MFL MarMac track athletes break 20-year-old records in 100, 4x100
In the 100-meter dash at Clayton Ridge, Karter Decker (second from left) was one of four Bulldogs to place within the top five. From left, Wyatt Powell was fourth, Kade McElwaine third and Anthony Bunting fifth. Later in the week at Starmont, Decker broke the school record in the 100. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Carver Blietz-Bentien and Wyatt Powell are two legs of MFL MarMac’s record-setting 4x100 relay.
Eli Hanson leapt to fifth place in the long jump at the April 25 meet at Clayton Ridge.
Jaxon Millage takes the handoff in the distance medley relay at the Clayton Ridge meet. MFL MarMac placed fourth in the event.
Parker Kuehl continued strong performances in the high jump last week. He placed third at Clayton Ridge, then won at Starmont.
Tucker Ruff runs his leg of the distance medley relay at Clayton Ridge.
Aiden Schoulte earned sixth place in the discus in the April 25 meet.
Izayah Streicher led off for the Bulldogs in the shuttle hurdle relay at Clayton Ridge.
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
Two MFL MarMac boys track and field records that had stood for over 20 years were broken at the April 28 Starmont Invitational.
Senior Karter Decker’s time of 10.69 seconds in the 100-meter dash eclipsed the 10.81 set by Neal Wikner in 2002.
The Bulldogs’ 4x100 relay of Decker, Wyatt Powell, Carver Blietz-Bentien and Kade McElwaine completed the race in 44.69 seconds, edging the 2002 time of 44.87. That was set by Wikner, Kyle Junk, John Berns and Mychal Moon.
The record-setting night capped off what was another successful week for the Bulldogs, who started it by placing second as a team at the April 25 Clayton Ridge Co-Ed Invite. MFL MarMac’s 125 points trailed only Sumner-Fredericksburg at 157.
Decker won both the 100 and 200 at that meet. In the 100, he was one of four Bulldogs to place within the top five. McElwaine was third, Powell fourth and Anthony Bunting fifth.
Bunting was also third in the 200 and teammate Koda Warrington sixth.
Brent Roe rounded out the sprints with a 15th-place time in the 400, and earned the same finish in the 1600. Keith Anderson ran to 12th in the 800.
Carter Streicher and Tucker Ruff placed a respective third and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles.
Not surprisingly, the Bulldogs were first in the 4x100 relay, this time with Parker Kuehl in place of McElwaine.
Bunting, McElwaine, Blietz-Bentien and Kuehl combined for second in the 4x200, while Ruff, Eli Hanson, Jaxon Millage and Carter Streicher crossed the line third in the 4x400.
The team earned another pair of third-place finishes in the shuttle hurdle and sprint medley relays. Izayah Streicher, Anderson, Ruff and Carter Streicher made up the former, while the sprint med included Powell, Blietz-Bentien, McElwaine and Izayah Streicher.
Warrington, Izayah Streicher, Millage and Ruff rounded out the relays with a fourth-place time in the distance medley.
The field events were highlighted by a pair of victories: Hunter Christofferson in the discus and Decker in the long jump.
Christofferson rose to the top in the discus with a throw of 117 feet. Teammates Aiden Schoulte and Abe Hanson were sixth and 17th, respectively. Christofferson also performed well in the shot put, where a throw of 35-11 earned him fourth. Schoulte was the runner up at 39-03.25, and Hanson came in 18th.
Decker turned in a distance of 19-06.75 feet for first in the long jump. Another two Bulldogs—Warrington and Eli Hanson—landed in third and fifth.
Kuehl was MFL MarMac’s lone high jump competitor, placing third.
At Starmont, in addition to his record-setting, first-place time in the 100, Decker placed 14th in the 200. Powell claimed sixth in the 100 and Brandon Christofferson was seventh in the 200. Anderson took 11th and 18th in the 400 and 800 events, while Carter Streicher and Ruff earned a respective eighth and ninth in the 110 hurdles.
The first-place 4x100 was, not surprisingly, MFL MarMac’s best relay that night. Another group—made up of Warrington, Brandon Christofferson, Bunting and Kuehl—placed sixth.
Another two teams competed in the 4x200, with McElwaine, Blietz-Bentien, Kuehl and Decker cruising to second. Warrington, Hanson, Izayah Streicher and Brandon Christofferson combined for eighth.
The sprint medley of Powell, Blietz-Bentien, McElwaine and Izayah Streicher was one of three Bulldog relays to place sixth. Also finishing in that slot were Warrington, Bunting, Millage and Ruff in the distance medley and Izayah Streicher, Anderson, Ruff and Carter Streicher in the shuttle hurdle event.
In the high jump, Kuehl’s height of 5-07 gave him the win by an inch. Warrington and Eli Hanson launched themselves into fourth and sixth place in the long jump.
Schoulte threw his way to fourth place in the shot put and 12th in the discus, while Hunter Christofferson took sixth in the shot and seventh in the discus.
With 53 points, MFL MarMac placed fifth as a team. Alburnett won the meet with 100.5, followed by North Linn at 84, Sumner-Fredericksburg 71 and North Fayette Valley 61.
The Bulldogs ran in their own boys invitational May 1, then will compete in the Upper Iowa Conference meet at Clayton Ridge on May 4.
