The South Hamilton Hawks made the short trip south on Highway 69 on Thursday night, to compete in the Heart of Iowa Conference track meet at Roland-Story High School. The Hawks were joined at the meet by the host Norsemen, Perry, Nevada, West Marshall, Greene County, Saydel and PCM.
The night got off to a fast start of South Hamilton in the field events, as the Hawks took 3 out of the 4 throwing events in total. Austin Busch swept the boys shot put and discus, winning the shot put with a throw of 59′ 11″, breaking a conference record previously held by Zach Sampson of the former CMB Raiders. Busch would win discus with a throw of 158′ 9″, as Carter Balvanz placed 5th in the discus with a toss of 123′ 2″, and 3rd in shot put with a throw of 42′ 3.5″. Mackenzy Grady would win the girls discus with a throw of 123′ 11″, while finishing 3rd in the shot put with a throw of 34′ 3″, Kendra Hoversten would place 8th in the shot put and 7th in the discus. Grace Neuberger would take home a conference title in the high jump by clearing 5′ 0″, Taylor Remsburg would place 7th in the long jump as well.
In the individual events, the lone conference champion for the Hawks was boys 110 meter high hurdler Tanner Blue, winning the event in a time of 14.86, a lifetime-best for the senior. Blue would also finish 3rd in the 400 meter hurdles in 58.90. Kate Barkema and Ashlyn Erickson would pick up runner-up finishes in the 100 meter dash and 400 meter dash respectively, in times of 13.25 and 1:02.83. Paige Doolittle and Mercedes Beaune finished 4th and 5th in the 3000 meter run, while Doolittle placed 8th in the 1500 meter run. Kelbe Krumm would place 4th in the girls 200 meter dash in a time of 27.47, as Nick Severseike would place 4th in the boys 800 meter run in a mark of 2:10.78. Chayton Ewurs placed 8th in the boys 200 meter dash, as Jagger Ferrie placed 5th in the 1600 meter run in a time of 5:17.82. Kenzie Henderson placed 6th in the girls 400 meter hurdles in a time of 1:19.93.
Moving to the relays, South Hamilton’s girls would pick up the only relay title of the night for the Hawks in the 4×100, winning in a time of 51.65. The Hawk girls would finish 2nd in the 4×200 in 1:50.85, 3rd in the 4×400 in 4:28.39, and 2nd in the 4×800 and Sprint Medley in times of 10:34.63 and 1:55.18. The boys saw their highest relays place 4th, as the 4×800 finished in 9:19.83. The Hawks saw 5th place finishes from the 4×400 and distance medley in times of 3:53.52 and 4:04.08, respectively. South Hamilton would place 6th in the 4×100 and 4×200.
South Hamilton’s girls would conclude the night with 122.5 points, giving them a 3rd place finish, while the South Hamilton boys placed 5th with 81 points. Roland-Story took home the conference titles in both the girls and boys meets.