Benton’s Eli Patterson matches a career best (6-7) in the high jump

VAN HORNE — It’s still March. It’s still cold.

But it wasn’t too early or too chilly for Eli Patterson to make a big impression.

The junior from Benton Community cleared 6 feet, 7 inches to claim the boys’ high jump championship at the Benton Early Bird track and field meet Monday night at Bobcat Stadium.

“I’m a little surprised,” Patterson said. “I wanted to go compete and win.”

He did both. And he also matched his career-best.

Patterson was the Class 3A state runner-up last year.

He wrapped up Monday’s title when he cleared 6-4, then opted to set the bar at 6-7.

“I thought I’d might as well go for the Drake (Relays) standard,” he said. “I had to calm myself down and get the job done.”

On a night in which the temperature was at 38 degrees at the meet’s conclusion (felt like 33), Mount Vernon’s girls and Denver’s boys were team champions.

The stars of the show, meanwhile, were a pair of sprinters from Grinnell.

Kellan Harter moved to No. 1 (all classes) in the boys’ 100 meters, winning it in 10.72 seconds. He also reigned in the 200 (22.24) and anchored the Tigers’ winning 4x100.

Aiden Gosselink ruled the girls’ 100, 400 and long jump, and anchored Grinnell’s winning 4x100.

Mount Vernon scored 148 points in the girls’ competition. The Mustangs got a winning effort from Evelyn Moeller (2:19.86), along with CaliAna Whitaker (200), Libby Dix (discus) and Sorell Telecky (400 hurdles).

Led by Amilia Condon, who anchored two winning relays, Union Community was second with 103.

Denver won seven boys’ events and scored 134 points. Center Point-Urbana (107.5) was second.

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Mount Vernon 148, 2. Union Community 103, 3. Benton Community 98, 4. Center Point-Urbana 86, 5. Grinnell 72, 6. Denver 56, 7. Waterloo West 48, 8. South Tama 41, 9. Springville 34, 10. C.R. Xavier 30, 11. Alburnett 6, 12. North Linn 5.

Shot put — 1. Ana Glawe (Benton), 34-10; 2. Libby Dix (Mount Vernon), 34-8; 3. Shay Massner (CPU), 33-3.

Discus — 1. Libby Dix (Mount Vernon), 123-0; 2. Ana Glawe (Benton), 112-11; 3. Lauren Louden (Grinnell), 106-9.

High jump — 1. Rowan Jacobi (Springville), 5-2; 2. Lily Lorenzen (Union), 5-1; 3. Eastin Whisner (Mount Vernon), 4-10.

Long jump — 1. Aiden Gosselink (Grinnell), 17-11; 2. Lucy Wischmeyer (Mount Vernon), 16-9; 3. Taylen Smith (Union), 16-0.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Burkhart, Miller, Wade, Bowe), 1:56.66; 2. Mount Vernon, 1:58.72; 3. South Tama, 2:01.54.

3,000 — 1. Nakia Ollivierre (Wat. West), 10:50.03; 2. Avanti Dunn (CPU), 12:30.86; 3. Adeline Tudor (Union), 12:39.19.

3,200 relay — 1. Union Community (Albertsen, Carlson, Lorenzen, Condon), 10:21.44; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 10:28.71; 3. Mount Vernon, 10:47.45.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Benton Community (Sadler, Werner, Moore, Seeck), 1:11.63; 2. Mount Vernon, 1:12.85; 3. Springville, 1:14.49.

100 — 1. Aiden Gosselink (Grinnell), 12.71; 2. CaliAna Whitaker (Mount Vernon), 12.82; 3. Maya Burkhart (CPU), 13.78.

Distance medley relay — 1. Union Community (Grimm, Parson, Carlson, Condon), 4:32.28; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:35.17; 3. Grinnell, 5:03.13.

400 — 1. Aiden Gosselink (Grinnell), 1:02.10; 2. Chloe Sadler (Union), 1:08.22; 3. Addie Brauman (Denver), 1:08.86.

800 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Wade, Schmitt, Miller, Bowe), 1:51.69; 2. Benton Community, 1:55.70; 3. Grinnell, 1:56.70.

100 hurdles — 1. Scout Ridout (South Tama), 17.03; 2. Sophia Seeck (Benton), 17.48; 3. Belle Werner (Benton), 18.11.

800 — 1. Evelyn Moeller (Mount Vernon), 2:19.86; 2. Kiersten Swart (Mount Vernon), 2:24.92; 3. Brynn Albertsen (Union), 2:32.10.

200 — 1. CaliAna Whitaker (Mount Vernon), 26.52; 2. Rowan Jacobi (Springville), 27.78; 3. Addison Merritt (Springvillle), 28.32.

400 hurdles — 1. Sorell Telecky (Mount Vernon), 1:12.86; 2. Katie Jackson (Union), 1:13.31; 3. Mya McCarville (Benton), 1:16.21.

1,500 — 1. Nakia Ollivierre (Waterloo West), 4:59.59; 2. Amilia Condon (Union), 5:10.26; 3. Mia Deegan (C.R. Xavier), 5:19.11.

400 relay — 1. Grinnell (Stephenson, Flander, Louden, Gosselink), 51.96; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 53.75; 3. Waterloo West, 53.93.

1,600 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Causey, Katcher, Bowe, Estling), 4:12.05; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:27.60; 3. Benton Community, 4:38.01.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Denver 134, 2. Center Point-Urbana 107.5, 3. Grinnell 95, 4. Benton Community 86, 5. Union Community 79.5, 6. Belle Plaine 46, 7. Springville 42, 8. Alburnett 34, 9. C.R. Xavier 32, 10. Monticello 27, 11. Anamosa 23, 12. South Tama 22, 13. Valley Lutheran 6, 14. North Linn 2.

Shot put — 1. Will Lockhart (Denver), 45-9 3/4; 2. Carter Holmes (Benton), 44-5; 3. Cameron Corey (Grinnell), 44-0 1/2.

Discus — 1. Will Lockhart (Denver), 154-11; 2. Cohen Spurlock (CPU), 147-2; 3. Carter Holmes (Benton), 147-1.

High jump — 1. Eli Patterson (Benton), 6-7; 2. Ethan Winnike (Union), 6-0; 3. (tie) Donovan Crouchet (CPU) and Justice Luke (Union), 6-0.

Long jump — 1. Lane Vokoun (Belle Plaine), 20-10 3/4; 2. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 19-9 1/2; 3. Beni Kiphanzu (Grinnell), 18-8 3/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Springville (Jordan, Lansing, Rouse, Hoy), 1:39.34; 2. Denver, 1:40.09; 3. Belle Plaine, 1:40.24.

3,200 — 1. Caden Knoblock (Denver), 10:24.35; 2. Hayden Gustafson (Alburnett), 10:27.60; 3. Barrett Jesina (South Tama), 10:32.92.

3,200 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Estling, Estling, Grimm, Easton), 8:26.35; 2. Grinnell, 8:30.89; 3. Denver, 8:39.18.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Benton Community (Timmerman, Corrigan, Von Ahsen, Patterson), 1:03.57; 2. Union Community, 1:06.09; 3. Denver, 1:06.90.

100 — 1. Kellan Harter (Grinnell), 10.72; 2. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 11.10; 3. Carter Andrews (CPU), 11.29.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Xavier (Mason, Dougherty, Wilgenbusch, Allen), 3:46.27; 2. Union Community, 3:47.31; 3. Alburnett, 3:50.93.

400 — 1. Nathan Miller (CPU), 51.12; 2. Sam DeMeulenaere (Belle Plaine), 52.37; 3. Christian Brown (Denver), 54.89.

800 relay — 1. Denver (Ledoux, Baas, Schoville, Reiter), 1:32.97; 2. Benton Community, 1:34.28; 3. Grinnell, 1:34.63.

110 hurdles — 1. Jackson Joerger (Denver), 15.30; 2. Lane Vokoun (Belle Plaine), 15.30; 3. Eli Patterson (Benton), 16.17.

800 — 1. Jesse Gomez (Denver), 2:02.57; 2. Caiden Bueckers (Alburnett), 2:03.37; 3. Harrison Laug (Grinnell), 2:03.60.

200 — 1. Kellan Harter (Grinnell), 22.24; 2. Nathan Miller (CPU), 23.05; 3. Ethan Reiter (Denver), 23.44.

400 hurdles — 1. Owen Von Ahsen (Benton), 54.89; 2. Brock Corrigan (Benton), 1:01.31; 3. Ethan Doty (Denver), 1:01.84.

1,600 — 1. Cadel Conner (Grinnell), 4:31.58; 2. Hayden Gustafson (Alburnett), 4:40.54; 3. Carter Easton (CPU), 4:42.46.

400 relay — 1. Grinnell (Kiphanzu, Ringler, Mahoney, Harter), 43.95; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 44.14; 3. Union Community, 44.83.

1,600 relay — 1. Denver (Gomez, Ledoux, Schoville, Reiter), 3:31.88; 2. Springville, 3:34.89; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 3:36.91.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com