Cyclones set multiple records at SQM in Atlantic

HCHS Girls

Cyclone Junior Lindsey Sonderman set the tone for her team Thursday night at the state qualifying meet in Atlantic qualifying for the 1500 and 3000m run, along with the distance medley team that also featured Kami Stork, Samantha Ineson, and Aubree Wegner.

“Lindsey ran a strategic 3000 taking second when she likely could have won,” said Cyclone Head Coach Jenny Hamilton. “She was asked to converse some energy here, and she did a great job being disciplined and sticking to the mission. She came back to anchor the distance medley, which finished second. Kami and Sammie gave us a great first lap, and Aubree maintained the position we needed to be competitive. We’re so proud of this relay. Lindsey finished her night winning the 1500.”

Junior Abby Broeckelman also managed to qualify in the 400m hurdles event with a time of 1:09.59, taking fourth place, finishing fourth, just under two seconds behind Madi James of ADM who won the event with 1:07.61.

“In the 400 hurdles, Abby knew she needed to run for time over place,” Hamilton said. “She tied her season best and earned a spot on the blue oval.”

Jaylee Schmitz, Brylee Schechinger, Aubrey Schwieso also will be headed to the blue oval as alternates for the Cyclones.

“Congrats to our state qualifiers,” Hamilton added. “There is more work to be done, and we have more goals to chase down. We look forward to getting back at it on Monday.”

Other Cyclone highlights from the meet included Kenzley Bruck and Wegner tying for fifth place in the high jump with 4’ 8”. The sprint medley team also finished fifth, which featured Ari Daniels, Schmitz, Schwieso, and Camryn Goshorn coming in with a time of 2:04.13.

Two Cyclone Seniors who ran their final event were Lauren Wingert and Taylor Bieker. Wingert ran the 3000m event, finishing eighth with 13:57.35, while Bieker ran the 4x800 relay with Sadie Alberti, Allie Anderson, and Schechinger coming in fourth place with a time of 10:54.00.

“This was the last meet for many on our team, including seniors Taylor and Lauren,” Hamilton said. “They are two of the most selfless teammates I’ve had the pleasure to coach and are always willing to play the role we asked of them.”

HCHS Boys

Senior Cyclone Cade Sears set a new school record in the 100m dash, going for 10.61, breaking Kevin Cruz’s record of 10.65 that was set almost two decades ago in 2005. Matthew Sorfonden also took a personal record home running with a time of 10.95.

“I guess in the last three or four years, we’ve had a lot of good sprinters on our team,” said Cyclone Head Coach Sam Brummer. “Obviously 10.65 is incredibly fast. That’s why it’s been the school record since 2005 when Kevin Cruz had it. I thought Aidan Hall and Wil Neuharth had a shot at it. Early on, I thought Cade had a chance too when he was younger as things progressed. All the stars seemed to align, and the opportunity presented itself, and Cade grabbed that bull by the horns and ran a 10.61 with it.”

While Sears accomplished breaking the school record in the 100m dash, multiple records were broke by the Cyclones with Sears being a part of all of them at the state qualifying meet in Atlantic.

 “We broke four school records last night and Cade was a part of all four of them with the open 100, 200, the 4x100, and 4x200,” Brummer said. “Anytime you can break a state or school record, it’s a huge accomplishment. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything along the lines of in a single meet we break four school records, and finish second in three of them. That’s also kind of mind blowing that you can run that fast.”

In field events, Brehden Eggerss placed first in long jump with a jump of 22-03.50, finishing ahead of Colton Rasmussen of Atlantic with 21-07.75. Franz Reisz also took home a first place finish in discus with a throw of 170-07, beating out Drew Hickey of ADM with 160-10.

“Overall, in all of our field events, it’s probably the best accumulative performance,” Brummer added. “Franz was a personal best performance in his career in throwing the discus. Same thing for Eggerss. The best jump he’s ever had in his high school career for long jump.”

In relay races, the Cyclones got second in the 4x100 with 42.06, finishing right on the tail of ADM, who won with 41.90. They beat ADM in the 4x200 with 1:26.83, while ADM finished with 1:26.90.

“I’m super excited for what this group can potentially do at state,” Brummer said. “I think they had a little bit of revenge on their minds potentially from Drake. ADM won the Drake Relays in the 4x100 and 4x200. We got second in the 4x200 and qualified sixth in the 4x100, so we definitely knew between both teams it may have been a small preview of what the state meet could hold.”

For the state meet, the Cyclones will be bringing 11 athletes, including Sears, Sorfonden, Eggerss, Hayden Soma, Lukas Francis, Landen Kaufman, Hagen Sorensen, Reisz, Joseph Bragg, Sam Shields, and Bryce Van Baale.

Cyclone Seniors Keaton Heileson, Jonathan Shelton, and Micah Sorensen won’t be running anymore as they are set to graduate soon and will not join the Cyclones at the blue oval in Des Moines.

“You try to make contact with all your athletes pre-race and post-race,” Brummer added. “Obviously after the race, you check in as much as you can. You go in there, especially with our seniors was to thank them for everything they’ve given to our program. It’s the blessing and the course of track. You don’t get to take everybody. We do get to bring some alternates for our relays and maybe they run and maybe they don’t. Some of that stuff gets dictated for us with injuries or other things that come up.”

With the state meet being the final event of the season, Brummer is hopeful the Cyclones can bring some hardware back to Harlan to add to their trophy case.

“It’s a tall task, but it’s one that I feel our kids are ready for and our kids want to obtain,” he said. “I think last year, we were a little more under the radar in terms of state, especially in 3A. There are some teams with bigger populations and bigger track rosters that maybe command more of the attention, but we took our group of 7-8 kids up there last year and won four state titles, and placed third in the long jump, fourth in the two, and fifth in the one, so more than held our own in that arena. In the state meet, it’s quality over quantity. You need to have top tier runners that can perform to the best of their ability.”