Braves dominate the Early Bird Relays

Mitch Stevens lands his winning jump of 17' 9"  in the long jump event. (Bryan Stanford photo)

by Bryan Stanford

The Montezuma Junior High track teams hosted the first annual Early Bird Relays April 14, 2011. The Braves hosted four other teams at the boy/girl meet, winning the meet as a team. The Braves won the meet with 164 team points, while Iowa Valley finished second with 127 points. The track team had seven first place finishers. 

The Braves competed strongly in all field events. In the Discus, Joe Peck placed second with a throw of 96’ 6’’ and Steven Kopp placed sixth with a throw of 79’ 7’’.  Peck also competed in the Shot Put and placed first with a heave of 40’ 10’’. In the Long Jump Mitchell Stevens placed first with a jump of 17’ 9’’ and Bobby McCulley placed third with a jump of 14’ 0’’.  The Braves had two athletes place in the High Jump: Luke Goodman placed fifth with a jump of 4’ 6’’ and Seth Fahlenkamp placed sixth with a jump of 4’ 4’’.

The Braves started the running events strong with a fourth place finish in the 4 X 800 Meter Relay by Skyler Romberg, Brody McKeag, Travis Lewis and Cass McKeag and a first place finish in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay by Vincent Bushong, Jake Hasley, Goodman and Mikey Lyons. They won the event by 9.3 seconds. Stevens ran away with the 100-meter dash title, with a time of 12.50 seconds. In the 1600 Meter Medley, the Braves’ relay team of Lewis, Sidney Roorda, Brody McKeag and McCulley placed second with a time of 5:24.28. The team had two place winners in the 400 M dash, Fahlenkamp and Romberg, Fahlenkamp winning the event. The Braves’ relay team of Roorda, Frank Gillum, Jacob Shaver and McCulley placed second in the 4 X 200 Meter Relay. Cass McKeag placed fourth for the Braves in the 1600 M run. The newest event in the JH meet was the 10 Flight Hurdles; Montezuma had two place winners. Lyons won the event with a time of 17.41 seconds, while Vincent Bushong placed fifth with a time of 19.05 seconds.

In the 200 M dash, Stevens and Gillum placed for Montezuma. Stevens won the event with a time of 26.18 seconds. Montezuma’s relay team of Shaver, Gillum, Tyler Geiger and McCulley placed second in the 800 Meter Medley, with a time of 2:14.91. The Braves had two place winners in the 200 M hurdles, with Goodman placing second and Jake Hasley placing third. 

In the 800 M run, the Braves placed two, Skyler Romberg finishing fourth and Lewis finishing fifth. Montezuma placed second in the 4 X 100 Meter Relay with a time of 59.19 seconds. Lyons, Hasley, Fahlenkamp and Stevens ran the event.  The Braves finished the meet strong with a second place finish in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay with a time of 4:45.89. Goodman, Geiger, McCulley and Fahlenkamp competed in the event. 

Overall, the Braves competed well throughout the windy night and look to improve their times as the season continues.