Comets record personal-bests while hosting track invitational

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The Comet 4-by-100-meter shuttle hurdle relay team was cruising to victory when it hit a bump in the road — or rather a raised obstacle.

“I started to go into a three-step approach, and that’s when I lost my rhythm,” said Charles City freshman Dylan Koresh, the second leg of the foursome.

Koresh hit the second to last hurdle on his pass and nearly fell face-first on the track.

Fortunately, Koresh was able to right himself and finish his leg with the lead intact as he and fellow teammates Bryce Foxen, Jon Zander and Adam Stewart won the Orange Division race with a time of 1:06.73 at the Charles City Boys Track and Field Invitational on Tuesday.

“I never had that happen to me during a relay,” Koresh said of his stumble. “Other than that, I thought we did pretty good.

“I didn’t think we would lose the race because of me.”

In the subsequent 110-meter hurdles, there were no pratfalls for senior Foxen, who dominated the Orange field with a first-place time of 15.87 seconds.

“This was the best I felt all season,” said Foxen, who recorded a personal-best time. “I’ve been having trouble this season getting a good rhythm going, but I finally got a good one there.”

Charles City senior Shane Feller recorded a personal-best first-place time of 11.48 seconds in the 100-meter dash. He also placed second in the long jump (20 feet, ½ inch) to teammate Brandon Bluhm (20 feet, 4 ½ inches) and placed second in the 200 dash (23.24) ahead third-place finisher Foxen (23.47) and behind first-place finisher Kalen Eastman (23.05) of Central Springs.

“We came up with another 1-2 finish in the long jump, and what Shane (Feller) and Bryce (Foxen) did in the 200 was a real shot in the arm for us,” Charles City head coach Ryan Rahmiller said.

The Comets placed second to Forest City in overall team points in the Orange Division.

“I’m really proud of our boys … a lot of our kids dropped times and had outstanding efforts,” Rahmiller said. “Forest City was just a little deeper.”

Rahmiller cited major progress from Stewart, who placed second the 400 low hurdles, and Zander, who dropped six seconds off his PR in the 1600 run with a third-place time of 4:53.17.

“And Stewart and Zander are new to the shuttle relay,” Rahmiller said.

In the Gray Division, North Butler sophomore Sam Dolan won the high jump with a clear of 5 feet, 6 inches.

The invitational was the Comets’ first non-washed-out home meet of the season as Charles City’s seniors and their parents were honored on the track during an intermission.