Red Oak scores strong finishes in first meet

 RED OAK — The baseline is set for the Red Oak boys track program for this season. 

Highlighted by a win in the 3,200-meter race, Red Oak finished fifth with a score of 34 points at last Tuesday’s Hawkeye 10 Southern Division meet at the Dick Morrison Track in Red Oak.

“We’re only going to get better and that’s what is exciting about it,” Red Oak boys track coach Barry Bower said.

Logan LeRette provided that highlight when he held off Glenwood’s Cuentin Gray to win the 3,200 with a time of 10:53.17. 

“That kid has gotten stronger and he believes in what we’re trying to do and I’m very proud,” Bower said.

Gray was two seconds behind LeRette at the finish line.

Ryan Dyson also scored points in the 3,200 as he finished fourth with a time of 11:24.55, finishing behind Shenandoah’s Nate Hoyt.

Red Oak came close to a second win in another distance race as Josh Sunberg took second in the 1,600 with a time of 4:50.04. 

Brandon Phipps of Creston ran a 4:44.48 to claim first place. 

LeRette missed out on scoring points as he finished seventh with a time of 5:13.33.

“I thought they did a nice job as far as competing. There was a lot of great teams that were here,” Bower said. “It’s fun to come out here and compete on a night like tonight where it’s nice and cool.”

The Tigers also scored points in the field events, courtesy of Travis Schon, Brock Isaacson and Nathan Guffey.

Schon finished tied for second in the high jump as he had a jump of 5’8”, tying him with Spencer Smith of Glenwood.

Isaacson took third in the long jump, edged out of second place by an inch to John Van Scoy of Glenwood, as he had a jump of 18’1.25”.

Guffey meanwhile finished tied for third with Clarinda’s Jared Devoe in the shot put with a throw of 40’5”. 

Shane Majerus also provided a top six finish for Red Oak when he placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 103’2”.

In the relay races, Red Oak’s best finish was in the distance medley when the team of Hayden VanMeter, Isaacson, Gavin French and Sunberg took third with a time of 4:03.76.

The relay teams for Red Oak had two fourth place finishes (4x100 and 4x200).

In the 4x100, VanMeter, Dylan Graber, Aaron Jackson and Eli Guerra ran a 47.75, as they were edged out for third place by a second to Clarinda.

The 4x200 team of VanMeter, Graber, Isaacson and Conner Jansky meanwhile ran a time of 1:39.83.

Guerra also picked up points for Red oak when he finished seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.13.

“You want to be the very best, but you’ve got to establish the gauge somewhere and I think we did do that and that’s a good thing for us,” he said.

Red Oak returns to action Tuesday when they take part in the Ram Relays at Glenwood High School. The action starts at 5 p.m.

Friday, Red Oak will take part in the Cardinal Relays at Clarinda High School. 

The meet starts at 4:30 p.m.