NEWTON — There were numerous highlights for the Perry boys track team Thursday at the Cardinal Relays, but those results produced almost no team points thanks to a field of opposition that was, far and away, the most talented the Bluejays have encountered this spring.
Ottumwa won the meet with 105 points, with Ames scoring 91 points for second place and Nevada 80 for third. Perry had just six points to finish 10th in the 11-team field.
The Perry girls were supposed to compete Thursday in Webster City, but the meet was cancelled. Freshman Jaylene Karolus was invited to join the Jays for the Newton Coed, the only Jayette to compete.
She nearly matched her best effort in the 3000, crossing fifth in 11 minutes, 29 seconds. Despite the strong effort, the tough field — including numerous 4A schools — restricted Karolus to two points for fifth place.
The Bluejay points came from personal best efforts in the 100 and 200 from Kato Dougan and from a similar effort from Kaleb Olejniczak in the 800.
Dougan was fourth in the 100 in 11.29 seconds and sixth in the 200 in 24.07, with Olejniczak’s 2:09.2 sixth in the 800.
Joseph Clark ran the 400 in 58.29, Eduardo Sanchez the 1600 (5:12.78) and 3200 (11:37.38), Jared Narber the 110 high hurdles (19.26) and Jeb Stewart the 400 low hurdles (1:08.57).
Collin Malmberg, Caden Steva, Jeremiah Cregeen and Carlos Calderon ran the 4×100 in 51.52k with Clark, Bryan Funez, Byron Melendrez and Justin Stammer the 4×400 (3:55.11). The shuttle hurdle quartet of Narber, Stewart, Steva and Ben Stika crossed in 1:20.08, with Malmberg, Cregeen, Steva and Sanchez finishing the distance medley in 4:21.02.
Alex Morales narrowly missed placing in the discus with a spin of 120 feet, nine inches, the best by a Perry thrower this season, while Emmanuel Soto shoved the shot put 35’5.
