Morton Doubles Up Again, Boys Sprinters Bring Home Hardware for Bulldogs

The Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs sent three events on the girls’ side and seven events on the boys’ side to Drake Stadium Des Moines for the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Track and Field championships Thursday through Saturday. 

The Bulldogs had high hopes of bringing home a few state championships from the state meet. The expectations for sophomore thrower Charlee Morton, who earlier this year doubled up to win both the shot put and discus at the Drake Relays, were extremely high. The boys’ 4 x 100-meter relay team also placed at Drake and headed to state viewed as a title contender. The same group entered the state meet with the state’s fastest time in the 4 x 200-meter relay.

Thursday was a busy day for the Bulldog athletes. Morton started the day off for the Bulldogs in the discus. She entered the event as the top seed but fell to second after her first throw. She would reclaim the top spot following her third throw of 137 feet, 6 inches. That throw also got her into the finals as the top seed and after the eight finalists threw their three throws, Morton walked away with her first state track title in the discus.  

Junior Scott Harr also threw the discus for the Bulldogs, placing 22nd with a throw of 129-07.  The Bulldog boys also had senior Jack Drier and junior Gavin Meader competing in the 100-meter dash preliminary heats. Drier finished in 13th place with a time of 11.27 seconds while Meader finished 10th with a time of 11.19.  Thursday night the Bulldog girls’ shuttle hurdle relay team of Abby Drier, Lily Hambly, Teaghan Bird, and Aubryee Showalter placed 19th in the preliminaries in 1:11.70.

Friday saw the Bulldogs bringing home a few more medals back to Hampton. Morton started the day off in the shot put, standing fifth entering the finals. Once there the sophomnore wasted no time launching a throw of 42 feet, 5 ¼ inches that catapulted her into first place. She would not look back from there and would again be a double champion at Drake Stadium.

Harr followed in the shot put for the boys, finishing in 20th place with a throw of 45-09. The Bulldog boys again took the track that evening in the 4 x 200-meter relay first. The team of Drier, Meader, Tate Murray and Tony Valenzuela entered as the top seed and the boys ran a time of 1:30.10, placing seventh in the state. Later that night the boys would try to qualify for the 4 x 100-meter relay finals. The same group ran a time of 43.15 and was the sixth qualifier for the finals, earning the boys the opportunity to run for a state title on Saturday.

Saturday morning the Bulldog boys faced the sprint medley run. A relay team of Murray, Meader, Valenzuela and Gage Plagge  ran a time of 1:35.59 and placed 14th overall. Saturday afternoon the 4 x 100-meter relay team competed for a state title in the finals and shaved .11 second off its preliminary time, finishing fifth in 43.04. 

The state track weekend was a success for the Hampton-Dumont-CAL track and field athletes.  The Bulldog girls team finished with 20 points and in 15th place overall.  The Bulldog boys team scored six points and finished in 30th place overall.