Track and field athletes from Adel-Desoto-Minburn and West Central Valley Community Schools performed well in the first outdoor track meet of the season Tuesday night. The Tigers girls track squad, and the Wildcat boys and girls track teams competed in the annual Earlham Early Bird Invitational which was postponed until last night due to wet weather Monday evening. The nonscored meet produced multiple first-place finishes for both ADM and West Central Valley.
The Tigers girls track team placed first in 12 total events eight individual and four relays, and ADM had multiple individuals win more than one event at the Earlham Early Bird Invitational. Senior Keaton Kester placed first in both the 100 meter (12.83 seconds) and 200 meter (26.63 seconds) dashes. Freshman Hannah Welch opened her outdoor track season with a first-place finish in the 3000 meter run of 12:02.54. Welch used a late burst to win the 800 meter run by one-tenth of a second at 2:39.79. Other top finishes for ADM came in the 100-meter hurdles (Sami Schepers-16.45 seconds), long jump (Josi Lonneman-16’2.5″), 1500 meter run (Sadie Jurgens-5:21.54), and following relay teams-the 800 sprint medley, the shuttle hurdle relay, the 4×200, and the 4×100. Overall, ADM head girls track coach Bart Mueller was pleased with how the night went. “It’s a little cool, it’s dry, and I’m thankful for that,” Mueller said, “The girls got their first meet in and its always good to get that first one completed. A lot of good things happened.”
West Central Valley senior Grace Dupuy highlighted the Wildcats girls track team with a pair of first-place finishes in the field events. She set a new meet record in the shot put with her longest throw measuring at 34′ 9″. Dupuy also won the discus throw with a top toss of 94’10”. Senior Billy Larsen was the Wildcat boys lone individual first-place finisher, taking top honors in the 400 hurdles with a final time of 58.71 seconds.
The ADM girls track team returns to competition Thursday in the DCG Early Bird Invite. The West Central Valley track teams are off until April 3 when the boy’s squad will compete at a meet hosted by East Union Community Schools.