Comet girls 2nd, boys 3rd at Coed T&F Invitational

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

WAVERLY — It has been 12 years since the Charles City girls track and field team won the Waverly-Shell Rock Coed Invitational — a “semi”-annual meet that traditionally starts the outdoor season for the regular participants.

In part the reason for this gap is because the meet has been cancelled five of the last seven seasons due to inclement weather as March has repeatedly refused to go out like a lamb.

Finally, there was a break in the trend last Thursday as the cool but pleasantly still and sunny day allowed for the invite to be held for the first time in three years.

And the Comet girls made a serious bid to win what has lately been an elusive title.

Charles City sophomore Kiki Connell helped the Comets get off to a good start early in the meet with a dominating win in the 3,000-meter run, clocking in at 11 minutes, 8.55 seconds — more than 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Emma Hoins of Waverly-Shell Rock.

In addition to the 1,500-meter run, Connell is a state qualifier in the 3,000. She also qualified for the Drake Relays in the 3,000 as a freshman.

To close the meet, Connell, Lydia Staudt, Whitney Martin and Sami Heyer won the 4-by-400 relay with a time of 4:20.85.

Earlier, the Comet foursome of Mackenzy Bilharz, Marley Hagarty, Martin and Ashlyn Hoeft won the 4-by-800 relay with a time of 10:51.51.

But even though Charles City’s girls were leading the meet at the halfway mark and a little beyond, the hosting Go-Hawks were able to overtake them with a final tally of 109 team points — the Comets were runners-up with 100.5 points.

The margin of victory could have been a little closer.

In one of the most exciting finishes of the evening, Hagarty managed to close a 20-yard gap along the backstretch of the 800-meter run and nearly nipped Waverly-Shell Rock’s Anna Hoins at the finish line. Hoins managed to win the race with a time of 2:36.02 — Hagarty was less than a 10th of a second behind.

On the boys side, the Comets showed that they’re going to be strong through the air this season.

In the high jump, junior Bradley Andrews — in his first high school track and field season — placed first with a clear of 6 feet. Finishing runner-up to Andrews was his sophomore teammate Ian Collins with a clear of 5 feet, 10 inches

In the long jump, senior Ryan Zuspan again recorded a leap greater than 20 feet — 20 feet, ½ inch … same distance recorded at the Northeast Iowa Conference Indoor Meet at Wartburg College — while placing second to Parker Kiewiet of Dike-New Hartford (21 feet, 10 ¾ inches).

In the 200 dash, Comet junior John Sibuma placed first with a time of 24.72 seconds.

In team standings, Charles City’s boys placed third with 75 points behind runner-up Dike-New Hartford (102.5 points) and champion Clear Creek Amana (117.5 points).

Waverly-Shell Rock
Coed Invitational

March 28

Male Results

Team Scores

1. Clear Creek Amana 117.5, 2. Dike-New Hartford 102.5, 3. Charles City 75.0, 4. Waverly-Shell Rock 67.0, 5. Mason City 64.0, 6. Hudson 61.0, 6. Waterloo East 61.0, 8. New Hampton 38.0.

Charles City Point Placers

100 — 3. Marcus Cranshaw 12.24.

200 — 1. John Simbuma 24.72.

400 — 6. Max Deeter 1:00.06.

400 HUR — 4. Cole Reams 1:00.29, 5. Zach Graeser 1:00.88.

HJ — 1. Bradley Andrews 6-0, 2. Ian Collins 5-10.

LJ — 2. Ryan Zuspan 20-00.5.

4X200 RELAY — 3. Charles City (John Sibuma, Dylan Koresh, Cael Bohlen, Ian Collins) 1:38.43.

4X400 RELAY — 3. Charles City (Mason Deeter, Dylan Koresh, Malcolm Lopez, Nick Litterer) 3:41.93.

4X800 RELAY — 2. Charles City (Mason Deeter, Ian Collins, Antwone Cooper, Nick Litterer) 8:47.86.

400 SH RELAY — 3. Charles City (John Sibuma, Dylan Koresh, Zach Graeser, Cole Reams) 1:08.20

Female Results

Team Scores

1. Waverly-Shell Rock 109.0, 2. Charles City 100.5, 3. Hudson 89.0, 4. Waterloo East 78.0, 5. Waterloo West 64.0, 6. New Hampton 53.5, 7. Mason City 51.0, 8. Dike-New Hartford 43.0.

Charles City Point Placers

100 — 5. Lydia Staudt 13.74.

200 — 5. Liz Fiser 28.67.

400 — 5. Rachel Chambers 1:08.74.

800 — 2. Marley Hagarty 2:36.12.

100 HUR — 6. Hannah Lahner 18.96

1500 —3. Mackenzy Bilharz 5:33.28.

3000 — 1. Kiki Connell 11:08.55, 5. Mindi Neve 12:14.55.

400 HUR — 5. Selah Opp 1:18.97.

DIS — 3. Carly Stevenson 101-06, 6. Cora Crooks 89-05.

LJ — 3. Kiki Connell 15-11, 4. Liz Fiser 15-09.5, 5. Lydia Staudt 15-05.

SP — 6. Katie Sindt 32-07.5

4X100 RELAY — 2. Charles City (Alex Litterer, Rachel Chambers, Lynn Hoeft, Liz Fizer) 53.07.

4X200 RELAY — 4. Charles City (Alex Litterer, Lynn Hoeft, Ashlynn Hoeft, Selah Opp) 1:59.78.

4×400 RELAY — 1. Charles City (Kiki Connell, Lydia Staudt, Whitney Martin, Sami Heyer) 4:20.85.

4X800 RELAY — 1. Charles City (Mackenzy Bilharz, Marley Hagarty, Whitney Martin, Ashlyn Hoeft) 10:51.51.

400 SH RELAY — 2. Charles City (Lynn Hoeft, Alex Litterer, Liz Fiser, Hannah Lahner) 1:14.26.

800 SM RELAY — 2. Charles City (Lynn Hoeft, Lydia Staudt, Alex Litterer, Sami Heyer) 1:59.99.