Courier Sports Staff
Ottumwa Courier
WAUKEE —
It takes one lap around the track to make up 400 meters. There aren’t too many guys that make it around the track faster than Spencer Hammack and Zach Messer.
On Tuesday night, nobody in the field at the Waukee Relays was faster in one-lap runs than the Ottumwa seniors. Hammack and Messer scored another one-two finish in the 400 meter run before teaming up to lead the Bulldogs to a win in the 4x400 relay.
Hammack beat out Messer in the 400 by less than a second, winning in a time of 50.58 seconds to top Messer’s time of 51.56. The one-two sweep provided the Bulldog boys with their highest-scoring event, as Ottumwa put up 51 points at Waukee, finishing sixth overall as a team.
“That is so nice to see those two teammates running neck and neck like that,” Bulldog boys track head coach Jim Nickerson said of the 400 meter run. “Scoring 18 points for us in that event is nice to see.”
Waukee won their home relays, scoring 147 points to beat Ottumwa’s CIML Metro rival Des Moines Lincoln by 36.5. The Bulldogs finished the night six top-five finishes in five different events.
Messer and Hammack helped the Bulldogs end the night in impressive fashion. Both had ‘Bob Warren’ Hall-of-Fame legs as Messer opened the relay race with a 50.5-second leg while Hammack’s 49.3 anchor leg finished a winning run of 3:28.07 for an Ottumwa relay team that suddenly has eyes on making a state run.
“We took three seconds off that time in the 4x400. We’re progressing very well toward that event qualifying for state,” Nickerson said.
Messer also finished second in the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.96 seconds while Jonathan Martin finished third in the 800 run in a time of 2:09.76. The Bulldogs also got a strong relay run in the 4x800 with Martin, Cody McConnell, Jianwa Bennett and Tyler Cobler to finish fourth in a time of 8:48.75.
The encouraging note from the night was the performance in the winning 4x400 by senior Ben Kramer. The speedy Bulldog has been fighting his way back all season from a leg injury and is one of several Ottumwa athletes getting healthy at the right time for Nickerson.
“Ben ran without pain, which is nice to see,” Nickerson said. “We’ll sit down and talk about what he wants to run. I’ll let him decide if we wants to run in shorter races or risk it in longer races.”
Ottumwa is back on the track Thursday in the CIML Metro Conference meet in Des Moines. The Bulldogs also have an eye toward next Thursday’s district meet in Iowa City.
“We’re starting to heal up. The season’s starting to wrap up, but we’re starting to get guys back,” Nickerson said. “I think we’ll be able to give it our best shot and qualify people for state.”
Waukee Relays
At Waukee
Tuesday
Team scores — 1. Waukee 147, 2. Des Moines Lincoln 101.5, 3. Fort Dodge 71.5, 4. Mason City 67, 5. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 56, 6. Ottumwa 51, 7. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 36, 8. Des Moines North 22, 9. Des Moines Hoover 3.
Ottumwa Results
Discus — 7. Kris Peden 124-4, 12. Aaron Roane 101-7.
Shot put — 12. Kevin Childes 36-3, 13. Jonah Wright 36-2.
Long jump — 9. Logan McCarty 18-0.5.
4x800 — 4. Ottumwa (Jonathan Martin, Cody McConell, Jianwa Bennett, Tyler Cobler) 8:48.75.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay — 7. Ottumwa (Sky Holmgren, Colton Palyle, Nate Corwin, Titus Weller) 1:10.15.
100 dash — 6. Seth Griffiths 11.97, 9. Rodney Requena 12.29.
400 dash — 1. Spencer Hammack 50.58, 2. Zach Messer 51.56.
4x200 — 6. Ottumwa (Griffiths, McCarty, Charlie Altfilisch, Requena) 1:37.01
110 high hurdles — 10. Holmgren 16.9, 12. Playthe 18.92.
200 dash — 2. Messer 22.96, 7. Patrick Peters 24.25.
400 hurdles — 9. Holmgren 1:01.55, 11. McCarty 1:03.01.
Medley — 6. Ottumwa (Griffiths, Palyle, Altfilisch, Cobler) 4:03.76.
800 run — 3. Martin 2:09.76, 6. McConnell 2:15.96.
4x100 — 6. Ottumwa (Griffiths, McCarty, Altfilisch, Palyle) 47.28.
4x400 — 1. Ottumwa (Messer, Peters, Ben Kramer, Hammack) 3:28.07.
Ottumwa JV Results
Shot put — 7. Jon Torres 35-6, 13. Joey Lee 32-7.
Discus — 16. Seth Rupp 80-7, 18. Lee 77-6.
Long jump — 5. Corwin 17-3.75, 8. Colt Lavelle 14-11.
4x800 — 3. Ottumwa (Shane Riley, Isaac Ramos, Conner Hanson, Nick Moreland) 9:56.93.
100 dash — 13. Colby Rysdam 14.37, 15. Logan Platten 15.54.
400 dash — 2. Peters 53.8, 4. Kramer 55.61.
4x200 — 7. Ottumwa (Corwin, Tyler Lundy, Weller, Riley) 1:49.32.
200 dash — 10. Rysdam 28.04, 13. Platten 31.34.
Medley — 3. Ottumwa (Lavelle, Lundy, Corwin, Ramos) 4:07.56.
800 run — 3. Bennett 2:13.6.
4x100 — 7. Ottumwa (Holmgren, Alex Goodvin, Weller, Lundy) 50.35.
4x400 — 4. Ottumwa (Riley, Requena, Hanson, Moreland) 3:53.58.
