Panthers bring home 3 gold, 4 silver at Early Bird

CARROLL — It was a good day for field events for the Panthers as they brought home three golds, two silvers and a bronze at the Carroll Early Bird Classic Thursday, March 27. The Creston girls finished third overall.

Braylee Pokorny won the high jump with her mark of 5-00, topping Elsa Tiefenthaler of Kuemper Catholic by 2 inches.

In the boys shot put and discus, sophomore Tom Mikkelsen and senior Brayden Schoon were at the top of the pack. Mikkelsen won shot put with a throw of 52-06.75 and placed third in discus with a mark of 122-10.

Schoon won the discus, throwing 153-07. The mark was 25 feet further than the next best throw and his new personal best. He also earned a PR in shot put, throwing 46-02.75 for second place.

Freshman Cora Smith placed second in the long jump, reaching 15-07.25, less than 2 inches shy of first. Kuemper Catholic’s Morgan Masching won the event with a jump of 15-09. They were the only two jumpers to clear 15 feet.

On the track, the Panthers brought home two silvers. The shuttle hurdle relay team comprised of Kadley Bailey, Josie Tallmon, Karter Clayton and Sydney Hoffman ran a 1:13.37, claiming second place behind Glenwood. Bailey and Hoffman’s legs were PRs.

The girls distance medley relay came in second behind a dominant Harlan performance. The team of Clayton, Pokorny, Smith and Avery Staver ran a 4:48.96. Pokorny’s 200m leg was a new personal-best time.

Eight bronze medals were earned on the track. The sprint medley relay of Staver, Tallmon, Bailey and Maylee Riley ran a 2:01.59, Staver and Tallmon both running personal-best 100m legs. The team finished behind Glenwood and Carroll.

In the girls 3,000-meter run, sophomore Reese Strunk ran a 12:21.16. State placewinner Grace Berglund of Glenwood took gold in 10:48.87. Harlan’s Ashlyn Rau placed second.

The girls 4x800, a state qualifying event last season, placed third behind Glenwood and Harlan. The team comprised of Karlie Kruse, Hope Henderson, Payton Davis and Riley ran 10:56.53. Henderson had the fastest split, running 2:35.84.

The 4x200m girls team of Bailey, Henley Shinn, Clayton and Pokorny finished third behind Glenwood and Denison-Schleswig, running a 1:55.23.

In the boys 800m run, sophomore Wyatt Goodenberger ran 2:10.43. He finished behind Haze Stephens of Glenwood and Dorian Myers of Boone.

Smith earned bronze in the 200m dash with her time of 27.68. Carly Busch of Boone won in 26.3 and Megan Hughes of Glenwood ran 27.44.

Henderson ran the 400m hurdles where she was just barely behind the second-place hurdler. She ran 1:15.69, finishing behind Breckyn Petersen of Glenwood (1:09.3) and Abby Broeckelman (1:15.49).

The girls 4x100 and 4x400m relays also each took bronze. The first, comprised of Clayton, Smith, Bailey and Pokorny ran 52.94, finishing behind Glenwood and Boone. The 4x400 team was comprised of Riley, Shinn, Kinzley Downing and Henderson. They ran 4:37.51, finishing behind Glenwood and Harlan.

Glenwood swept the invite, winning the boys with 175 and girls with 137. Harlan scored 105 to take second for the girls, the Panthers finishing third with 96 points. Boone took silver for the boys with 82 points. The Panther boys placed sixth, scoring 46.

Full results can be found here.