Tuesday’s Webster City Lynx Invite may just fit into that desperate times category.

It was cold. Maybe not overbearingly cold, but frigid enough to be uncomfortable. WCHS senior thrower JJ Moore chucked the discus in a bulky sweatshirt with the hood covering his head. Many runners threw heavy clothing on underneath their uniforms. Pocahontas Area even packed up and headed home midway through the meet.

So, yeah, it wasn’t pleasant.

And yet, the potential for sneaking into the Drake Relays later this month was the overriding motivation. Well, that and the chance to win gold medals.

WCHS senior Jose Ramirez leads the field down the front stretch during the opening leg of the 4x800-meter relay at Tuesday’s Lynx Invite. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WCHS won three events — Moore did just fine in the sweatshirt, as he swept the throws — and collected seven medals. Of equal importance, the 4×100-meter relay moved into position to run at Drake.

“It wasn’t great and it wasn’t ideal, but a lot of schools (across the state) ran (on Tuesday),” WCHS head coach Chad Hisler said after his crew compiled 751⁄2 points to finish fifth in the eight-team field.

The temperature sat in the low 40s for much of the meet. The wind — although not howling, but strong enough to put a chill into the bones from time to time — made it feel even colder.

Humboldt’s depth helped it sneak out the team title with 106 points despite the fact that Clear Lake (102 points, second) and Iowa Falls-Alden (101 points, third) both collected more event wins and overall medals. The Wildcats won three events and nine medals compared to 11 and four for Clear Lake and 10 and four for Iowa Falls-Alden.

St. Edmond (80) was a distant fourth.

Webster City’s Jesse Crutcher runs the backstretch during his 400-meter leg of the distance medley relay at Tuesday’s Lynx Invite. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Moore and the 4×100 — Charlie Stansfield, Jaxon Cherry, and the Hisler brothers, Keegan and CJ — accounted for all of the Lynx victories.

An automatic qualifier into Drake in the shot put, Moore won his favored event easily with a top toss of 56 feet, 41⁄2 inches — more than 12 feet past his closest competitor. Moore is currently fourth statewide in the event.

The senior was out to punch his ticket into Drake in the discus as well, but he’s still currently on the outside. He moved past Cherry late in the competition with a winning heave of 150-1, but still sits in 28th place statewide. The current cutoff is 152-9.

Cherry was the discus silver medalist with a toss of 144-11. The sophomore also finished fourth in the shot put (41-1) and then showed his versatility by claiming the 100-meter dash bronze medal in 11.31 seconds.

Tuesday marked just the second run of the season for the 4×100 quartet. The first chance at the Southeast Valley Invite earlier this month resulted in a disqualification, so just getting the stick around the track was paramount. Anchor CJ Hisler leaned across the finish line in 44.86 seconds to win by more than one second and vault the group into the 62nd position statewide. A total of 96 teams will compete at Drake.

WCHS senior JJ Moore spins during the discus at Tuesday’s Lynx Invite. Moore won gold in both the discus and shot put. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“I was just glad we got it around the track,” Chad Hisler said. “I think we can still be better, but we only ran fast in that event three times last year. We didn’t run in the 44s until (the North Central Conference) meet. So to have no meets and for it to be that cold, to run that well is a plus.”

Stansfield and the Hisler boys joined forces with Skyler Scott to finish second in the 4×200 (1:36.28), and Jose Ramirez snagged his own silver medal in the mile (5:00.56).

Earlier in the evening, Martinez ran the opening leg of the 4×800 relay and had WCHS at front after his two circuits of the track. The Lynx eventually finished fifth in 9:21.87.

“It was nice to see Jose and JJ have a really good meet as seniors,” Chad Hisler said.

The team’s seniors were recognized, as was Arlo Van Diest and his family for the donation that allowed WCHS to purchase the automatic timing system that was used for the first time at the meet.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

The Lynx will travel to Pocahontas for a meet on Friday.

Lynx Invitational

Tuesday at Webster City

Team Standings

1. Humboldt 106; 2. Clear Lake 102; 3. Iowa Falls-Alden 101; 4. St. Edmond 80; 5. Webster City 751⁄2; 6. Eagle Grove 46; 7. Pocahontas Area 45; 8. South Hardin 331⁄2.

Webster City Results

Discus — 1. JJ Moore 150-1; 2. Jaxon Cherry 144-11.

Shot Put — 1. Moore 56-41⁄2; 4. Cherry 41-1.

High Jump — 6. Keegan Hisler 5-6.

Long Jump — 7. Treyton Sinclair 16-81⁄2; 9. Luke Estlund 16-53⁄4.

100 Meters — 3. Cherry 11.31; 4. CJ Hisler 11.45.

200 Meters — 5. Riley LaSourd 24.24.

400 Meters — 11. Josh Stansfield 1:03.52; 12. Gabriel Griffin 1:09.50.

800 Meters — 10. Tristen Maxwell 2:28.05.

1,600 Meters — 2. Jose Ramirez 5:00.56; 14. Owen Patterson 6:17.79.

110 High Hurdles — 7. Sinclair 17.57; 14. Lincoln Tielke 18.97.

400 Hurdles — 13. Tielke 1:11.46; 14. Christopher Martinez 1:15.00.

4×100 Relay — 1. WCHS 44.86 (Charlie Stansfield, Cherry, K. Hisler, CJ Hisler).

4×200 Relay — 2. WCHS 1:36.28 (C. Stansfield, K. Hisler, Skyler Scott, CJ Hisler).

4×400 Relay — 6. WCHS 3:48.73 (LaSourd, Scott, Brayden Henely, Estlund).

4×800 Relay — 5. WCHS 9:21.87 (Ramirez, Henely, Maxwell, Tristan Mason).

Distance Medley Relay — 8. WCHS 4:41.14 (Sinclair, Estlund, Jesse Crutcher, Sven Anderson).

Shuttle Hurdle Relay — 5. WCHS 1:13.84 (Martinez, Tielke, Gabe Rollins, Aiden Feltz).