It didn’t take the Braves long: Their first outdoors meet and a multi-school track and field meet victory!
Montezuma won the Class B (smaller schools) division of the Belle Plaine Invitational on Thursday, March 30.
The Braves won four events and scored heavily throughout the lineup in putting up 129 points, to 112 by second-place Belle Plaine. There were 10 teams in the class.
“It was a very good night for the Braves,” said head Coach John Beck. “We had goals to go out and compete and hopefully come away with the Class B win, and the boys accomplished that,” he said.
Garrett Watts was in on three wins. He claimed the 110-meter hurdles , anchored a winning 4×400, with David Rose, Broox Stockman and Carter Michalek running the first three legs, and closed out a winning shuttle hurdles team, with Brook Stockman, Luke Brennan and Damien Knox running ahead of him.
Watts and Damien Knox finished two-three in the high jump.
Kenny Criswell won the 100-dash for the Braves.
“We had a lot of guys step up and score points and set personal records for their careers,” Beck said. “Kenny Criswell, Garrett Watts and Damien Knox all did some really good things for us and led us in points.”
“But it was a truly all-around effort, because we had guys stepping up in events they had never run,” the coach said.
“Colton Benson gave us a good run in the 1,600. Isaac Wedgewood stepped up and filled the 400 spot in the distance medley to help us score points and fill an event,” Beck said.
“Jayden Ross gave us a good run in the 3,200. Our 400 low hurdlers Bryson Stockman and Luke Brennan gave gutsy performances to score some points,” Beck said.
“Our sprint relay teams ran really well. Our 4×200 improved by three seconds and our sprint medley team matched our best time from last year,” the coach said. “The shuttle hurdle team beat our time from last year.”
“We really just had a lot of guys step up. They are building confidence in themselves and the team,” Beck said.
“As always, we look to improve on a few aspects, the coach said. “But this was a really good starting point.”
Belle Plaine Invitational
Class B Boys Team Points – 1, Montezuma 129. 2, Belle Plaine 112. 3, English Valleys 98. 4, Don Bosco 69. 5, HLV 49. 6, North Linn 29. 7, Keota 19. 8, Twin Cedars 17. 9, Meskwaki 12. 10, Tri-County 10.
Montezuma placers, efforts
100 – 1, Kenny Criswell, 11.68. 9, Broox Stockman, 12.78.
JV 100 – 5, Lars Taylor, 14.78.
200 – 3, Kenny Criswell, 24.76. 6, Carter Michalek, 25.23.
400 – 5, Bryson Stockman, 1:00.59. 14, Briar Simpson, 1:07.08.
800 – 4, Luke Erselius, 2:29.02.
110 hurdles – 1, Garrett Watts, 17.07. 3, Damien Knox, 17.24.
1,600 – 4, Colton Benson, 5:34.87. 8, Jayden Ross, 5:59.28.
3,200 – 3, Jayden Ross, 12:41.75.
400 hurdles – 3, Bryson Stockman, 1:08.05. 4, Luke Brennan, 1:08.05.
Discus – 10, Briar Simpson, 85-5.5. 14, Lars Taylor, 79-07. 15, Isaac Wedgewood, 75-07.25.
High jump – 2, Garrett Watts, 5-8. 3, Damien Knox, 5-4.
Long jump – 6, Bryson Stockman, 16-9.
Shot put – 11, Broox Stockman, 31-9. 13, Briar Simpson, 31-2. 15, Lucas Flaig, 30-7.
4×100 – 3, MHS, 49.20. (Damien Knox, Luke Brennan, Luke Erselius, Jack Erselius.
Throwers 4×100 – 3, MHS, 56.46 (Lars Taylor, Isaac Wedgewood, Lucas Flaig, Briar Simpson).
4×200 – 2, Montezuma, 1:39.93 (Jack Erselius, David Rose, Carter Michalek, Kenny Criswell).
4×400 – 1, Montezuma, 3:57.65. (David Rose, Broox Stockman, Carter Michalek, Garrett Watts).
4×800 – 3, Montezuma, 10:27.61 (Luke Erselius, Colton Benson, Carter Michalek, Jack Erselius).
Shuttle hurdles – 1, Montezuma, 1:12.49. (Broox Stockman, Luke Brennan, Damien Knox, Garrett Watts).
800 sprint medley – 1, Montezuma, 1:44.94. (Kenny Criswell, Jack Erselius, Broox Stockman, David Rose).
1,600 distance medley – 3, Montezuma, 5:08.17. (Luke Brennan, Colton Benson, Isaac Wedgewood, Jayden Ross).