PELLA

Lone Tree senior Kasey Chown struck quickly.

Competing in her first track and field meet of the season last Thursday at Central College, Chown leaped 4-foot-8 in the Pekin Indoor Classic for a second-place finish. The jump topped her championship leap in last year’s Southeast Iowa Super Conference meet by two inches.

But she wasn’t alone in Lone Tree’s achievements in Pella.

The Lions had two runner-up finishes in the relay races, finishing second in both the 4x200 and 4x400 with times of 2:04.27 and 4:44.89, respectively.

Cate Sexton, a freshman, finished third in the long jump with a leap of 13-5. Vivian Zaruba, another freshman, finished fifth in the high jump at 4-6.

“It was good to get our feet wet, just seeing some live action,” Lions head coach Chad Shield said. “We got a lot of personal bests. And that’s really what we came into this meet to look for. We’ve been timing them in practice quite a bit. We’ve shattered a lot of times and that’s what we’re looking to do. We’re competing to become a better version  of ourselves every times out there. And that’s what they did.”

Chown, who was Lone Tree’s leading scorer and rebounder on the girls basketball team, ran a leg on the 4x200 squad. Senior teammate Lex Norris ran on both the 4x200 and 4x400 squads.

But most of the rest of the squad in Pella were sophomores and freshmen, setting up a youthful look for the Lions as they resume their schedule next Tuesday at Belle Plaine. Freshmen Rylee Shield and Zaruba ran on both the runner-up relay teams. Avery Morarie, a freshman, was one of eight Lions to run for a fifth-place finish in the California Mile. Rylee Shield and Sexton were also on that squad, along with Chown, Norris, junior Emma Slaughter, and sophomores Avery Lisk and Bailey McGrew.

Many of them had personal bests in their events.

“Ultimately, we want to get those personal bests on May 12 [the day of the state qualifier],” Chad Shield said. “Everything up to that point is kind of a trial run. Once district hits, we want to be peaking. They[re working hard. It’s a fun group.”

A fifth-place finish in the 55 shuttle hurdle consisted of two freshman and two sophomores: freshmen Hayden Yoder and Morarie, and sophomores Kelly Marshek and Lila Bell.

Morarie had a fourth-place finish in the long jump, finishing one inch behind Sexton with a distance of 13-4.