Marion boys, Solon girls rule Wamac

VINTON -- Lukas Mees said it was "just a stepping stone."

You wouldn't have guessed it when the team scores were announced.

The Marion Indians let out a hearty roar when they were named the Wamac Conference boys' track champions Thursday night at the Karr Athletic Complex.

The Indians used superior depth to compile 121 1/2 points and grab their first league title in four years. DeWitt Central was second with 99 1/2, followed by Dyersville Beckman (88 1/3).

"This is great, but it's just a stepping stone," said Mees, who pulled off a distance double -- winning the 3,200 meters (10:03.89) and the 1,600 (4:36.41). "Our goal isn't the conference, or qualifying events to state. The biggest goal is to win a state championship."

That's two weeks down the road. For now, this will certainly suffice.

Marion won a modest three events -- Derrick Williams was the Indians' other champion, taking the 100 in 11.27 seconds. But the Indians nickel-and-dimed their way to points up and down the board, and that was more than enough.

Mees said he was focusing less on time, more on place Thursday, trying to secure as many points as possible. In the 1,600, he pulled a no-no on several occasions, glancing back to see who was chasing him.

"I almost never do that," he said. "My teammates like to tell me the other guys are right behind me."

Like the Indians, the Solon girls lived up to their role as favorites. The Lady Spartans won nine events and nearly doubled the score on their closest challenger.

Solon scored 143 points. West Delaware (77) edged Williamsburg (76) and Western Dubuque (72) for second.

Distance ace Lauren Benzing got through an exhausting itinerary, winning four events. The junior won the 3,000 (10:44.79), the 1,500 (4:59.54), the 800 (2:20.09) and anchored the winning distance medley relay.

"I just tried to think of one race at a time," Benzing said. "If you go into it thinking about four races, it can be overwhelming."

Solon's Emily Bransky also was a quadruple-winner. She captured the 100 (12.54), the 200 (25.36) and the long jump (16-4 1/2), and brought home the winning 800 relay.

Rylee Smith was Solon's other champion. She won the 100 hurdles.

"This team is so exciting," Benzing said. "We have so much diversity -- sprinters, distance girls, field events -- we don't have to rely on one person or one thing."

Beckman won six boys' events, including four relays. Williamsburg's Dakotah Goodell swept the girls' throwing events.

WAMAC CONFERENCE BOYS' TRACK

At Vinton

Teams -- 1. Marion 121.5, 2. DeWitt Central 99.5, 3. Dyersville Beckman 88.33, 4. Western Dubuque 73.5, 5. Solon 72, 6. Center Point-Urbana 47, 7. Benton Community 42, 7. Benton Community 42, 8. Mount Vernon 41, 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 30.5, 10. West Delaware 25, 11. Clear Creek Amana 22, 12. (tie) Anamosa and Maquoketa 13, 14. Williamsburg 10.33, 15. Independence 2, 16. Waterloo Columbus 1.33.

Shot put -- 1. Joe Carber (DC), 53-0; 2. Conner Mebus (Sol), 52-3 1/4; 3. Dane Salow (CPU), 50-7; Discus -- 1. Dane Salow (CPU), 160-4; 2. Tyler Rahe (Beck), 153-5; 3. Justin Dolley (Mar), 149-3; High jump -- 1. Ethan Brehm (Beck), 6-0; 2. Levi Gatrost (CPU), 6-0; 3. (tie) Isaac Frazier (Mar) and Kelyn Rickels (VS), 5-8; Long jump -- 1. Tyler Craigmiles (DC), 20-4 1/4; 2. Riley Pfeiler (WDbq), 19-11; 3. Ty Ramsey (CPU), 19-9.

3,200 relay -- 1. Mount Vernon (Timm, Ruth, Shaffer, Teubel), 8:03.26; 2. DeWitt Central, 8:09.62; 3. Marion, 8:11.77; 3,200 -- 1. Lukas Mees (Mar), 10:03.89; 2. Jordan Murray (DC), 10:11.08; 3. Dain Gerber (Ana), 10:19.74; Shuttle hurdle relay -- 1. Beckman (Hogan, Brehm, Mensen, Gansemer), 59.36; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 1:00.02; 3. Vinton-Shellsburg, 1:02.57; 100 -- 1. Derrick Williams (Mar), 11.27; 2. Conrad Thompson (BC), 11.41; 3. Devin LeBeau (Mar), 11.44; 400 -- 1. Will Teubel (MV), 49.56; 2. Jonah Kuntz (Sol), 51.41; 3. Nick Green (DC), 51.42; 800 relay -- 1. Beckman (Hamann, Anstoetter, Troutman, Steger), 1:30.15; 2. Marion, 1:30.45; 3. DeWitt Central, 1:31.79; 110 hurdles -- 1. Conrad Thompson (BC), 14.59; 2. Jackson Petz (Wmsbg), 15.73; 3. Sam Lahr (WDel), 15.86; 1,600 -- 1. Lukas Mees (Mar), 4:36.41; 2. Wyatt Lyons (VS), 4:39.59; 3. Jack Murray (CCA), 4:40.23; 200 -- 1. Jonah Kuntz (Sol), 22.64; 2. Derrick Williams (Mar), 22.68; 3. Devin LeBeau (Marion), 22.86; 400 hurdles -- 1. Dillon Villhauer (CCA), 54.30; 2. Conrad Thompson (BC), 55.34; 3. Mitch Kirby (DC), 56.41; 1,600 medley relay -- 1. Western Dubuque (Reimer, Beard, Burds, Hermsen), 3:39.43; 2. DeWitt Central, 3:39.99; 3. Marion, 3:40.14; 800 -- 1. Mitch Steger (Beck), 1:59.09; 2. Greg Sam (Mar), 2:00.24; 3. Nolan Sagan (VS), 2:01.30; 400 relay -- 1. Beckman (D.Hammann, Troutman, Anstoetter, G.Hammann), 43.61; 2. Western Dubuque, 43.85; 3. DeWitt Central, 44.05; 1,600 relay -- 1. Beckman (Anstoetter, Roe, G.Hammann, D.Hammann), 3:26.53; 2. Mount Vernon, 3:27.51; 3. DeWitt Central, 3:28.14.

WAMAC CONFERENCE GIRLS' TRACK

At Vinton

Teams -- 1. Solon 143, 2. West Delaware 77, 3. Williamsburg 76, 4. Western Dubuque 72, 5. Benton Community 58, 6. Clear Creek Amana 52, 7. Center Point-Urbana 40, 8. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 39, 9. Anamosa 34, 10. Marion 32, 11. Dyersville Beckman 31, 12. Maquoketa 29, 13. Independence 25, 14. (tie) DeWitt Central and Vinton-Shellsburg 15, 16. Waterloo Columbus 3.

Shot put -- 1. Dakotah Goodell (Wmsbg), 39-3 3/4; 2. Kara Misel (Sol), 38-10 1/2; 3. Allison Blaser (WDbq), 38-9 1/2; Discus -- 1. Dakotah Goodell (Wmsbg), 144-9; 2. Jenna Lansing (Beck), 135-0; 3. Melissa Alger (MVL), 130-5; High jump -- 1. Leslie Hoffmann (WDel), 5-2; 2. (tie) Kelsey Cave (Sol) and Allison Twedt (CPU), 5-0; Long jump -- 1. Emily Bransky (Sol), 16-4 1/2; 2. Sarah Schoel (DC), 16-0; 3. Allison Twedt (CPU), 15-9 3/4.

3,000 -- 1. Lauren Benzing (Sol), 10:44.79; 2. Dakota Tell (WDbq), 10:55.82; 3. Maddie Hinsley (CCA), 11:28.49;

3,200 relay -- 1. Benton Community (Mills, Benson, Hammes, Weekly), 9:47.40; 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 9:57.94; 3. Western Dubuque, 9:58.92;

Shuttle hurdle relay -- 1. West Delaware (Callan, Mattice, Dudak, Jones), 1:07.66; 2. Solon, 1:08.13; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:08.05;

100 -- 1. Emily Bransky (Sol), 12.54; 2. Emily Thole (WDel), 12.70; 3. Olivia Loy (Ana), 12.82;

Distance medley relay -- 1. Solon (Ira, Kramer, Miller, Benzing), 4:18.93; 2. Western Dubuque, 4:21.65; 3. Independence, 4:22.33;

400 -- 1. Brooke Beasley (Wmsbg), 59.90; 2. Laura Neumberger (Maq), 1:00.05; 3. Sam Livingston (Mar), 1:02.55;

800 relay -- 1. Solon (Brimeyer, Carr, Kramer, Bransky), 1:47.01; 2. Beckman, 1:48.21; 3. West Delaware, 1:48.78;

100 hurdles -- 1. Rylee Smith (Sol), 15.96; 2. Morgan Kolarik (Mar), 16.32; 3. Kourtney Dobbs (CPU), 16.33;

800 -- 1. Lauren Benzing (Sol), 2:20.09; 2. Madison Weekly (BC), 2:21.34; 3. Brette Correy (WDbq), 2:23.73;

200 -- 1. Emily Bransky (Sol), 25.36; 2. Emily Thole (WDel), 25.65; 3. Olivia Loy (Ana), 25.82;

400 hurdles -- 1. Aubree Taylor (Maq), 1:06.70; 2. Natalie Parizek (BC), 1:08.01; 3. Sara Davis (WDbq), 1:09.02;

Sprint medley relay -- 1. Anamosa (D.Christiansen, Wagner, C.Christiansen, Loy), 1:52.15; 2. Williamsburg, 1:53.70; 3. Benton Community, 1:54.43;

1,500 -- 1. Lauren Benzing (Sol), 4:59.54; 2. Dakota Tell (WDbq), 5:02.42; 3. Ashley Mills (BC), 5:03.28;

400 relay -- 1. Beckman (Hogan, Klostermann, Willenbring, Kennedy), 51.59; 2. Solon, 52.04; 3. Western Dubuque, 52.57;

1,600 relay -- 1. West Delaware (Briggs, Dudak, Glanz, Thole), 4:07.32; 2. Williamsburg, 4:09.67; 3. Maquoketa, 4:09.84.