Few athletic events resemble a traveling circus like a middle school track meet, especially if the event is coed. Officials and volunteers are taxed to edge of their patience trying to place the right competitors in the proper event and correct lanes all the while battling the ever-present fact that a sizable percentage of the athletes have no idea where they are supposed to be, or when.
And yet, somehow, a coed relay was successfully held at Kaufman Track Friday, a testament to the coaches and volunteers who managed to fit all the pieces together well enough to make the meet happen.
The visiting schools each ran as combined-grade teams, while Perry opted to run each grade separately, thus allowing for more students to participate.
Greene County won the girls side with 133 points, with Fort Dodge second at 104 and Winterset third at 99.5 ADM scored 95 points to place fourth, with the Perry eighth grade fifth with 73 points while the Perry seventh grade scored 44.5 points.
ADM edged the Perry eighth grade, 151-143, for top honors in the boys meet. Greene County (123) was third, followed by Fort Dodge (77), DC-G (42) and the Perry seventh grade (8).
Points were awarded to sixth place in each event; only those from Perry who placed in the top three are listed.
Jasmine Shriver’s time of 33.3 seconds won the 200 hurdles, the sole victory for the grade 7 Jayettes.
Quinn Whiton was second in the 100 in 14.3 seconds and third in the 200 in 30.8 clicks, with Denise Mejia’s 6:15.1 clocking securing third place in the 1500. Whiton also added points for third place in the long jump after landing 12 feet, 3-1/4 inches from the board.
Rylynn Gilmore’s spin of 64’9 won the discus for the Perry eighth graders, with Gilmore placing second and Sierra Shore-Newton third in the shot put with heaves of 25’1-1/4 and 24’6-1/2, respectively.
The eighth grade Jayettes were third in three relays. Katelyn Saldana, Narale Cerna, Myka Meri and Sophie Prombo ran the 4×200 in 2 minutes, 12.1 seconds, with Hannah Petersen joining Prombo, Cerna and Mejia for the 4×800 (12:24.2) while Aliece Fox, Carly Herrera, Jacqueline Guardado and Petersen ran the distance medley (5:27.8).
A new school record highlighted the boys side, as Amos Munoz, Byron Melendrez, Ever Tobar and Tyler Fessler won the sprint medley (100-100-200-400) in 1:47.4. The old mark of 1:48.53 was set in 2014 by current sophomores Jackson Kimrey, Reece Dunlap, Cruz Simaytis and Austin Hay.
Perry also won the distance medley (4:22.7) with Cori Alamina, Moses Tellez, Kato Dougan and Marcus Lemus providing the points. Lemus, Munoz, Melendrez and Ray Rios won the 4×100 in 51.9 seconds, with the quartet of Dougan, Sarceno, Medina and Vargas winning the 4×800 in 10:17.3.
Munoz, Dougan, Sarceno and Melendrez teamed for second place in the 4×200 (1:46.7), with Dougan, Alamina, Sarceno and Fessler second in the 4×400 (4:04).
The Bluejays scored well in field events, with Erick Funez winning the shot put at 32’2 while Cole Snyder was second in the discus at 89’3. Rios won the high jump by clearing 4’11, with Dougan third in the long jump at 15’9-3/4.
Fessler used a 57.7 clocking to win the 400, with Tobar second in the 100 in 12.7 ticks and Dougan third in the 800 in 2:29.
Tellez added to the points total with second-place finishes in both the 100 (17.7) and 200 (30.2) hurdles races.
Jim Richmond coaches the Jayettes, with Jennifer Sprung assisting while James Prombo assists Trevor Kittleson with the Bluejays. Each squad will be at home once more this season, with the Jayettes hosting the Mary Waggie Relays Thursday while the Bluejays will host the John Turner Relays May 2.
