Pointers, Mustangs rule Wamac

 VAN HORNE -- He ran four races, 6,400 meters. He wore two uniforms.

Tired, there, Josh Yeager?

"Yeah, a little bit," he said. "But it still feels good."

Tired. And triumphant.Center Point-Urbana won six events -- Yeager was in on half of them -- and breezed to the Wamac Conference boys' track and field championship Thursday night at Bobcat Stadium.

CPU accumulated 136 points, followed by Solon (91.5). That was the tension-free portion of Thursday's competition.

The drama? That came in the girls' meet, which came down to the final race.

Mount Vernon (92 points) edged West Delaware (88) and Solon (84), despite winning just one event.

"That just shows how diverse we are," said Mustangs junior Emma Cochrane. "Coach (Maggie) Willems can put just about anybody in anything. She has a lot of options.

"We had girls that stepped up and scored points they probably weren't seeded to score. That was the key, running higher that our seed."

The meet featured a 30-minute delay after the meet's first running event, the girls' 3,000-meter run.

Once action resumed, CPU was the class of the boys field. Yeager, a junior, ran on the second-place 3,200-meter relay team, then won the 3,200 (9:56.29) and 1,600 (4:40.63) before anchoring home the victorious medley relay with a 2:01.4 split.

Four races, 6,400 meters, three gold medals. And two uniforms -- a yellow top early in the meet, a black one later on.

"I ran the 4-by-8, the 3,200 and the 1,600 (earlier this week) at Monticello, but we really wanted to stretch everybody for the team aspect tonight," Yeager said."We knew Solon was going to be awfully tough. This is a huge confidence-booster, but in the back of our minds, we know they're going to keep coming."

CPU also got titles from Levi Gatrost in the high jump, Nick Thibault in the 400 hurdles (part of a 1-2 finish) and its 1,600-meter relay.

Solon's Conner Ham was a triple-winner (100, 200 and 110 hurdles) while teammate Dalton Ferguson swept the throws.

As Cochrane mentioned, Mount Vernon's girls title was the product of depth and diversity. The Mustangs won the 3,200-meter relay, then nickeled-and-dimed their way to points across the board.

The final event was typical. Leading Solon by two points and West Delaware by six, the Mustangs ran second to the Hawks in the 1,600 relay to clinch the win.

"It means the world to us," Cochrane said. "Especially to do that for the seniors. Now, it's time to get refocused for the postseason."

The state-qualifying meet is next Thursday, the state meet May 22-24.

Anamosa's Olivia Loy was unquestionably the performer of the girls' meet. The senior won the 100, 200, 400 (in 13.09, 25.66 and 57.34) and brought the Raiders from sixth place to the front in the sprint medley relay with a 58.9-second anchor.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of it," she said. "In the medley, I just kicked it in. Once I got to the stretch, I knew I could catch them."

Loy, a three-event state champion last year, said she plans to compete for a community college in Maryland next year, then hopes to advance to the Division-I level in 2016.

In addition to its 1,600 relay win, West Delaware got titles from Jessie Dudak (100 hurdles) and Reeann McCarty (800). Solon's Shelby Gunnells won the shot put, and the Spartans reigned in the 400 relay. 

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD: WAMAC CONFERENCE

At Van Horne

Teams -- 1. Center Point-Urbana 136, 2. Solon 91.5, 3. DeWitt Central 61, 4. Williamsburg 58, 5. West Delaware 56, 6. Vinton-Shellsburg 52, 7. Marion 47.5, 8. Western Dubuque 47, 9. Mount Vernon 44, 10. Dyersville Beckman 43, 11. Clear Creek Amana 23, 12. Maquoketa 18, 13. Anamosa 16, 14. Benton Community 5, 15. Independence 4.Shot put -- 1. Dalton Ferguson (Sol), 56-5; 2. Robbie Peters (MV), 51-0; 3. Tyler Johnson (WDbq), 47-4; Discus -- 1. Dalton Ferguson (Sol), 153-0; 2. Robbie Peters (MV), 150-10; Chase Overton (VS), 146-6; High jump -- 1. Levi Gatrost (CPU), 6-2; 2. Mark Gelwicks (WDel), 6-0; 3. Xavier Adams (Maq), 6-0; Long jump -- 1. Ty Cassutt (WDel), 20-11 1/2; 2. Riley Pfeiler (WDbq), 20-8; 3. Zach Nunemaker (Sol), 20-1 1/23,200 relay -- 1. Marion (Manderscheid, Yirkovsky, Garthwaite, Hardman), 8:17.92; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 8:19.36; 3. Beckman, 8:19.70; 3,200 -- 1. Josh Yeager (CPU), 9:56.29; 2. Colton Forster (Mar), 10:11.03; 3. Kyle Marti (DC), 10:22.75; Shuttle hurdle relay -- 1. West Delaware (names NA), 59.76; 2. Western Dubuque, 1:00.48; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:01.54; 100 -- 1. Conner Ham (Sol), 11.49; 2. Blake Hughes (Wmsbg), 11.86; 3. Brandon Kinsey (CPU), 11.87; 400 -- 1. Grant Hammann (Beck), 50.47; 2. Brandon Kinsey (CPU), 50.81; 3. Nolan Sagan (VS), 51.23; 800 relay -- 1. Williamsburg (Schultz, Lehmkuhl, Doehrmann, Hughes), 1:32.59; 2. DeWitt Central, 1:33.13; 3. Beckman, 1:34.73; 110 hurdles -- 1. Conner Ham (Sol), 14.94; 2. Quinn Cannoy (Mar), 15.47; 3. Dionndre Gray (WDel), 16.08; 1,600 -- 1. Josh Yeager (CPU), 4:40.63; 2. Kyle Marti (DC), 4:42.25; 3. Michael Marshall (CPU), 4:46.35; 200 -- 1. Conner Ham (Sol), 22.58; 2. Brandon Kinsey (CPU), 22.70; 3. Tanner Bandy (CCA), 22.89; 400 hurdles -- 1. Nick Thibault (CPU), 55.67; 2. Levi Gatrost (CPU), 56.03; 3. Jake Kagemann (DC), 56.59; 1,600 medley relay -- 1. Center Point-Urbana (Frost, Richmond, Marshall, Yeager), 3:40.33; 2. DeWitt Central, 3:43.56; 3. Beckman, 3:49.19; 800 -- 1. Nolan Sagan (VS), 2:04.91; 2. Nolan Teubel (MV), 2:05.45; 3. Kyle Marti (DC), 2:07.54; 400 relay -- 1. Williamsburg (Schultz, Lehmkuhl, Stahl, Hughes), 43.98; 2. Solon, 44.03; 3. Beckman, 44.52; 1,600 relay -- 1. Center Point-Urbana (Thibault, Marshall, Gatrost, Kinsey), 3:29.10; 2. Beckman, 3:30.18; 3. Vinton-Shellsburg, 3:31.08. 

GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD: WAMAC CONFERENCE

At Van Horne

Teams -- 1. Mount Vernon 92, 2. West Delaware 88, 3. Solon 84, 4. DeWitt Central 57, 5. Independence 50, 6. (tie) Anamosa and Clear Creek Amana 48, 8. Williamsburg 47, 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 44, 10. Western Dubuque 42, 11. Center Point-Urbana 39.5, 12. Maquoketa 39, 13. Benton Community 23, 14. Dyersville Beckman 21, 15. Marion 18.5.Shot put -- 1. Shelby Gunnells (Sol), 41-1; 2. Kelsey Ratchford (Ind), 40-2 1/2; 3. Molly Villhauer (CCA), 39-4; Discus -- 1. Kelsey Ratchford (Ind), 129-11; 2. Kennedy Salow (CPU), 119-8; 3. Morgan Rahe (Beck), 115-2 1/2; High jump -- 1. Stephanie McMillan (Ind), 5-2; 2. Caley Courneya (Wmsbg), 5-2; 3. Maci Griffith (VS), 4-10; Long jump -- 1. Karley Jaynes (CPU), 16-5; 2. Sarah Schoel (DC), 16-4 1/2; 3. Libby Ryan (MV), 16-4.3,000 -- 1. Lily Horst (VS), 11:06.41; 2. Lucy Conroy (MV), 11:34.94; 3. Shannon Mulnix (Wmsbg), 11:38.79; 3,200 relay -- 1. Mount Vernon (Meeker, Hartl, Anton, Jeppson), 9:55.87; 2. DeWitt Central, 10:10.05; 3. Benton Community, 10:12.97; Shuttle hurdle relay -- 1. Clear Creek Amana (Smith, Fender, Schwarting, Brimeyer), 1:06.75; 2. Maquoketa, 1:08.43; 3. DeWitt Central, 1:08.65; 100 -- 1. Olivia Loy (Ana), 13.09; 2. Brianna Dellamuth (Wmsbg), 13.34; 3. Emily Thole (WDel), 13.36; Distance medley relay -- 1. DeWitt Central (Seitz, Watson, McNamara, Schoel), 4:26.50; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:27.89; 3. Western Dubuque, 4:28.58; 400 -- 1. Olivia Loy (Ana), 57.34; 2. Emily Thole (WDel), 59.15; 3. Megan Maahs (WDbq), 59.35; 800 relay -- 1. Clear Creek Amana (Fender, Brant, Schwarting, Brimeyer), 1:49.68; 2. Maquoketa, 1:50.53; 3. Mount Vernon, 1:51.09; 100 hurdles -- 1. Jessie Dudak (WDel), 16.19; 2. Aubree Taylor (Maq), 16.41; 3. Natalie Brimeyer (CCA), 16.51; 800 -- 1. Reeann McCarty (WDel), 2:27.94; 2. Maren Jeppsen (MV), 2:28.27; 3. Brittney McNamara (DC), 2:28.68; 200 -- 1. Olivia Loy (Ana), 25.66; 2. Emily Thole (WDel), 26.30; 3. Brianna Dellamuth (Wmsbg), 26.47; 400 hurdles -- 1. Hailey Schwenker (Maq), 1:08.38; 2. Keely Kinsella (CPU), 1:09.10; 3. Natalie Parizek (BC), 1:09.44; Sprint medley relay -- 1. Anamosa (Menster, Whitman, Wagner, Loy), 1:53.48; 2. Solon, 1:53.98; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 1:54.19; 1,500 -- 1. Shae McEnany (Ind), 5:16.81; 2. Reeann McCarty (WDel), 5:17.52; 3. McKayla Hartl (MV), 5:17.56; 400 relay -- 1. Solon (Moss, Ira, Sands, Lawson), 52.54; 2. Williamsburg, 52.63; 3. Western Dubuque, 53.17; 1,600 relay -- 1. West Delaware (names NA), 4:10.17; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:10.73; 3. DeWitt Central, 4:16.11.