Distance races and field events remain strong for Central boys track and field
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
The Central boys had an eventful week of track and field, making trips to Central City and Manchester, where they finished with a combined 21 top-five finishes and 20 top 10s, including pulling off a close third-place team result at Central City on April 15.
There, Gavin Holst, Jesse Polkinghorn and Henry Reimer provided some highlights on the track, starting with fourth- and fifth-place runs by Reimer and Polkinghorn in the 400-meter dash. The pair returned in the 800, where Polkinghorn bested his teammate with a third-place finish, while Reimer took sixth. Holst battled for second place in the 1600, and Carson Ruegnitz took fifth in the same race. Michael White rounded out the distance performances with a sixth-place run in the 3200.
In the field events, Julian Singleton had multiple top-five placements, taking fifth in the shot put and fourth in the discus. Jacob Cook was sixth in the shot, while Brandon Koth threw for eighth in the discus. Jake Hertrampf participated in the high jump, finishing fourth, and Corbyn Clark leapt to 10th in the long jump, ahead of Jamison Feickert in 11th.
Hertrampf also ran in the 200-meter dash, pulling off an eighth-place time of 25.51 seconds. Vaughn Zittergruen was 10th in the race. Cook and Clark crossed the line a respective eighth and 11th in the 100-meter dash.
Carter Krugger headlined both hurdling events, coming in eighth in the 110-meter race and ninth in the 400. Griffen Hammersland ran to fourth in the 400 hurdles.
In the relays, Central had a pair of second-place times, including the 4x800 and distance medley. They secured fourth place in the 4x400 and fifth in the 4x100, 4x200 and 800-sprint medley.
On April 17, the Warriors were in Manchester for the West Delaware Boys Invitational, where they finished sixth with 31 team points. Standout performances were Mason Loan in the long jump with a second place finish, followed by Zittergruen in seventh. Both athletes were members of the 4x400 relay team, which also included Reimer and Holst, that took fourth.
Holst provided some notable performances in the distance races, earning fourth in the 800 and second in the 3200. Ruegnitz was behind Holst in fourth place in the 3200 and Polkinghorn finished eighth in the 800. Polkinghorn also ran in the 400, taking fourth in 56.27 seconds, while Reimer finished the same race 12th. Central was ninth in the 1600-meter run with White and Declan Finley finished 10th.
Loan was Central’s top finisher in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, crossing seventh in the latter and 16th in the former. Cook was 17th in the 100 and Zittergruen 15th in the 200.
Krugger again took part in both hurdling events, placing ninth in the 110-meter race and seventh in the 400. Teammate Breckon Holst finished the 400 hurdles in sixth.
The Warriors put in a solid effort in the 4x100-meter weightman relay, coming away fifth with Cook, Elias White, Koth and Singleton on the track. They were 10th in the 800-meter sprint medley relay with Vaughn and Tyce Zittergruen, Clark and Polkinghorn, and the squad of Clark, Breckon Holst, White and Tyce Zittergruen finished the 4x200 in 11th.
Singleton was back in the circle for shot put and discus, throwing for 14th in the shot and 20th in the discus. Cook joined him in the shot put, coming in 15th, while Koth threw to 19th in the discus.
“It was a good week of competition. We traveled to Central City to see different competition. Our boys competed well against the new teams, had a few good placings and some big PRs from a few guys. Thursday at West Delaware was a very windy night, but the boys still competed well and pulled off a handful of PRs,” said coach Colten Ledbeter.
Central has two more meets this week, starting April 22 at Oelwein, then April 25 in Waukon.
