WAYLAND

The land of Wayland once again became the place to be for track and field and the Lady Lions are not only familiar with traveling to WACO, but it is also one of their favorite places to compete. 

“Our girls absolutely love running at WACO,” Lone Tree coach Chad Shield said about his team. 

Taking their talent on the road to compete in WACO’s annual Ekstrand Relays last Thursday, the Lady Lions were the top dogs in the Class B Division, placing first with 102 team points. 

“I am so proud of our team’s performance at the Ekstrand Relays,” coach Shield said. “We had four season personal records in relays, set 17 season personal records, six first place finishes, and competed with a purpose.”

For Lone Tree their purpose in these relays, which hosted 14 schools, included a lot of first place success. Among the six events Lone Tree won gold in, five of them came from relay events.   

“Our team works very hard, and it was great to see them rewarded with an ultimate team victory at WACO,” coach Shield said.

A true team effort for Lone Tree and there was no better example of teamwork at WACO than by looking at the performances by the quartet of Addison McCullough, Vivian Zaruba, Rylee Shield, and Ava Christofferson.

These four Lady Lions won multiple relay races, crossing the finish line first in the distance medley (4:34), the 4x200 (1:51), and the 4x100 (52.20). Their time in the 4x200 is currently the 3rd fastest in Class 1A,  

“I was really pleased with the way Addison McCullough, Vivian Zaruba, Rylee Shield, and Ava Christofferson competed,” coach Shield said. “We asked a lot of them going nearly back-to-back in the distance medley and 4x200 and they not only did it but had exceptional times.”

  A nearly similar team (Cate Sexton, Zaruba, Chirstofferson, and Shield) gave Lone Tree another first place finish in a relay, winning the gold in 800m medley relay with a time of 1:55. Their fifth and final gold worthy performance in a relay came from the team of Carlee Sexton, Jazmine Nino, Dalanie Graap, and Abby Zaruba who placed first in the 4x800 in 12:05. 

In the field events Hayden Yoder placed in the top five in shot put and the discus. Yoder placed 4th with a throw of 76-04 in the discus with her teammate, Alex Dautremont placing 3rd with 79-02.50. In the shot put, Yoder won gold with a throw of 31-02 and Dautremont placed 4th with 27-03. 

It was a great day for the Lady Lions at WACO who are finding their stride at the right time with state qualifiers approaching. 

“We just look forward to trying to be our best every time out and let everything take care of itself. If we can be the best versions of ourselves on any given day, we can’t ask for anything more than that.” coach Shield said. 

“We are now at a couple week sprint to the end of the season and pleased with our progress but feel we can keep striving to hit our ultimate goals that take place in Des Moines.” 

Class B results

100m: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 13.09; 9, Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree, 15.20

200m: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 26.54; 10, Cate Sexton, Lone Tree, 32.62; 11, Dalanie Graap,  Lone Tree, 32.83

4x100m relay: 1, Lone Tree (Addison McCollough, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson), 52.20

400m: 1, Gwen Gatton, Sigourney, 1:12.16; 2, Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree, 1:13.39; 5, Lilly Mills,  Lone Tree, 1:26.38

4x200m relay: 1, Lone Tree (Addison McCullough, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson), 1:51.22 

800m: 1, Carlee Lunsford, WACO, 2:43.38; 3, Jazmine Nino, Lone Tree, 2:51.32; 5, Carlee Sexton, Lone Tree, 2:57.84

4x400m relay: 1, HLV, Victor, 4:26.82; 3, Lone Tree (Olivia Magruder, Carlee Sexton, Jazmine Nino, Dalanie Graap), 5:01.59

1500m: 1, Marie Yoder, Hillcrest, 5:19.98; 8, Abby Zaruba, Lone Tree, 6:51.27; 11, Lilly Mills, Lone Tree, 7:32.36

4x800m relay: 1, Lone Tree (Carlee Sexton, Jazmine Nino, Dalanie Graap, Abby Zaruba), 12:05.94

800m medley relay: 1, Lone Tree (Cate Sexton, Vivian Zaruba, Ava Christofferson, Rylee Shield), 1:55.86

100m hurdles: 1, Josie Nelson, W-MU, 16.91; 8, Cate Sexton, Lone Tree, 21.20

1600m medley relay: 1, Lone Tree (Addison McCullough, Ava Christofferson, Rylee Shield, Vivian Zaruba), 4:34.77

Long jump: 1, Rya Scott, Hillcrest, 15-11; 6, Cate Sexton, Lone Tree, 12-11

High jump: 1, Nicole Gensley, HLV, Victor, 4-10; 3, Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree, 4-04

Shot put: 1, Hayden Yoder, Lone Tree, 31-02; 4, Alex Dautremont, Lone Tree, 27-03

Discus: 1, Aubrey Zittergruen, HLV, Victor, 95-05; 3, Alex Dautremont, Lone Tree, 79-02.50; 4, Hayden Yoder, Lone Tree, 76-04