SIGOURNEY 

Taking their running, jumping, and throwing talents to Cobra Field in Sigourney, the Lions and the Lady Lions aimed to punch their tickets to state at the Class 1A State Qualifying meet on May 9. 

Girls results 

It was another rainy-day track meet, but this has become commonplace this season and Lone Tree did not let the poor weather affect their performances.  

“I don’t believe the weather impacted us too much,” Lone Tree coach Chad Shield said. “We have dealt with wind and rain in the majority of our meets this season, so we were used to it fortunately.  Our girls are very mentally tough in that regard.”

Scoring 53 team points, the Lady Lions tied for 6th place in the overall standings. 

Once again showing their impressive aptitude in relays, Lone Tree qualified for state in four different relay events and broke the school’s distance medley record.  

“I thought our girls were outstanding in Sigourney! We set 10 individual and three relay season personal records,” coach Shield said. “We also set a Lone Tree girls school record in the Distance Medley with our 4:31.31 time.” 

Winning an event at Sigourney auto qualifies a person or team to state, with fast enough times still eligible to go to state but would be revealed the following day. 

Not leaving anything to chance, the Lady Lions placed 1st in the 4x100 and the 4x200 to ensure their appearance at state. Bringing home the gold in both relay races was the same quartet of Addison McCullough, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba, and Ava Christofferson.

All the diligent practice in relays they have honed over the season was on full display at the state qualifiers. 

“Our relays have been dominant this year.  I believe that starts with the rapport of the girls on each team.  They have to trust each other with hand offs and the steps we take in getting out at each exchange,” coach Shield said.   

“Our girls work extremely hard on handoffs, and we expect as close to perfection as we can get in that regard. They take a lot of pride in the little details and have been very successful because of it.”

The same team of McCullough, Shield, Zaruba, and Christofferson also qualified for state in the distance medley. Their school record breaking time of 4:31.31 gave them a 3rd place finish. 

Also qualifying for state was Lone Tree’s 800m sprint medley team of Cate Sexton, Zaruba, Christofferson, and Shield, placing 2nd with 1:51.77. 

Among the four relay teams it will be Zaruba, Christofferson, Shield, McCullough, and Sexton who will be representing Lone Tree at state. 

“I think with those girls in particular it starts with their will and want to.  They have built in desire and competitiveness to be the best they can be and push each other every single day in practice and meets,” coach Shield said about the five Lady Lions heading to state.

“Their work ethic is outstanding.  All five of them go straight to softball practice after track practice, on Wednesday’s they help out our Lone Tree Youth Track Club before high school practice starts, and they are taking college classes in addition to their high school workload.”

For Zaruba and Shield this will be their third time competing at state, for Christoffreson it will be her second time, and for Sexton and McCullough it will be their state debut. 

“As far as preparation this week for state, we will place a greater emphasis on rest and recovery then we do a physical demand,” coach Shield said. “We want them to listen to their bodies and be fresh on Friday and Saturday.”

The COED State Track and Field Meet will take place at Drake Stadium in Des Moines from May 16-18. 

Boys results 

Lone Tree ended the state qualifying meet with nine team points to place 13th in the final standings.   

The Lions qualified for state in one event, the 4x100 with the team of Pietro Setti, Ethan Bockleman, Emmett Burke, and Domonic Garcia. This four-person team placed 5th in the 4x100 with a time of 45.54. 

Last year the Lone Tree boys also sent one relay team to state and that team also had Burke and Bockleman included. 

Other strong performances at the Sigourney qualifiers came in the 100m and the 800m. Garcia took sixth place in the 100m with a time of 11.69 and Brock Nebergall finished in seventh in the 800m in 2:19.30. 

Up next for the Lions is competing in the COED State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines taking place from May 16-18. 

Girls results, *=Lone Tree state qualifier

100m: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 12.91; 20, Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree, 15.20; 21, Cate Sexton, Lone Tree, 15.51

200m: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 27.27; 19, Dalanie Graap, Lone Tree, 33.47; 25, Sami Branson, Lone Tree, 43.24

400m: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 1:03.25; 10, Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree, 1:12.93; 13, Dalanie Graap, Lone Tree, 1:17.54

800m: 1, Alaina Gourley, Danville, 2:28.76; 10, Jazmine Nino, Lone Tree, 2:54.41; 11, Carlee Sexton, Lone Tree, 3:00.72

1500m: 1, Chloe Glosser, Pekin, 5:08.15; 14, Abby Zaruba, Lone Tree, 6:34.39; 18, Lilly Mills, Lone Tree, 7:13.08

4x100m: 1, *Lone Tree (Addison McCullough, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson), 51.85

4x200: 1, *Lone Tree (Addison McCullough, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson), 1:50.78

4x400m: 1, Danville, 4:14.29; 7, Lone Tree (Cate Sexton, Olivia Magruder, Carlee Sexton, Jazmine Nino), 5:02.78

4x800: 1, Pekin, 10:10.00; 4, Lone Tree (Jazmine Nino, Carlee Sexton, Dalanie Graap, Abby Zaruba), 12:10.60

800m sprint medley: 1, Danville, 1:51.77; 2, *Lone Tree (Cate Sexton, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson, Rylee Shield), 1:54.30

Long jump: 1, Kenna Furnald, Danville, 17-01.50; 13, Cate Sexton, Lone Tree, 12-02.25

Discus: 1, Anna Hadley, Pekin, 122-00; 3, Hayden Yoder, Lone Tree, 91-05; 8, Alex Dautremont, Lone Tree, 78-00

Shot put: 1, Anna Hadley, Pekin, 37-04.75; 4, Hayden Yoder, Lone Tree, 31-10.00; 10, Alex Dautremont, Lone Tree, 28-07.50

Distance Medley: 1, Danville, 4:22.06; 3, *Lone Tree (Addison McCullough, Ava Christofferson, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba), 4:31.31 

Boys results, *=Lone Tree state qualifier 

100m: 1, Ayden Doyle, Daville, 11.18; 6, Domonic Garcia, Lone Tree, 11.69; 21, Brody Magruder, Lone Tree, 12.90 

200m: 1, Ayden Doyle, Danville, 22.66; 16, Grey Spilman, Lone Tree, 25.90; 26, Owen Eden, Lone Tree, 30.44

800m: 1, Kohlby Newson, W-MU, 1:58.44; 7, Brock Nebergall, Lone Tree, 2:19.30; 15, Joey Birtcher, Lone Tree, 3:03.14

1600m: 1, Brady McWhirter, Pekin, 4:37.54; 16, Joey Birtcher, Lone Tree, 6:32.90

4x100m: 1, Danville, 44.13; 5, *Lone Tree (Pietro Setti, Ethan Bockelman, Emmett Burke, Domonic Garcia), 45.54

Distance medley: 1, W-MU, 3:38,47; 9, Lone Tree (Cole Walmsley, Jack Wulfkule, Joey Birtcher, Jacoby Moffitt), 5:06.59

Shot put: 1, Russell Coil, Columbus, 49-04; 11, Jack Patterson, Lone Tree, 34-08.25 

800m sprint medley: 1, Danville, 1:36.58; 12, Lone Tree (Cole Walmsley, Owen Eden, Jacoby Moffitt, Jack Wulfkule), 2:13.89