Vinton-Shellsburg, Western Dubuque reign at Wamac

TIFFIN — They combined a total of one individual champion.

Instead, the Vinton-Shellsburg boys and Western Dubuque girls relied on relay prowess and overall depth to claim team titles at the Wamac Conference track and field meet Thursday night at Clear Creek Amana High School.

Vinton-Shellsburg's title came in dramatic, end-of-the-meet heroics by its 1,600-meter relay team. Trailing Solon by a point heading to the final event, the Vikings' foursome of Nick Hyland, Tyler Bartz, Blake Bohnsack and Joel Barnes won it in 3:24.89.

'To win a Wamac title, it's just huge,' Barnes said. 'The competition here was amazing. I don't know how long it's been since we've won a Wamac title in anything, but it's been a long time.

'I'm sure the town is going to be proud of us.'

Vinton-Shellsburg finished with 99 points to edge Mount Vernon (95) and Solon (93). The Vikings' only other winner was Bartz, in the long jump.

Western Dubuque wrapped up the girls' crown in the second-to-last event and compiled 94.5 points. Solon was second with 89.

It was a fitting sendoff for Jerry Ross, who will retire at the end of the season. Ross has coached 39 years at Western Dubuque, and this was his first Wamac title.

'We wanted to end with a bang for him, and I know he wanted to win it for us,' said Blair Burds, who ran on all three of the Bobcats' winning relays — the 400- and 800-meter units, plus the sprint medley.

Eight conference-meet records fell on a near-perfect day; it was 70 degrees with a light breeze when the meet began. JoJo Frost of Center Point-Urbana claimed two of them, running 49.28 seconds in the 400-meter dash and 53.81 in the 400-meter hurdles. He also captured the 110-meter highs.

'I didn't want to have a letdown after Drake,' he said. 'I tried to focus on having fun and just enjoying the competition. It's go-time now. The last couple weeks of the season, it's time to get faster.'

Other boys' records went to Anamosa's Daniel 'Boone' Husmann in the 100 (11.05), Blake Hughes of Williamsburg in the 200 (22.11), Western Dubuque's 400-meter relay (42.92) and Dyersville Beckman's shuttle hurdle relay (58.72).

Marion's Maddie Bach was a double-champion on the girls' side, sweeping the 3,000 and 1,500. Her effort of 10:29.51 in the 3,000 was a meet record. In the 1,500, she outdueled Williamsburg's Julie Hollensbe at the end.

'I don't know if you know this, but I'm not an 800 runner,' Bach said, referring to Hollensbe's kick. 'That was really good ... I'm really tired.'

Independence closed the girls' competition with a record run in the 1,600 relay — 4:03.17.

After that, all that remained was to determine the boys' champion.

'The nerves were playing a little bit,' Barnes said. 'The first three guys gave me a good lead.'

He exhaled.

'It's just an amazing feeling.'

Both divisions were strikingly balanced. Eleven different teams won at least one girls' event, and nine cashed in on at least one boys' event.

WAMAC CONFERENCE TRACK & FIELD MEET

At Tiffin

BOYS

Teams — 1. Vinton-Shellsburg 99, 2. Mount Vernon 95, 3. Solon 93, 4. Western Dubuque 74, 5. Anamosa 71, 6. Center Point-Urbana 63, 7. Marion 52, 8. Williamsburg 41, 9. Independence 33, 10. (tie) Dyersville Beckman and West Delaware 26, 12. Benton Community 20, 13. South Tama 17, 14. Clear Creek Amana 12, 15. DeWitt Central 10, 16. Maquoketa 0.

Shot put — 1. Tristan Wirfs (MtV), 60-4; 2. William Blaser (WDbq), 60-2 1/2; 3. Blake Patterson (VS), 49-10 1/2; Discus — 1. Tristan Wirfs (MtV), 157-11; 2. Harrison Goebel (WDel), 149-5; 3. Matt Vislisel (MtV), 138-11; High jump — 1. Matt Roeder (Sol), 6-2; 2. Blair Brooks (Mar), 6-2; 3. Tyler Zumbach (Ana), 6-2; Long jump — 1. Tyler Bartz (VS), 21-6; 2. Halston Durr (Sol), 20-11 1/2; 3. Blake Bohnsack (VS), 20-11.

3,200 relay — 1. Mount Vernon (Z.Krogmann, J.Krogmann, Leopold, Wilch), 8:08.92; 2. Solon, 8:12.52; 3. Anamosa, 8:19.49; 3,200 — 1. Myles Bach (Mar), 9:51.91; 2. Jack Young (MtV), 9:57.77; 3. Isaac Connolly (WDbq), 10:01.59; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Beckman (Smith, Brown, Keegan, Stelken), 58.72*; 2. Anamosa, 59.27; 3. Solon, 1:00.64; 100 — 1. Daniel 'Boone' Husmann (Ana), 11.05*; 2. Blake Hughes (Wmsbg), 11.14; 3. Nick Hyland (VS), 11.17; 400 — 1. JoJo Frost (CPU), 49.28*; 2. Tyler Bartz (VS), 49.70; 3. Joel Barnes (VS), 49.84; 800 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (K.Beard, Fagerlind, Bennett, B.Beard) 1:31.75; 2. Anamosa, 1:33.31; 3. Solon, 1:33.33; 110 hurdles — 1. JoJo Frost (CPU), 15.16; 2. Logan Sarchett (CPU), 15.23; 3. Luke Ira (Sol), 15.34; 1,600 — 1. Jack Young (MtV), 4:35.19; Myles Bach (Mar), 4:36.47; 3. Nick Fallon (Beck), 4:37.87; 200 — 1. Blake Hughes (Wmsbg), 22.11*; 2. Brandon Beard (WDbq), 22.41; 3. Tyler Bartz (VS), 22.74; 400 hurdles — 1. JoJo Frost (CPU), 53.81*; 2. Noah Heitshusen (Wmsbg), 55.55; 3. Dirk Snyder (Ana), 55.91; 1,600 medley relay — 1. Anamosa (Cabrera, Martensen, Fish, Sams), 3:40.38; 2. Mount Vernon, 3:40.77; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 3:44.12; 800 — 1. Wyatt Gatrost (CPU), 1:58.28; 2. Graeson Dall (Sol), 2:00.23; 3. Peyton Wilch (MtV), 2:00.71; 400 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (K.Beard, Kramer, B.Beard, Bennett), 42.92*; 2. Vinton-Shellsburg, 43.53; 3. Solon, 44.02; 1,600 relay — 1. Vinton-Shellsburg (Hyland, Bartz, Bohnsack, Barnes), 3:24.89; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 3:26.42; 3. Western Dubuque, 3:26.88.

*Wamac record

GIRLS

Teams — 1. Western Dubuque 94.5, 2. Solon 89, 3. Benton Community 76, 4. Williamsburg 74, 5. Marion 72, 6. Mount Vernon 65, 7. South Tama 62, 8. Independence 38.5, 9. DeWitt Central 38, 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 30, 11. Dyersville Beckman 29, 12. West Delaware 25.5, 13. Clear Creek Amana 20.5, 14. Center Point-Urbana 14, 15. Maquoketa 9, 16. Anamosa 4.

Shot put — 1. Mahlia Brown (Mar), 38-8; 2. Tieranny Keahna (STC), 38-1 1/2; 3. Katy Misel (Sol), 37-10; Discus — 1. Katy Misel (Sol), 130-9; 2. Tieranny Keahna (STC), 130-9; 3. Amanda Dedrick (VS), 115-9; High jump — 1. Stacey Slaven (STC), 5-4; 2. Caley Courneya (Wmsbg), 5-3; 3. Josie Durr (Solon), 5-0; Long jump — 1. Kaylee Hosch (Ind), 16-8 1/2; 2. Corrine Schwarting (CCA), 16-3; 3. Amber Rohlena (BC), 15-11 3/4.

3,000 — 1. Maddie Bach (Mar), 10:29.51*; 2. Julie Hollensbe (Wmsbg), 10:35.88; 3. Sophia Gilbert (BC), 10:36.57; 3,200 relay — 1. DeWitt Central (McNamara, O'Neil, Roling, Campbell), 9:43.64; 2. Vinton-Shellsburg, 9:45.11; 3. Mount Vernon, 9:53.31; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Mount Vernon (Rhomberg, Ryan, Dahlstrom, Yeoman), 1:06.31; 2. Western Dubuque, 1:07.54; 3. Solon, 1:07.75; 100 — 1. Morgan Funke (Beck), 12.68; 2. Ellie Masten (BC), 12.71; 3. Brianna Dellamuth (Wmsbg), 12.84; Distance medley relay — 1. Williamsburg (McAtee, Wardenburg, Gilbert, Hollensbe), 4:19.87; 2. Western Dubuque, 4:21.85; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:24.87; 400 — Erin Kerkhoff (Sol), 58.86; 2. Megan Maahs (WDbq), 59.02; 3. Isabelle Tyynismaa (STC), 59.31; 800 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Tentis, Ulbrich, Hermsen, Burds), 1:47.10; 2. Benton Community, 1:47.61; 3. Marion, 1:48.85; 100 hurdles — 1. Grace Martensen (BC), 15.39; 2. Catherine Yeoman (MtV), 15.65; 3. Elayna Bahl (WDbq), 15.72; 800 — 1. Julie Hollensbe (Wmsbg), 2:21.42; 2. Brittany McNamara (DeWC), 2:22.86; 3. Andrea Ertz (Mar), 2:24.48; 200 — 1. Morgan Funke (Beck), 26.17; 2. Brianna Dellamuth (Wmsbg), 26.28; 3. Isabelle Tyynismaa (STC), 26.41; 400 hurdles — 1. Allison Yuska (STC), 1:06.23; 2. Libby Ryan (MtV), 1:07.84; 3. Hailey Saunders (DeWC), 1:09.79; Sprint medley relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Denlinger, Tentis, Burds, Maahs), 1:52.67; 2. Williamsburg, 1:53.01; 3. Benton Community, 1:53.61; 1,500 — 1. Maddie Bach (Mar), 4:56.02; 2. Julie Hollensbe (Wmsbg), 4:56.42; 3. Sophia Gilbert (BC), 5:00.90; 400 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Allen, Bahl, Tentis, Burds), 51.14; 2. Benton Community, 51.42; 3. Marion, 51.84; 1,600 relay — 1. Independence (Price, Hosch, Hupke, Niedert), 4:03.17*; 2. Solon, 4:06.98; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:07.18.

*Wamac record

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