The Algona Bulldogs boys track and field team came into the postseason clicking on all cylinders, and proved it Thursday night in Clear Lake, winning the North Central Conference title in boys track and field for the third year in a row.
Algona finished with final team score of 184 points, 14 ahead of second place Clear Lake’s 170, and well ahead of the rest of the eight-team field, with Humboldt placing third with 110, Iowa Falls-Alden fourth with 91, Webster City fifth with 61, Hampton-Dumont-CAL sixth with 58, St. Edmond seventh with 36, and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows eighth with 36.
The Bulldogs showcased both their top-end talent and depth, winning 10 of the meet’s 19 events, with plenty of points up and down the lineup after that.
Gavin Weber was the leading point scorer for Algona, sweeping the individual distance events, while anchoring the winning 1600 meter medley relay.
Not to be outdone, Evan Allie won the 200 and 400 meter dashes in 21.68 and 49.25 seconds, both season bests. Allie led off the second place Bulldog 4×400 meter relay, while anchoring the 4×100 meter relay that also featured Will Weichert, Tate Garman, and Levi Walker, to a win in 42.56 seconds, a time that broke the North Central Conference meet record.
Algona Head Coach Greg Wellman says it’s exciting to watch what the 4×100 meter relay has done.
In the field, Max Nevitt delivered Algona’s other two individual wins, taking the shot put with a mark of 53 feet 9.5 inches, and the discus with a season best throw of 158 feet and 9 inches.
Wellman talked about how Nevitt had to battle back from an early deficit to win the discus.
Beyond winning 10 events, Wellman commended the core of Algona’s team for stepping up all across the board.
Weichert was runner up in the 100 meter dash in 10.87 seconds, missing out on first place in a race that came down to the thousands of a second. Tate Garman delivered 3rd place finishes for the Bulldogs in both the 100 and 200 meters in 11.04 and 22.38 seconds. Moreno clocked in under 52 seconds in the 400 meters for the first time this season, taking 4th in 51.98. Will Limbaugh was 3rd in the discus with a mark of 151-11, and second in the shot put with a throw of 49-08.50.
Further down the lineup, Algona got top eight finishes in both the 3200 meters and 1600 meters from Brooks Morgan, who set personal best times in both events, including by 14 seconds in the 3200.
A key part of winning a conference title is receiving points in unexpected events, or higher finishes than anticipated in other events. In the high jump, Jorge Contreras jumped two inches above his previous season best, clearing 5-08 for fifth place. Owen Moe, who was seeded outside of the top eight in the 110 hurdles heading into the meet, scored out of the slower of two heats, placing 8th in 17.32 seconds. Riley Riggert, who entered the 800 meters with the seventh best seed time, finished sixth in a season best of 2 minutes 10 seconds.
Tough lineup decisions needed to be made to maximize point the point total in the meet, especially when deciding on relay lineups. The 4×200 meter relay of Weichert, Garman, Walker, and Tyler Bradley stepped up to bring home a first place finish in 1:30.20. The 800 medley with Weichert, Elsbecker, Bradley, and Moreno brought home eight points for Algona with a second place finish.
Up next, Algona competes in the class 3A state qualifying meet hosted by Sioux Center on Thursday, May 15th. In addition to the host Warriors, Storm Lake, Spencer, LeMars, MOC-Floyd Valley, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley will also be competing. The state meet will be the following week from May 22nd-24th.
