BELLE PLAINE – Brydon Henning perseveres.
Because he does, the hard-working Montezuma senior will be competing at the state track meet in Des Moines May 20-22.
Henning won the 800-meter run at the state qualifying meet – by .01 of a second.
He defeated another senior, Alex Koppes of Springville, at the wire. That .01 was the difference between going to state, or in Koppes’ case, not qualifying.
Henning was the 24th and final state qualifier in the 800.
He won’t be quite as busy at state, however, so he can put all his energy into one event.
At the qualifer, he placed fourth in the 1,600 at 5:12.20, and anchored Montezuma’s seventh-place finish in the 4×400.
The Braves competed well at Belle Plaine. Henning and freshman Carter McKee were fourth and eighth, respectively, in the 1,600.
Freshmen McKee and Jayden Ross were fourth and eighth in the 3,200.Sophomore Kennen Roadcap had a solid shot put effort of 35 feet, 6½ inches to grab a seventh-place finish.
Montezuma’s first three runners in the 4×400 were Eli Bustamante, Marty Knox and Garrett Watts.
Several other efforts didn’t place, but were at or near season’s bests, which has been the late-season trend for the improving Braves.
Boys state qualifying meet
Montezuma places, efforts
100 – 14, Eli Bustamante, 12.78. 21, Marty Knox, 13.43.
200 – 12, Eli Bustamante, 25.74.
400 – 10, Garrett Watts, 1:00.23. 21, Braxton Simpson, 1:16.46.
800 – 1, Brydon Henning, 2:07.88.
1,600 – 4, Brydon Henning, 5:12.20. 8, Carter McKee, 5:18.76.
3,200 – 4, Carter McKee, 11:36.71. 8, Jayden Ross, 12:44.53.
4×400 – 7, 4:00.80 (Eli Bustamante, Marty Knox, Garrett Watts, Brydon Henning.
High jump – 8, Eli Bustamante, 5-4.
Long jump – 14, Garrett Watts, 16-3½. 16, Marty Knox, 15-6½.
Shot put – 7, Kennen Roadcap, 35-6½. 26, Drake Benedict, 18-1.
Discus – 18, Kennen Roadcap, 82-5.
