Comet 4-by-800 relay repeatedly chases down NH for NEIC indoor title

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

WAVERLY — In the girls 4-by-800 relay of Tuesday’s Northeast Iowa Conference Indoor Track and Field Meet at Wartburg College, Charles City’s squad finished strong in all of its four legs.

It was the exchanges in between that made things more interesting.

Each time, New Hampton regained 10- to 15-meter leads only to have the Comets repeatedly close the gap going into the next leg.

But even after giving the Chickasaws a series of multiple-step advantages, the Comet foursome of Whitney Martin, Ashlyn Hoeft, Lydia Staudt and Marley Hagarty were able to win the indoor title with a time of 10 minutes, 34 seconds.

To open the race, Martin caught New Hampton’s fast-starter Maddie Usher at the end of their leg. But freshmen Hoeft and Staudt each were set back after the Chickasaws got out of the exchanges quicker only to have the Comets eventually chase both of them down.

In the final leg, Hagarty was forced to do the same but was able to seize the lead for good in the final 100 meters of the race.

On the boys side, Charles City got a first-place performance out of senior Ryan Zuspan in the long jump. Not yet into the outdoor season, Zuspan has already soared beyond 20 feet with a winning leap of 20 feet, 2 inches.

In the girls 800 run, Charles City had two runners place in the top three with sophomore Kiki Connell and Staudt placing second and third, respectively, with Emma Hoins of Waverly-Shell Rock winning with a time of 2:33.66.