, noting that Vargason filled an alternate spot on the sprint medley relay
Elsewhere in field events, Vargason finished fifth in the high jump with a 4-04.00 while Skay placed sixth in 4-04.00. Schultes took eighth in the long jump with a 14-01.00.
Team scores: 1. Tipton 132 2. West Branch 105 3. Anamosa 104 4. West Liberty 101 5. Durant 92 6. Wilton 66 7. Midland 54 8. North Cedar 25 9. Calamus-Wheatland 17.
100 meter dash: 18. Lyla Snyder 15.85; 19. Lila Finzel 15.92; 24. Katlynn Waite 17.23
200 meter dash: 1. Addi Schultes 28.34; 2. Lexi Skay 29.12; 7. Olivia Becker 30.00; 13. Karlee Hansen 30.45
400 meter dash: 4. Lander Malloy 1:08.23; 8. Olivia Becker 1:09.96; 11. Katey Lenoch 1:11.57; 12. Cassie Swisher 1:11.73
800 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 2:40.92; 7.. Cassie Swisher 3:04.62; 9. Katey Lenoch 3:07.99; 10. Caitlyn Harrison 3:13.65
3000 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 10:56.98
100 meter hurdles: 4. Rena Holmes 19.18; 9. Amber Wolf 19.90; 11. Halia Gade 20.84
400 meter hurdles: 6. Amber Wolf 1:20.48; 8. Halia Gade 1:25.39
4x100 relay: 8. (Abby Linn, Lyla Snyder, Katlynn Waite, Greta Voss) 1:01.16
4x200 relay: 3. (Lexi Skay, Alyssa Vargason, Kennedy Simpson, Addi Schultes) 1:55.10; 8. (Lila Finzel, Abby Linn, Katlynn Waite, Lyla Snyder) 2:10.90
Sprint medley relay: 6. (Cameron Waters, Karlee Hansen, Alyssa Vargason, Lander Malloy) 2:06.16
Distance medley relay: 1. (Addi Schultes, Dani Crutchley, Lexi Skay, Grace Hamann) 4:35.62
Shuttle hurdle relay: 2. (Jenie Gomez, Rena Holmes, Amber Wolf, Kennedy Simpson) 1:18.62
High jump: 5. Alyssa Vargason 4-04.00; 6. Lexi Skay 4-04.00
Long jump: 8. Addi Schultes 14-01.00; 12. Kennedy Simpson 11-06.00
Shot put: 2. Alyssa Pierce 36-00.00; 20. Delaney Blindt 21-04.00; 25. Emeri Poock 18-04.00
Discus: 5. Alyssa Pierce 88-00; 13. Delaney Blindt 62-03; 22. Emeri Poock 49-02
Bears 2nd at Chad Gates
West Branch’s girls’ track team took second place while hosting the Chad Gates Invitational on April 10.
Team scores: 1. Maquoketa 120 2. West Branch 114 3. West Liberty 98 4. Wilton 78 5. Lone Tree 71 6. Bellevue 46 7. Calamus-Wheatland 31.
100 meter dash: 10. Lyla Snyder 15.42; 12. Katlynn Waite 16.16; Lila Finzel NT (sensor failure)
100 meter hurdles: 4. Rena Holmes 18.38; 5. Amber Wolf 18.49; 6. Jenie Gomez 19.43
200 meter dash: 4. Karlee Hansen 29.24; 7. Lander Malloy 30.15; 8. Kennedy Simpson 30.17
400 meter dash: 2. Lexi Skay 1:04.06
400 meter hurdles: 4. Amber Wolf 1:20.36; 5. Halia Gade 1:23.60
800 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 2:25.00; 5. Cassie Swisher 2:56.73
Discus: 1. Alyssa Pierce 100-02; 12. Delaney Blindt 62-03; 16. Emeri Poock 51-08
High jump: 2. Alyssa Vargason 4-04.00; 2. Lexi Skay 4-04.00
Long jump: 4. Addi Schultes 15-03.00; 8. Kennedy Simpson 13-00.00
Shot put: 1. Alyssa Pierce 40-04.00; 12. Delaney Blindt 22-07.50; 18. Emeri Poock 17-05.00
Sprint medley relay: 3. (Rena Holmes, Addi Schultes, Lexi Skay, Grace Hamann) 1:57.71; 5. (Cameron Waters, Karlee Hansen, Olivia Becker, Cassie Swisher) 2:06.17
4x100 relay: 5. (Rena Holmes, Dani Crutchley, Olivia Becker, Jenie Gomez) 54.90; 9. (Katey Lenoch, Lila Finzel, Olivia Becker, Jenie Gomez) 54.90; 9. (Katey Lenoch, Lila Finzel, Lyla Snyder, Katlynn Waite) 1:00.05
4x200 relay: 4. (Dani Crutchley, Alyssa Vargason, Olivia Becker, Kennedy Simpson) 1:56.62; 8. (Karlee Hansen, Halia Gade, Katey Lenoch, Cameron Waters) 2:04.19
Shuttle hurdle relay: 2. (Halia Gade, Addi Schultes, Alyssa Vargason, Rena Holmes) 1:23.13
4x400 relay: 1. (Addi Schultes, Lander Malloy, Lexi Skay, Grace Hamann) 4:18.32
Distance medley relay: 3. (Amber Wolf, Karlee Hansen, Katey Lenoch, Cassie Swisher) 5:13.79
Bears score at track festival
West Branch sent a crew to the Eastern Iowa Track and Field Festival at Iowa City West High School on April 12.
100 meter dash: 11. Addi Schultes 13.59
200 meter dash: 7. Addi Schultes 28.11; 10. Olivia Becker 28.91; 12. Alyssa Vargason 29.66
400 meter hurdles: 4. Grace Hamann 1:08.81
Discus: 8. Alyssa Piece 97-04
High jump: 11. Alyssa Vargason 4-04.00
Shot put: 4. Alyssa Pierce 38-01.00
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