TAMA - The Northeast Hamilton boys' track team placed in the top half of the 11-team field last night at the Iowa Star Conference meet on the campus of the Meskwaki Settlement School.
The Trojans collected six medals and captured the league title in one event - the 1,600-meter medley relay - on their way to 54 points and a fifth-place finish.
Green Mountain Garwin was the only school to score in triple digits; the Wolverines' championship total of 105 gave them a 17-point advantage over runner-up Tripoli (88). Colo-NESCO (82) was third and Dunkerton (80) took fourth.
"Finishing in the top half was nice to see," NEH head coach Josh Vanderloop said. "The younger guys started the night out with some personal best times and it went on throughout the night. It was just good to see the times come down."
Bryce Kauffman, Stephen Chamness, Clay Harreld and Tyler Smith teamed up to win the medley in 3:50.65. Smith brought the gold home with an 800 anchor split of 2:08.37.
The same foursome placed second in the 4x100 (47.22). Nick Jeffers was in the place of Kauffman in the 4x200, which resulted in another runner-up finish for the Trojans (1:36.87).
Fact Box
Boys Results
Iowa Star Conference Meet
Thursday Meskwaki Settlement School
Tama
Team Standings
1. GMG 105; 2. Tripoli 88; 3. Colo-NESCO 82; 4. Dunkerton 80; 5. Northeast Hamilton 54; 6. North Tama 48; 7. Janesville 34; 8. Don Bosco 30; 9. Clarksville 24; 10. CAL 23; 11. Meskwaki Settlement School 2.
Northeast Hamilton Results
High Jump - 3. Clay Harreld 6-1.
Discus - 5. Nick Jeffers 109-8.25.
Long Jump - 6. Jacob Ratzke 19-7.75.
3,200 Meters - 6. Steven Smith 11:47.80.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay - 3. Northeast Hamilton 1:05.20 (Ratzke 17.00, Bryce Kauffman 14.90, Tyler Smith 16.14, Stephen Chamness 15.81).
4x200 Relay - 2. Northeast Hamilton 1:36.87 (Jeffers 24.66, S. Chamness 24.61, T. Smith 23.50, Harreld 23.52).
110 High Hurdles - 2. Kauffman 16.79.
200 Meters - 7. Jeffers 24.78.
1,600 Medley Relay - 1. Northeast Hamilton 3:50.65 (Kauffman 24.88, S. Chamness 23.68, Harreld 53.97, T. Smith 2:08.37).
4x100 Relay - 2. Northeast Hamilton 47.22 (Kauffman 12.28, S. Chamness 11.22, T. Smith 12.00, Harreld 11.53).
Girls Results
Iowa Star Conference Meet
Thursday at Meskwaki Settlement School
Tama
Northeast Hamilton Results
4x800 Relay - 3. Northeast Hamilton 11:12.45 (Jennifer Jeffers, Sierra Thomas, Lillian Chamness, Molly Greenfield).
800 Meters - 2. Jeffers 2:34.28.
Kauffman had the highest individual placing on the team; the senior was second in the 110 high hurdles (16.79).
Harreld added third-place points in the high jump (6 feet, 1 inch), as did the shuttle hurdle relay (1:05.20) - Jacob Ratzke, Kauffman, Smith and Chamness.
NEH girls 10th
The Northeast Hamilton girls' team placed in two events and wound up in 10th-place at last night's ISC meet.
North Tama captured the team title; point totals weren't known as of press time.
Junior Jennifer Jeffers was second in the 800 (2:34.28), and she was on pace to place in the open 400 as well, but hurdles were mistakenly set up in her lane and forced her to pull up.
Jeffers joined Sierra Thomas, Lillian Chamness and Molly Greenfield to finish third in the 4x800 (11:12.45).
"We placed in the two events that I knew we would, and we lowered our times in both events," NEH girls' coach Brandon Frohwein said. "That's really all you can do with six girls."