Walker’s wins key in Red Oak track start

CRESTON — It was a big day for one Red Oak girls track athlete during last Tuesday’s Hawkeye 10 Southern Division meet in Creston.

In her first varsity appearance for Red Oak, Kate Walker won both the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter race for Red Oak.

In the 400, Walker held off Shenandoah’s Sydney Graber by .15 second to win with a time of 1:04.85. Her teammate Nikki Graber finished fifth in the same race with a time of 1:07.87.

Walker had a larger margin of victory in the 800 when she won with a time of 2:40.15, beating Shenandoah’s Erica Munslinger by nearly four seconds. Vanessa Pate finished sixth for Red Oak with 2:57.14.

In addition, Walker helped Red Oak individually with a win in the 4x400 as Graber, Pate and Michaela Buntrock won with a time of 4:35.04,  defeating Shenandoah by four seconds.

The Tigers finished fifth at the meet, out of five teams, with a score of 24 points. Glenwood won the meet with 132 points. Shenandoah was second and Clarinda finished in third.

In the sprint medley, the team of Graber, Buntrock, Sydney Straw and Maysen Havener took fifth with a time of 2:17.31.

The 4x200 team of Havener, Straw, Alexis Wingfield and Hailey Fada took sixth with a time of 2:10.67.

Elsewhere, Megan Sands had a jump of 4’6”  in the girls high jump for Red Oak, giving her fifth place.

Ashley Brower meanwhile finished seventh in the 1,500 when she ran a time of 6:18.34.

Red Oak returns to action Tuesday when they compete at the Cardinal Relays in Clarinda. The action is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start.

Thursday will be Red Oak’s only home meet this season. The action starts at 5 p.m. at the Dick Morrison Track.