Central boys continue making progress
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central boys track and field team put together 10 finishes inside the top-10 across 10 events in last week’s meet at Decorah finishing with 19 team points and placing eighth.
One of the best finishes came in the 800-meter run, which featured Gavin Holst and Carson Ruegnitz. Holst crossed the line in second place in 2:08.66, and Ruegnitz finished ninth.
Holst also had a second-place effort in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:45.71. Michael White finished sixth in 12:20.48. In the 1600, Holst finished seventh and Henry Reimer ninth.
In the sprint events, Jacob Cook raced to 11th with a time of 12.74 in the 100-meter dash. Kyle Reinhart competed in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles, taking seventh in the former, while crossing the line 10th in the hurdles. Reimer finished 11th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:04.78.
In the 800 sprint medley relay, Cook, Reinhart, Jesse Polkinghorn and Reimer finished seventh in 1:50.58. The Warriors then sent out Cook, Reinhart, Reimer and Holst in the distance medley, where they secured a fifth place finish after running a 4:09.36.
In the field events, the Warriors competed in the shot put and discus, with Cook placing 14th in the shot with a final throw of 33-10. Ruegnitz was ninth in the discus with a distance of 109-04.
In the second meet of the week, Central traveled to the West Delaware Boys Invite, where they compiled 11 top-10 finishes across 11 events, placing seventh as a team with 31 points.
The sprint events included Cook’s 10th-place finish in the 100 in 12.53, while Reinhart was 15th and Braden Taylor 20th. The 200 was another 10th-place finish for Cook, this time running a 25.54, while Reinhart was 17th and Taylor crossed the line 26th. Holst led the way in the 400, coming in third in 54.95. Vaughn Zittergruen placed 12th, Jesse Polkinghorn 13th and Reimer 15th.
The distance races were another source of success, especially the 1600-meter run, where Holst finished third, Ruegnitz ninth, Reimer 11th and Zittergruen 12th.
The 3200 saw a trio of Warriors finish inside the top-10, starting with Polkinghorn’s sixth-place finish, followed by White in seventh, Declan Finley eighth and Bryce Heller 12th.
The Warriors sent out four runners more runners in the 800, with Zittergruen being the top finisher in 13th, followed by Polkinghorn in 14th, White 16th and Finley 17th.
Central competed in two relays, starting with the 4x400 squad of Polkinghorn, Heller, Finley and White, who placed eighth. In the 4x800, Zittergruen, Ruegnitz, Reimer and Holst crossed the line fifth.
In the field events, Heller took 16th in the long jump with a distance of 13-06, and Cook and Taylor were a respective 12th and 23rd in the shot put. Ruegnitz placed fifth in the discus with a distance of 114-05.
The boys will look for more success at two meets this week, starting April 16 at Oelwein. They will compete at Waukon April 19.
