Cyclones finish 8th at Wildcat Relays

In their final tune-up before the Drake Relays, the HCHS Cyclones boys track and field team finished eighth at the Wildcat Relays at Carlisle High School with 76 points, finishing 64 points behind Indianola, who won the event with 140 points.

“Overall, the kids performed well,” said Cyclone Head Coach Sam Brummer. “We kind of did a test run for the Drake Relays, which is later in the week with some events that we’re going to run down there. We brought some other events along, and I thought everything we put on the track the kids performed very well in.”

In the 100m dash, two Cyclones finished in the top two spots so close to the school record of 10.65 with Cade Sears finishing first with 10.73, and Matthew Sorfonden finishing right on his tail at 10.96.

“Cade is really, really fast, and obviously times are showing that,” Brummer said. “He’s just an elite level athlete and Sorfonden has improved exponentially even from last year to this year, but when you kind of do a scoping sequence from his freshman year to now, just a completely different athlete and he’s the credit to that, he’s taken care of his body, he’s been in the weightroom, done everything we’ve asked him to do. He got his personal best last night going 10.96.”

During relay races, Sears, Sorfonden, Brendan Eggerss, and Lukas Francis represented HCHS in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay, two races that’ll be competing in at Drake, taking 1st place in both of those events with times of 43.64 and 1:31.20.

“It was really good and just to get one more time with those four working together before we head to Des Moines later in the week to do that,” Brummer added. “Sticks went around. Very happy to have those four out and healthy and we can kick it into high gear as we head to drake.”

In field events, Eggerss came in second with a jump of 21-04.50, finishing behind Tyler Gelhaar of ADM, who won with a jump of 21-05.00.

Franz Reisz took home a first place finish in the discus event with a throw that went 148-06, beating out Drew Hickey of ADM who threw 146-00 for a second place finish.

“He [Reisz] is another one that’s put in a ton of time, put in a lot of hours over the course of his athletic career perfecting his craft, and being as well balanced as he can be” Brummer said. “He’s definitely trending in the right direction with the discus.”

Cyclones break record at Drake Relays

History was made Friday afternoon in the 4x200 relay as Cade Sears, Lukas Francis, Matthew Sorfonden, and Brehden Eggerss set a school record with a time of 1:27.52. They finished second overall behind ADM, who won the event less than 2/10 of a second ahead of them with a time of 1:27.34.

“The school record was 1:28.20 and that was set last year at the state meet by that quartet of Jacob Birch, Aidan Hall, Cade Sears, and Wil Neuharth that won the state title,” said Cyclone Head Coach Sam Brummer. “I thought that one might sit for a while in terms of on the school record board of being able to achieve the time and obviously the guys proved me wrong and showed out and ran really, really well.”

The event for the Cyclone started Thursday afternoon with Eggerss competing in the long jump event. Eggerss finished 17th overall with a jump of 20-8, finishing just a few feet behind the winner, Senior Jack Miller of Jesup with a jump of 23-3.75.

“It’s obviously a huge honor to get to the Drake Relays,” said Cyclones Head Coach Sam Brummer. “To be one of the 24 best jumpers in the state of Iowa regardless of class, and he definitely earned that. Obviously, probably not the jumps he wanted in terms of distance, but a learning experience none the less. He had some experience last year being at the state meet, finishing third. Nothing to shake his head about.”

Cyclone Junior Lindsey Sonderman was the lone Cyclone on the girls side to compete, representing HCHS in the 3000m run Thursday for the first time at the Drake Relays in her high school career.

“I was so excited,” Sonderman said. “I’ve been on the edge for so long. It’s my first year here at Drake, so I really wanted to make it here.”

Sonderman finished 14th among 20 finishers, with a time of 10:24.37, finishing just over a minute behind the winner, Addison Dorenkamp of Valley, WDM, who finished with a time of 9:23.69.

“I have improved by almost 20 seconds every year, so continue to learn more about my race and my strategy, so I think it’s one of those things where the more you run it, the more comfortable you get about it,” Sonderman added. “I just wanted to push every lap, find some girls to stick with. I got boxed in a couple of times there, but I think just trying to stick with people has helped me.”

Friday morning, Sears competed in the 100m dash prelims, finishing with a time of 11.20, missing the finals by just two spots with the final spot being secured by Brevin Doll of ADM, who finished with a time of 11.13.

“In that particular race, a lot of it is the start,” Brummer said. “It wasn’t the most ideal running conditions, but I think it’s a testament to go out and compete.”

The Cyclones returned for their final event Saturday morning, starting with the 4x100 prelims relay race competing against 90 other schools, taking 6th place with a time of 42.19, which would be good enough to get themselves into the finals.

“We came in sitting about sixth or seventh, and felt if we ran a really good, clean race, we’d have a chance to make the finals,” Brummer added. “I thought our guys, Hagen [Sorensen], Matthew, Brendan, and Cade went out and kept the stick moving.”

With thunder coming through in the later part of the afternoon, the Drake Relays got put on hold, and due to that, the Cyclones did not compete in the finals of the 100m dash. Despite not competing in the event, Brummer is optimistic and confident that the 4x100 team can be representing HCHS in the state championships in a month.

“I wouldn’t bet against our kids if I could legally bet on high school sports at all,” he said. “I think with the way our kids are wired, we’re built on competition, and for us, just line up, shoot the gun, and let’s go.”

The Cyclones return to action Monday at Atlantic High School at 4 p.m. where they will compete against 10 other schools.

“We had guys competing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” Brummer said. “We don’t need any injuries or any overuse. We’ll see what we need to work on. Maybe get those guys that ran at Drake just one or two events to work on.”