by Marianne Gasaway
On Thursday, May 11, the Lions participated in a Class 3A State Qualifying Track and Field Meet in Nevada. Despite a light rain that never seemed to stop, Clear Lake athletes delivered some great performances.
Dylan Litzel tied his personal record of 6’1” in the high jump and became the District Champion, automatically qualifying for State.
“Dylan has put a lot of focus on high jump this season working with Coach Megan Bedford and his efforts have paid off in a big way as he is now among the best in Class 3A,” said Coach Tyler Havens.
Clear Lake’s Shuttle Hurdle Relay team was also crowned District Champions in a school record time of 1:00.89. That time currently sits as the fourth fastest in Class 3A and will be the Lions’ highest ranked event heading into the State Championships.
“Coach Vernon Johnson always has this group ready to peak at the end of the season and they are going to be really exciting to watch,” promised Havens.
Zeke Nelson also won a District Title in the 110 Meter Hurdles, auto qualifying for the State Championships.
Three additional Lion relays are also headed for State based on their times.
The Distance Medley team of Tate Garman, Alex Kerr, Nelson and Jack Crane placed fourth at Districts in 3:41.15.
Nelson, Kerr, Sam Dodge and Schmitt were fourth in the 4×100 relay with a qualifying time of 43.73.
Blake Enke joined Kerr, Dodge and Schmitt to place third in the 4×200 in 1:31.57.
The Lions finished third in the District team standings behind North Polk and Algona.
Team Standings
North Polk (213), Algona (111), Clear Lake (83), Gilbert (79.5), Nevada (77), Webster city (70), Hampton-Dumont-CAL (64), Humboldt (42.5)
Other placements:
110 Hurdles: Derek Erpelding, 7th, 16.74
200: Schmitt, 3rd, 23.15; Tyler LeFevre, 8th, 24.68
400 Hurdles: Gage Larson, 5th, 1:01.52
800: Marcus Skidmore, 6th, 2:04.42
1600: Owen Smith, 8th, 4:59.15
3200: Caleb Jones, 8th, 11:18.91
Discus: Mitchell Smith, 8th, 108’5”
Long Jump: Dodge, 6th, 19’5.75”
Shot Put: Landyn Lewerke, 8th, 43’2.75”
Sprint Medley: 4th (Aidan Hartl, Dodge, Schmitt, Kerr), 1:37.68
4×400: 5th (Manemann, Garman, Hartl, Skidmore), 3:37.11
4×800: 4th (Crane, O. Smith, Manemann, Skidmore), 8:26.87
Panther Co-Ed Relays
On Monday, May 8, the Lions competed at the Panther Coed Relays in Nora Springs. Coach Havens noted it was the last meet for many of the junior varsity athletes and it allowed coaches to see some races to make some final decisions for their District lineup.
The highlight of the night was the Shuttle Hurdle relay finishing in a time of 1:01.83 to break the school record of 1:01.93 set in 2021. The new school record squad is Gage Larson, Derek Erpelding, Cooper Cooke and Zeke Nelson.
In the field events, Landon Lewerke threw a personal record in the shot put, placing third with a toss of 43’0.5”. Thomas Meyer and Mitchil Smith threw personal records in the discus. Meyer was fourth in the varsity discus competition with the overall best mark of the season, 111’11”. Smith won the JV discus with a throw of 104’8”. The JV 4×200 relay team of Lincoln Allsbrook, Christian Smidt, Hayden Bergman and Ayden Genzler finished first in 1:48.97.
Other personal records were recorded by Max Larson in the 100 meter dash, Owen Smith, and Jack Englin in the 800 meter run and Ezra Zickefoose in the 1600 meters.
Clear Lake placed second in the varsity team standings; the Lion JV finished in a tie for first place with Nashua.
The meet was shortened due to weather.
Top six placements
100: Aidan Hartl, 2nd, 12.12; Larson, 7th, 12.74
110 Hurdles: Erpelding, 2nd, 16.31; Cooke, 4th, 16.64
200: Tate Garman, 3rd, 24.01; Blake Enke, 4th, 24.30
400: Hurdles: Hayden Bergman, 6th, 1:12.34
800: Smith, 2nd, 2:08.61; Jack Englin, 5th, 2:13.90
Long Jump: Dontrel Johnson, 3rd, 17’9”
Sprint Medley: 6th (Tyler LeFevre, Caden Cavett, Cael Stephany, Isaac Marschke), 1:49.25
4×200: 5th (LeFevre, Cavet, Larson, Aidan Hartl), 1:41.21
JV
Discus: Mitchell Smith, 1st, 104’08”; Marcus Sumlin, 2nd, 97’07”
Shot Put: Aaron Richtsmeier, 1st, 40’06”
by Marianne Gasaway
On Thursday, May 11, the Lions participated in a Class 3A State Qualifying Track and Field Meet in Nevada. Despite a light rain that never seemed to stop, Clear Lake athletes delivered some great performances.
Dylan Litzel tied his personal record of 6’1” in the high jump and became the District Champion, automatically qualifying for State.
“Dylan has put a lot of focus on high jump this season working with Coach Megan Bedford and his efforts have paid off in a big way as he is now among the best in Class 3A,” said Coach Tyler Havens.
Clear Lake’s Shuttle Hurdle Relay team was also crowned District Champions in a school record time of 1:00.89. That time currently sits as the fourth fastest in Class 3A and will be the Lions’ highest ranked event heading into the State Championships.
“Coach Vernon Johnson always has this group ready to peak at the end of the season and they are going to be really exciting to watch,” promised Havens.
Zeke Nelson also won a District Title in the 110 Meter Hurdles, auto qualifying for the State Championships.
Three additional Lion relays are also headed for State based on their times.
The Distance Medley team of Tate Garman, Alex Kerr, Nelson and Jack Crane placed fourth at Districts in 3:41.15.
Nelson, Kerr, Sam Dodge and Schmitt were fourth in the 4×100 relay with a qualifying time of 43.73.
Blake Enke joined Kerr, Dodge and Schmitt to place third in the 4×200 in 1:31.57.
The Lions finished third in the District team standings behind North Polk and Algona.
Team Standings
North Polk (213), Algona (111), Clear Lake (83), Gilbert (79.5), Nevada (77), Webster city (70), Hampton-Dumont-CAL (64), Humboldt (42.5)
Other placements:
110 Hurdles: Derek Erpelding, 7th, 16.74
200: Schmitt, 3rd, 23.15; Tyler LeFevre, 8th, 24.68
400 Hurdles: Gage Larson, 5th, 1:01.52
800: Marcus Skidmore, 6th, 2:04.42
1600: Owen Smith, 8th, 4:59.15
3200: Caleb Jones, 8th, 11:18.91
Discus: Mitchell Smith, 8th, 108’5”
Long Jump: Dodge, 6th, 19’5.75”
Shot Put: Landyn Lewerke, 8th, 43’2.75”
Sprint Medley: 4th (Aidan Hartl, Dodge, Schmitt, Kerr), 1:37.68
4×400: 5th (Manemann, Garman, Hartl, Skidmore), 3:37.11
4×800: 4th (Crane, O. Smith, Manemann, Skidmore), 8:26.87
Panther Co-Ed Relays
On Monday, May 8, the Lions competed at the Panther Coed Relays in Nora Springs. Coach Havens noted it was the last meet for many of the junior varsity athletes and it allowed coaches to see some races to make some final decisions for their District lineup.
The highlight of the night was the Shuttle Hurdle relay finishing in a time of 1:01.83 to break the school record of 1:01.93 set in 2021. The new school record squad is Gage Larson, Derek Erpelding, Cooper Cooke and Zeke Nelson.
In the field events, Landon Lewerke threw a personal record in the shot put, placing third with a toss of 43’0.5”. Thomas Meyer and Mitchil Smith threw personal records in the discus. Meyer was fourth in the varsity discus competition with the overall best mark of the season, 111’11”. Smith won the JV discus with a throw of 104’8”. The JV 4×200 relay team of Lincoln Allsbrook, Christian Smidt, Hayden Bergman and Ayden Genzler finished first in 1:48.97.
Other personal records were recorded by Max Larson in the 100 meter dash, Owen Smith, and Jack Englin in the 800 meter run and Ezra Zickefoose in the 1600 meters.
Clear Lake placed second in the varsity team standings; the Lion JV finished in a tie for first place with Nashua.
The meet was shortened due to weather.
Top six placements
100: Aidan Hartl, 2nd, 12.12; Larson, 7th, 12.74
110 Hurdles: Erpelding, 2nd, 16.31; Cooke, 4th, 16.64
200: Tate Garman, 3rd, 24.01; Blake Enke, 4th, 24.30
400: Hurdles: Hayden Bergman, 6th, 1:12.34
800: Smith, 2nd, 2:08.61; Jack Englin, 5th, 2:13.90
Long Jump: Dontrel Johnson, 3rd, 17’9”
Sprint Medley: 6th (Tyler LeFevre, Caden Cavett, Cael Stephany, Isaac Marschke), 1:49.25
4×200: 5th (LeFevre, Cavet, Larson, Aidan Hartl), 1:41.21
JV
Discus: Mitchell Smith, 1st, 104’08”; Marcus Sumlin, 2nd, 97’07”
Shot Put: Aaron Richtsmeier, 1st, 40’06”
