Prep track and field: Indoor season opens at Wartburg, Dickinson Invites
Mar. 6—WAVERLY — Her last throw of her freshman season brought home her first state medal.
That throw traveled 39 feet and 1.75 inches. On Monday, Delilah Subsin's second throw of her sophomore season traveled 10 inches further and may have set the tone for a very successful season in the shot put ring.
Subsin nearly reached 40 feet in the first competition of the season for the Ottumwa High School girls track and field team, making a throw of 39 feet and 11.75 inches at the Wartburg High School Indoor Invitational. That throw was one of four tosses that surpassed 39 feet in the season-opening meet, beating West Branch junior Alyssa Pierce by over three feet for the championship.
Both the Ottumwa girls and boys track and field teams found plenty of success as the indoor portion of the Iowa High School track and field season got underway earlier this week. The Bulldogs posted top-10 finishes in 14 different events, including eight athletes that posted top-five finishes on Monday.
The Ottumwa girls scored 28.5 points in the meet, finishing sixth out of 17 teams. The Bulldog boys finished 14th with 13.5 points on Monday.
Kendra Cole, Breanna Griffiths, Autumn Damm and Vanessa Simmons produced Ottumwa's top finish on the track. The Bulldog teammates posted a season-opening time of 1:55.53 in the girls' 4x200 relay, finishing second overall coming within a second of Waukee Northwest's winning time of 1:54.61.
Eve Rust also got off to a successful start in the girls' high jump for Ottumwa. Rust cleared her first three jumps of the season, including her first attempt at 4-8, to finish fourth overall in the Wartburg Invite.
Bryan Coulter produced the top finish of the meet for the Ottumwa boys, providing the Bulldogs with an impressive all-around season-opening effort in the shot put. Coulter reached a distance of 43 feet and 1.25 inches, a new personal record, to finish fourth in the competition on his second throw of the season.
Marquez Briggs made a successful debut for the Ottumwa boys on Monday, finishing fifth in the long jump. The Bulldog freshman reached 18 feet and 10 inches on his first jump ever in a varsity competition.
Three more Ottumwa athletes produced top personal times on the track on Monday. Chance Egbert posted a personal record in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing 11th in 8.93 seconds, Daisy Ochoa lowered her best time in the 55-meter dash finishing the race in 8.22 seconds to finish 18th while Kaelin McElderry lowered her time in the 1,500-meter run finishing the race in 6:21.57 to place 18th overall.
Less than 20 miles down Highway 218, more area track and field athletes got their seasons underway inside the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls at the A.D. Dickinson Relays. The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont boys took part in the meet, producing five personal records during the event including three top times from Rocket teammates Russell McCrea (26th in 8.92 seconds), Conner Arnold (47th in 9.18) and Thomas McCrea (70th in 9.47) in the 60-meter hurdles.
