Cyclone boys earn six state medals, place 11th in 3A
DES MOINES (May 16-18) -- From a powerful start in the discus Thursday morning to a fast finish in Saturday’s 4x400 relay, the Harlan Community boys track team left Des Moines with a lot to feel good about from the 2019 Co-Ed State Track Meet.
The Cyclones qualified 14 entries in 13 events for state and took home six medals, placing 11th in Class 3A with 22 points - five more than their total from the previous three years combined.
As the weather ranged from hot on Thursday to rainy on Friday and the threat of rain Saturday, HCHS established a pair of individual personal bests, broke the 4x400 relay season-best mark twice and added a memorable season-best in the shot put that saw Caleb Bieker make the most of a unique second chance.
“The guys went out and competed really well,” said HCHS head coach Sam Brummer. “I’m very pleased with everybody’s efforts in the field and on the track."
Senior throwers Derec Weyer and Bieker got the Cyclones started on a good note Thursday morning with a combined nine points in the discus. Weyer threw a ‘PR’ of 163 feet, four inches on his second attempt of Flight 2 and later added another toss over 160, placing third in 3A (one inch behind second). Bieker threw 156’-6” on his first attempt and took sixth.
Track season has continued a fun senior-year ride for Weyer, who earned an NCAA Division II football offer from Southwest Minnesota State, was a state runner-up in wrestling after competing mostly at the JV level as a junior and now capping a much-improved senior year of track with a third-place state medal.
“It’s crazy,” Weyer said. “If (my coaches) told me at the beginning of the season they’d expect me going to state and medaling, I would have laughed and said they were crazy."
Bieker added a fifth-place medal in the shot put Friday, but it wasn’t easy. Following two preliminary throws ranging between 47 and 48 feet, Bieker’s third attempt of Flight 2 also fell short of the necessary distance to qualify for the finals.
There was a catch, however - literally.
As Bieker spun through the ring on his third throw, his right shoe hooked the measuring tape that was being held by a nearby official and the tape wrapped around his legs as he threw.
After a short discussion, Bieker was awarded a redo and made the most of his opportunity, unleashing a season-best throw of 51 feet, 2.5 inches that would hold up for fifth place.
“I think it must have made me a little bit mad,” Bieker said of the tape measure incident. “Then when I did get a chance, it was like anybody getting a second chance. You’ve just got to make it happen.”
The highlight on the track for HCHS was no doubt the 4x400 quartet of seniors Eli Boldan and Jon Owens, junior Johnathan Monson and sophomore Michael Erlemeier, who placed fourth in the state meet’s final event in 3:24.25 - a season-best time. The same group qualified for the final with a fourth-place prelim time of 3:24.69 on Friday.
“This is by far my favorite memory that’s going to happen at high school state track,” Owens said of the 4x400. “To go out with Erlemeier, Monson and Boldan was just awesome. It was just a great way to end the season.”
Erlemeier had a great state meet overall, adding a sixth-place medal in the 400-meter dash Thursday with a personal-best time of 50.13. He fell shy of a medal in the long jump - finishing 10th in the rain Friday morning (20 feet, one inch) - but came back later to lead off the Cyclones’ eighth-place 4x200 relay. Erlemeier, Bruck, Monson and Boldan combined for a time of 1:32.73.
Additional Cyclone individual results included Trey Gross finishing 20th in the 3,200, Owens 17th in the 400 hurdles and Thomas Fah 21st in the 110-meter hurdles.
Ther HCHS shuttle hurdle relay placed 10th, the sprint medley was 20th and the distance medley and 4x100 relays both took 23rd.