DES MOINES — Perry sent five boys and two girls events to the state track meet this season, with Woodward-Granger represented in the boys 800.
Hawk senior Johnnie Morgan completed two circuits of Drake Stadium’s famed blue oval in 2 minutes, 1.76 seconds Saturday to finish 14th in the Class 2A 800.
Perry sophomore Reece Dunlap competed Thursday in preliminary heats of the Class 3A 100 dash and 200 dash. He placed 20th overall in the former in 11.7 seconds and 23rd in the latter in 23.35 clicks.
Also running into Thursday’s strong headwind for Perry were a pair of juniors in the 400 dash.
Emma Olejniczak returned to the event in which she qualified as a freshman, placing 21st in 1:04.36, an improvement from her 24th seed. She ran the 400 in 1:04.54 two years ago.
Adan Medina followed Olejniczak onto the track only a few minutes later and also finished 21st overall after crossing in 52 seconds.
Jacob Thompson, Alex Long, Kaleb Olejniczak and Zach Thompson — in order — ran in the 4×800 Thursday. Perry entered as the 18th seed and placed 18th with a clocking of 8:30.12. Jacob Thompson and Long are seniors, while Zach Thompson is a sophomore and Olejniczak a freshman.
The 4×400 foursome of, in order, Dunlap, Alexis Garrido, Jose Castellanos and Medina maintained their 13-seed by finishing in 3:28.71 Friday. While the time did not qualify for the finals, had the team made the elite eight and then run the same time, they would have placed seventh. Castellanos is a senior and Garrido a sophomore.
Friday began — literally — with Taylor Lathrum stepping into the ring as the first thrower in the first event of the day, the shot put. The senior was the first Jayette in either the shot or discus to compete at state in 10 years, or not since current throwing coach Emi Einck placed fifth in the discus as a senior in 2006.
Lathrum was the 24th seed entering the meet but moved up to 22nd with a best push of 32 feet, six inches. She will compete in field events for Grandview University next year.
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Jeff does a great job of keeping up on all athletes in the area. We need to support his efforts of the fine reporting for our benefit. His photography is outstanding.
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