South Winn’s Ben Meyer showed up in a big way Friday, May 15, at Osage for the State Qualifying Meet. The junior qualified to compete in three events at State, including the long jump, 400-meter hurdles, and as the anchor of the 4x200 relay. (Jerry Wadian photo)
SW to be repesented in 12 events at State
Zakary Kriener
News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com
The South Winn boys’ and girls’ track teams traveled to Osage Friday, a day after the event was postponed due to weather.
The Warrior boys took third place as a team, sending seven events on to State competition this weekend, beginning Thursday, May 21, in Des Moines. The girls took runner-up honors as a team and will send five events to State.
The boys’ squad will advance at least one competitor to State in all four field events after five athletes finished within the top two of the four events.
Senior Jordan Rommes took gold honors in the high jump after clearing 6’02”. He was also runner-up in the discus with a throw of 142’02”.
Rommes’ discus throw was bested only by teammate Carson Lensing, who threw 155’09” to take first place. Lensing also had a great showing in the shot put, placing first with a throw of 49’05.5”.
Ben Meyer earned second place in the long jump after he cleared 20’03”. The junior also advanced to State competition in the 400-meter hurdles after claiming first place with a time of 56.30.
In addition, the Warrior boys will send a pair of relay teams to Des Moines this weekend. The 4x100 team of Lensing, Treyton Jacobsen, Mitchell Herold, and Rommes took fourth place with a time of 45.02. The 4x200 squad of Nathan Ward, Jacobsen, Herold, and Meyer will also advance after turning in a time of 1:32.51 for third place.
“Going into the night, I felt we had an outside chance of finishing fifth as a team,” said head coach Scott Conway. “Thanks to how hard everyone competed, we were able to outperform our seeding.”
Conway also noted the seniors’ efforts, displaying one of greatest nights of their careers.
The Warrior girls also also wrapped up the regular season in fine fashion, finishing runner-up in both the Conference and Regional meets.
Senior Brittany Shindelar set the pace for the girls, qualifying for State in the shot put and discus. She threw 40’07” in the shot put to take first and 117’04” in the discus to be runner-up.
Junior Becca Hertges will also advance to State in the shot put after her runner-up throw of 38’.
Lexie Warth made it three consecutive years of qualifying for State in the 100-meter hurdles. The senior earned first place with a time of 16.52.
Sophomore Josie Kriener took third in the 1500-meter run with a time of 5:04.38 to qualify for State. Kriener is also a member of the State-qualifying 4x800 team. The squad of Tiana Bullerman, Kriener, RaeAnn Klimesh, and Felicity Taylor placed second with a time of 9:55.81.
“Our girls performed exceptionally well,” affirmed head coach Kevin Kearney. “We qualified everything we expected to qualify, including events we thought would be on the bubble.”