Bulldogs Boys Finish Sixth, Girls Finish Seventh in Conference Meets

The Hampton-Dumont-CAL (HDCAL) boys and girls track and field teams competed in their respective North Central Conference track meets on Thursday, May 8. The boys meet was held at Clear Lake, while the girls meet was held at Iowa Falls-Alden. 

The HDCAL boys team finished in sixth place out of eight teams with a total score of 58. The boys finished inside the top five in four different individual events. Junior Aaden Keehn finished second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.56 seconds, which set a personal record. Keehn would also finish fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.82 seconds, also setting a personal record. Sophomore Beau Morton finished third in the shot put throw with a throw of 48 feet, 9 inches. Sophomore Briggs Gruelke finished fifth in the 200-meter dash setting a personal record with a time of 23.18 seconds. 

The boys finished inside the top five in five different team events. The bulldogs 4x100-meter relay team, made up of sophomore Carson Helmke, freshman Bayden Wrich, junior Carter Arends and senior Isaac Sauke, finished second and set a season best time of 44.71 seconds.  Arenda and Keehn, along with senior Colin Bird and sophomore Jacob Donnenworth made up the boys 4x100-meter shuttle hurdle relay team that finished third with a time of 1 minute, 4.67 seconds. Arends, Gruelke, Wrich and Sauke made up the boys 4x200-meter relay team that finished fourth with a time of 1 minutes, 34.51 seconds. Arends, Sauke, Gruelke and Helmke made up the boys 800-meter sprint medley relay team that finished fifth with a time of 1 minute, 39.05 seconds. Grulke, Sauke and Wrich, along with senior Remington powers made up the boys 4x400-meter relay team that finished fifth with a time of 3 minutes, 49.59 seconds. Head coach of the Bulldogs boys team Dan Aalbers discussed how his relay teams have been consistent all season. 

“They hit their hand offs well,” said Aalbers. “They have all been getting faster all season long. The relays are running strong for us.”

The HDCAL girls team finished seventh out of eight teams with a total of 56 points. The girls finished inside the top five in seven different individual events. Senior Charlie Morton once again finished first in the shot put throw with a throw of 49 feet, 9 inches, which set a new conference meet record. Morton also finished first and set a new conference meet record in the discus throw with a throw of 143 feet, 2 inches. Head coach of the Bulldogs girls team, Nikki Donnenworth, discussed Morton’s continued dominance throughout her career and in the conference meet. 

“I mean no one is going to touch her shot put record she set for maybe ever,” said Donnenworth. “I don’t know if we will ever know how far reaching her impact on girls athletics in Iowa has been.” 

Senior Lily Hambly finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute, 9.96 seconds. Hambly also finished third in the high jump with a jump of 4 feet, 8 inches, and she finished fifth in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, 2.25 inches. Freshman MacKenzy Valley finished fourth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 12 minutes, 2.88 seconds. Valley would also finish fifth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 29.35 seconds. 

The girls finished inside the top five in one individual event. The girls 4x400-meter relay team made up of Hambly, freshman Adelle Groneworld, MacKenzie Valley and senior Brooklyn Valley finished fifth with a time of 4 minutes, 36.41 seconds. 

The boys and girls teams will both have their state qualifying meet on Thursday, May 15 at Decorah High School at 4:00 p.m.