Union City boys win Big 8 track and field crown

MAPLE VALLEY – The seven teams representing the Big 8 Conference made the long trek to Maple Valley High School on Wednesday night to decide the fate of the track and field conference championship with this year’s Big 8 League Meet.

(In an effort to give both the boys and girls the press they deserve, both results will appear in their own write up. This write up will feature the results for the boys’ portion of the Big 8 championship.

For the first time in a decade the Union City Chargers claimed the Big 8 conference championship, winning the title for the first time since the 2014 season. Union City went unbeaten in dual meets this year and cemented the championship with a win on Wednesday, taking the crown with a score of 139 points. Quincy finished in second place with a score of 77.5 points, just ahead of Concord in third place with 74.5 points. Bronson finished in sixth place with 58.5 points.

Union City wins six Big 8 titles, Cole sweeps throws

Union City not only relied on six conference championships to catapult them to a win on Wednesday, but they also relied on their tremendous depth to take them to the Big 8 title as the Chargers brought home a total of 24 top six finishes throughout the night.

Union City’s Logan Cole was the only multi-event winner for the Chargers after sweeping the throws, winning the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 1 inch and the discus with a throw of 158 feet, 10 inches.

Senior Hunter Sinke sprinted his way to one individual medal as the soon to be graduate won the 400-meter dash in a time of 52.75 seconds.

The Chargers were dominant in the long-distance races, winning both the 1,600 and the 3,200 while taking eight total top six finishes.

In the 1,600-meter run it was sophomore Ben Gautsche racing to the win in a time of 4 minutes, 45.95 seconds while in the 3,200 Jason Shoop took home the gold, winning the event in 10:48.63.

Union City’s last win came in the 3,200 relay where the team of Shoop, Cohen Burdick, Malachi Payne, and Gautsche won in a time of 8:36.51.

Also pacing the Charger effort with a top six finish was Gautsche, second place in the 800; Shoop, second place in the 1,600; Payne, fourth place in the 1,600 and third place in the 3,200; Burdick, third place in the 800; Caden Hughes, fourth place in the 100 and sixth place in the 200; Nathaniel Maurer, second place in the 300 hurdles; the 400 relay team of Hughes, Sinke, Rick Austin, and Riley Laird, third place; the 800 relay team of Maurer, Hughes, Laird, and Sinke, second place; the 1,600 relay team of Maurer, Burdick, Gautsche, and Sinke, second place; Gavin Kelly, sixth place in the shot put and fifth place in the discus; and Rick Austin, third place in the long jump.

Quincy takes second place in conference standings, boasting two champions

Quincy took runner-up honors on the season thanks to a pair of wins, one in the field events and one in the hurdles.

In the high jump it was freshman Alex Dunn who won the gold medal with a jump of 6 feet, 2 inches. Teammate Noah Rufenacht also scored big for the Orioles, finishing third with a jump of 6 feet, 2 inches as well. Dunn won the gold after reaching the height in fewer jumps than his competitors.

Also taking gold for Quincy was sophomore Clayton Benson who won the 300 hurdles in a personal best time of 41.57 seconds. Benson also took third in the 110 hurdles.

Rounding out the Quincy effort with a top six finish was Corey Turner, second place in the pole vault; Kaleb Handy, fourth place in the pole vault; Austin Preston, sixth place in the pole vault; Cameron Barry, sixth place in the 100; Rufenacht fifth place in the 400; Chayse Jensen, third place in the 1,600; the 400 relay team of Turner, Handy, Kaden Cutler, and Barry, fourth place; the 800 relay team of Barry, Micah Groves, Rufenacht, and Noah Pearson, third place; the 1,600 relay team of Benson, Rufenacht, Groves and Pearson, fifth place; the 3,200 relay team of Jensen, Eddie Miller, Nathan Richer and Coy Wood, sixth place; Lincoln Sims, third place in the shot put; Ethan Pearson, fourth place in the shot put; and Dunn, sixth place in the long jump.

More: Coldwater girls track takes second, boys finish fifth in Interstate 8 conference invite

Bronson finishes in sixth place, Bucklin wins 800-meter run

The Bronson Vikings finished in sixth place overall at the Big 8 meet and were led by junior Boston Bucklin who was the lone gold medalist for the Vikings. Bucklin won the 800 in 2:02.90 while taking a sixth-place finish in the high jump.

Bronson also got a second-place finish from the 3,200-relay team of Tyler Wilber, Jack Ganton, Kam Bracket, and Bucklin who took the silver medal in 8:52.13.

Also helping the Bronson effort with a top six finish was Tyler Wilber, fifth place in the 800; Jack Ganton, fifth place in the 3,200; Stevie Wilson, sixth place in the 110 hurdles and third place in the 300 hurdles; the 400 relay team of Dallas Wilson, Carsen Scare, Brier Green, and Devin Stuart, sixth place; the 1,600 relay team of Wilber, Wilson, Kam Bracket, and Bucklin, third place; Brackett, fifth place in the high jump and fourth place in the long jump; Jace Hoard, second place in the shot put and third place in the discus; and Brycen Fincham, fifth place in the pole vault.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Union City track wraps up Big 8 conference title, Quincy takes second