Comet boys place 2nd at Osage Invite; Kiki Connell sets PR in 3000 at DNH

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

OSAGE — If you’re a former Comet track athlete who’s still in the record books, Ian Collins could very well represent a winged angel of death.

The annual Osage Invitational keeps and lists meet records dating back to 2002. Charles City is well represented.

Among the records held by Comets are Nate Buss’s height in the high jump (6 feet, 6 inches) achieved in 2010, and Brandon Bluhm’s long jump of 21 feet, 5 inches set in 2017.

Five days removed from a banner performance at the Drake Relays where he placed first in the HJ (6-7) and second in the LJ (22-11), Collins — CC’s school record holder in both events — seemed destined to knock off two more Comets perched atop the books during Tuesday’s invite, despite the windy conditions.

But after easily clearing 6-0 and then 6-2 in the high jump, Collins settled for the win with sophomore teammate Chase Low finishing runner-up with a personal-record 5-10 clear.

Then after his brief stint at the high jump pit, Collins crossed the field and proceeded to win the long jump. But with the winning effort being 21 feet, 1 inch, Bluhm’s meet record — like Buss’s — stands for at least another year.

Yet by the end of the evening, a former Comet was plucked from the meet’s all-time list. And — hate to say it — Collins was partially responsible.

Down the homestretch of the 400-meter dash, Collins had a slight edge over Saint Angar’s Braden Powers before the Saint senior took the lead with about 60 meters left. However, Collins somehow was able to shift into a higher gear and briefly regained the lead with the finish line approaching.

Powers, divining deep for something extra himself, was able to retake the lead for a first-place time of 51.12 seconds.

Not only did that nip Collins (51.79), but it broke the meet record set by Comet legend and Iowa T&F Hall of Famer Isaac Wendland (51.15) in 2008.

The Comets placed second in the eight-team meet with 129 team points behind Clear Lake (148).

Comet junior Tino Tamayo, another Drake Relays qualifier, placed first in the discus with a throw of 135 feet, 7 ½ inches.

A mishap in the 1600 distance medley relay plagued Charles City to a fourth-place finish in a race it was leading at the time, but the Comets would later get a Richard Petty/Daytona 500 (1979)-like break in the 4-by-200 relay which paved the way for victory.

With Clear Lake leading the race going into the final exchange, a dropped baton initiating a two-Lion tumble onto the track opened the door for Comet junior anchor man Mario Hoefer, who seized the opportunity and never looked back on way to capping a first-place time of 1 minute, 35.49 seconds.

Josiah Cunnings, Owen Weber and Cameron Kakac were the other members of the winning squad.

A strong anchor leg from Charles City junior Jacob Vais almost stole the 800 sprint medley race from Clear Lake, which managed to hold off the Comets (1:40.15-1:40.94). Jakob Sindlinger, Hoefer and Jeremiah Chapman ran the previous legs for the runner-up Comets.

In the final race of the evening, Charles City’s 4-by-400 team of Zach Graser, Vais, Chapman and Malcolm Lopez placed second (3:38.95) to Clear Lake (3:36.71).

In the 110 high hurdles, Chapman’s runner-up time of 15.85 seconds was the fastest Comet effort in the event thus far this season.

* Meanwhile in Dike-New Hartford, the Charles City girls track team competed at the Lady Simons Relays on Tuesday.

UNI-bound Comet senior Kiki Connell reset a personal-record in the 3,000-meter run with a first-place time of 10 minutes, 35.95 seconds. The effort was nearly 9 seconds faster than the PR she set during her freshman year when she was a Drake Relays and State T&F qualifier in the event.

Connell, who was a Drake Relays qualifier in both the 800 and 1500 this season, also achieved a PR in the 800 with a second-place time of 28.02 seconds.

Senior thrower Carly Stevenson won both the shot put (35 feet, 11 ½ inches) and discus (117 feet, 4 ½ inches); and senior Lydia Staudt won the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 9 ¾ inches.

The Comet 1600 medley relay team of Adison Olson, Rachel Chambers, Staudt and Connell combined efforts for a team season-best first-place time of 4:27.04.

Charles City’s 4-by-800 relay foursome of Staudt, Aubrey Hoeft, Lydia Thompson and Libbie McKeag won their race with a time of 10:55.11.