by Gunnar Davis

The Cardinal Relays in Newton was a successful meet for both the PCM boys’ and girls’ track teams. There were many top-three finishes and bests for both teams. The girls finished third with 93 points, and the boys finished only two points behind Lynnville-Sully in fourth place with 59.
For the boys, senior Skyler Koder won the high jump, tying his personal best of 6-02. Koder also placed third in the 110-high hurdles with a time of 16.23. Koder anchored a shuttle-hurdle team that placed third with a time of 1:02.71. That team also consisted of seniors Luke Pendroy and Ricky Reeve and junior Austin Sneller.
Senior Maverick McAtee placed second in the 3200, running the race in a time of 10:54.70. The 4×100, consisting of Reeve, junior Tyler Dredge, sophomore Luke Greiner and junior Davis Herndon, ran a 47.39, placing them second. The 4×200, consisting of Reeve, freshman Noah Anderson, Greiner and Dredge, ran a 1:40.69 to place third.
“I would say that I need to work on my technique to make it to State,” Koder said. “Technique and staying in shape and healthy will help us get to State. Our relay teams are doing well, and making sure their hand-offs are perfect will help them as well.”
For the girls, the team did very well, placing first in two events, second in four and third in three. The 4×200 and the 4×400 teams both placed first. The 4×200 team of senior Mackenzie Clarke, sophomore Jayci Vos and juniors Ashley Van Gorp and Emily Hugen ran a 1:50.03, while the 4×400 team of Vos, Van Gorp, sophomore Rachel Stafford and senior Rachel Peter ran a 4:15.02.
Peter also placed second in the 1500- and 3000-meter races, running a 5:05.85 and an11:36.67, respectively. The distance medley team of Clarke, Hugen, Van Gorp and Stafford placed second with their time of 4:26.56. The 4×100-meter relay was the only other second-place finish on the night. That team, consisting of Vos, Hugen, Van Gorp and Clarke, ran a 52.04.
In the shot put, senior Grace Telfer placed third with a heave of 35-00. Freshman Baylee Smith placed third in the open 800, running a 2:38.21, and the sprint medley team of Hugen, Clarke, Stafford and sophomore Tatum Nearmyer placed third with a time of 1:56.37.
“Tonight we had girls doing some things they hadn’t done before, and they stepped up to the challenge nicely,” Head Coach Bridget Martin said. “As we near the end of the season, we are trying to make some final decisions for conference and districts. We definitely have some fine tuning to do but are excited for what the future could hold.”