Stride for Stride Area Tracksters Take on Mother Nature

Mother Nature sure has been moody lately. Unusual weather early this spring has played havoc with track and field schedules across the state in the first two weeks of the outdoor season. Conditions last Tuesday, though, were good enough for four area squads to compete at Pekin’s Ruritan Relays – for part of the night, at least.

The Pekin boys, along with English Valleys, Sigourney and Tri-County, competed at Pekin on Monday night prior to rain and lightning postponing the final one-third of the meet until the following evening.

The 13 teams at the relays were split into two classes, with Pekin, EV and Sigourney grouped into Class A, and Tri-County in Class B with the likes of Albia and North Mahaska.

The host Panthers took care of business in Class A by winning the class by 93 points over second-place Waco. Pekin claimed titles in 11 different events at the relays. Eric Adam (51’1’’) and Jared Bond (44’3’’) finished one-two in the shot put, while Bond earned gold in the discus with a toss of 124’2’’. Pekin also finished one-two in the high jump, with Colton Lanman winning with a mark of 6’0’’ and Zack Conger placing second at 5’10’’. 

Read the full article in the April 9 edition of the News-Review.