DES MOINES — The six Perry athletes who competed in three different events at Saturday’s state track meet all had one thing in common aside from the school they represented: all remained dry.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
The final day of the state meet endured a delay of over two hours after the National Weather Service issued a severe weather warning at 1:30 p.m., forcing officials to put the meet on hold. By then Perry’s duties were long since complete.
The boys sprint medley union of Kato Dougan, Mana Martinez, Reece Dunlap and Kaleb Olejniczak were the first in action for Perry, taking to the famed blue oval of Drake Stadium under sunny skies at 9:50 p.m.
The foursome finished 16th overall in 1 minute, 36.3 seconds, up slightly from a 13th-seeded qualifying time of 1:35.84.
Glenwood broke their own Class 3A state meet record, set last year, by finishing first in 1:33.11. Marion (1:33.3) and Nevada (1:33.6) were second and third, with each of their respective times also faster than the old Glenwood mark.
Jayette senior Sid Vancil accomplished two personal goals in one fell swoop Saturday. She had previously expressed a career-long desire to run in the 800 at the state meet and not only did she do so Saturday, she shattered her seed time of 2:28.32 (her previous lifetime best) in the process with a blistering 2:21.58, the fastest 800 run by a Jayette since Jessica Nichols won her second 800 state crown in 2010.
Vancil placed 16th overall (up from her 19th-seeded entry). Ellie Friesen of Glenwood crossed first in 2:13.63.
Bluejay senior Brandon Kenyon capped his strong career by also competing in the 800. He was 13th, in 2:01.98 last year and entered as the eighth seed at 2:01.48. Kenyon’s last race as a Bluejay ended in 2:00.48 and 15th place.
Atlantic’s Chase Mullenix won the race in 1:55.38, 26 years after his own father had claimed a state title in the 800.
The Bluejays are coached by Ben Coy and the Jayettes by Matt Hardy. Jeff Fox and Ryan Marzen assist Coy, with Paige Wilkin and Chris Morrow assisting Hardy.
