Oskaloosa, Pella open track seasons at Dickinson Relays
Mar. 6—CEDAR FALLS — The track and field season is quickly approaching and members of the Oskaloosa and Pella teams were both in action at the two-day meet in Cedar Falls on Monday and Tuesday.
The Indians sent a small group of girls to compete. Top finishes included Ryleigh Wilken taking ninth in the high jump after clearing 5-0 while Hannah Quang took 15th in the 60 meter hurdles. Quang's time of 9.84 in the prelims was a new school record for that event.
"I was very excited to see the girls compete," Oskaloosa girls track and field head coach Betsy Luck said. "We now have times to work from in practice and the coaching staff is very excited to see improvements from the team moving forward."
Pella had a busy couple of days up at the meet. On the girls side, the big highlight came courtesy of the defending 3A cross country state champion of Marissa Ferebee, who brought home second place in the 3000 with a school-record time of 10:12.61 while also setting a new personal best time by six seconds.
Other top 10 finishes at the high-profile meet included the 4x800 relay of Autumn Blink, Jacie Trine, Lizzie Neumann and Macy Schroeder who raced to seventh with a time of 10:27.57. Trine also added a ninth place in the 200 with her time of 27.4.
The Dutch boys, who are coming off a 3A state title a year ago, got their title defense started with a couple of strong showings on Monday.
Out in the field, Hanson King took second in the shot put with a throw of 53-6. Pella's 4x800 of Wyatt Van Dyke, Mason Gaukle, Canaan Dunham and Nathan Vander Waal also earned a runner-up finish with a time of 8:22.7 while Dunham and Vander Waal also both raced in the 800. Dunham finished third at 2:00.32 while Vander Waal was right behind him in fourth at 2:02.66.
Oskaloosa opens in the outdoor season on Saturday, March 23 at Iowa City Regina while Pella heads to Iowa State for another indoor meet on Thursday and Friday.
Colin Peters can be reached at 641-672-2581, by email at cpeters@oskyherald.com or on Twitter @ColinPetersOH.
