No matter where you stood in the H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse, you could hear the firing of the gun, sounding off at the start of each race. Though it was hard to find a solitary place to stand as 17 schools converged in this indoor track and field stadium at Pella’s Central College. 

It was a perfect place for an early season meet as the March weather raged outside, confused on whether it should be sunny or snowing, choosing to do both.

The Lone Tree Lady Lions and Highland Huskies came to make noise in this annual invitational meet, each having some impressive showings.

The track events were various hurdle, relay, and medley races. The field events held were the long jump, high jump, and shot put.

Lone Tree

The first relay that took place was the 4 x 200. Sophomore, Vivian Zaruba, started, passing the baton to senior Riley Krueger, giving her a lead and watching Krueger build on the lead, helping in their first-place finish at 1:57.81. The other two runners in this relay were freshman Ava Christofferson, and sophomore, Rylee Shield.

It did not take long for the next racers to line up, gearing up for their turn. With 17 schools, there was not a lot of time to play around.

Zaruba participated in the high jump, clearing the bar more than once in her practice attempts. She ranked third place for class A girls with a 4-04 jump.

Krueger finished third in individual hurdles at 10.58. Krueger also took part in the shuttle hurdles, finishing third in this event with sophomores, Cate Sexton, Avery Moraie, and senior, Lindsay Werbach.

Moraie participated in the long jump as well, ranking fifth place with a 13-3.50.

Lone Tree had three sophomores participate in girls shot put. Hayden Yoder, Alex Dautremont, and Madison Floyd, with Yoder getting a fourth-place finish with a 28-02 throw.

In the 4 x 800 relay, Lone Tree ranked fifth place, with a 13:54.72 time.

Participating in this relay was freshman, Jazmine Nino, and juniors, Lila Bell, Lilly Mills and Avery Lisk.

For the Lone Tree Lady Lions, they gained six freshmen this season. They also lost six seniors from the previous season, meaning the youth must replace the veteran track and field talent from previous years. They’re coming off a 14-6-1 season.

Lone Tree left Pella early, not able to compete in some of the later events because of the deteriorating weather outside. This event, hosted by Pekin, will have no bearing on Lone Tree or anyone else’s season record as it was solely an optional event to help the athletes gear up for the long season ahead.

Highland

The 4 x 200 relay was the first for the Highland girls, racing alongside Lone Tree. With the help of Junior Sarah Burton, they got the second-place finish, right behind Lone Tree, with a 1:59.11 time.

Burton herself earned second place honors in the long jump with a 15-06 jump that was just slightly behind first place at 15-09.

Highland took first place in the California mile, an 8 x 200 relay, with a 4:12.69 time. Highland also took first place in the 55-meter shuttle relay with a 33.78 time.

Senior, Jessica Kraus, participated in the shot put, with a 27-02 throw, receiving fifth place.

Freshman, Kealy Roberts, participated in the high jump, clearing the bar in her practice attempts, and getting fourth-place honors in the event with a 4-04 jump, tying Lone Tree’s Zaruba.

Highland’s girl track team only lost two seniors from the previous season. Coming off a 14-6 season, they look to continue making strides to become better and build on the momentum from the previous season.

Highland brought their junior varsity boys’ team along for the ride, able to participate in some of the events.

Junior, Jackson Schneider, earned first place in the 60-meter hurdles with a 10.58

Senior, Brendan Schnoebelen, participated in 4 x 800 relay, noting that he prefers longer distance races like these.

In the aforementioned 4 x 800 race, Highland boys got a 12:13.74 time. They ranked fifth place in the 55-meter shuttle relay with a 35.02 time. 

The Highland boys track and field team is severely small, ten members in total with eight being freshmen. They’re coming off a 10-17 season where the track members exceeded 20, losing more than half of the team in a year’s time.

It was an overall good showing for the two schools in the unorthodox events that took place. The Lone Tree Lady Lions will participate in another invitational meet on Tuesday, Mar. 28. The Lone Tree boys track and field team will have a meet at Pekin Community High School on Monday, Mar. 27.

For Highland, the boys will be at the Falcon Relays at West Burlington High on Monday, Mar. 27. The girls will be at the Mepo Girls Meet at Mediapolis High School on Thursday, Mar. 30.