Sports : Boys' track results

Shot-putter Grant Wittmer with a throw of 48'11.75" 9th place overall

Jordan Barnes (front) takes the baton from Brian Fischer in the finals of the Distance Medley Relay

Travis Libbert hits the finish line in the finals of the distance medley relay

Clint Ferguson (left) takes handoff from Taylor Leyden in the prelims of the 4x100 relay

David Ervin out of the blocks to start the distance medley relay Friday at the State track meet

DES MOINES – There was one medal-winning performance and some other solid performance for the Vinton-Shellsburg boys’ track team over the weekend at the Class 3A State track meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Coach Aric Chvala’s Vikings’ performance on the weekend was led by the fourth-place finish by the V-S 4x100 relay team. The Viking foursome of Taylor Leyden, Clint Ferguson, Jordan Barnes and Jason Kirk squeaked into Saturday’s finals with a time of 44.04 in the Friday’s preliminaries. That time put them two one-hundredths of a second ahead of Algona and into the Grand Finale. 

There, running out of the unenviable position of Lane 8 of the Blue Oval Saturday afternoon, the Vikings flew to a time of 44.06 in the finals, good for fourth-place in the meet behind Iowa Falls-Alden, Central DeWitt and Maquoketa. 

The Vikings’ 4x400 relay team had a heartbreaker Friday when they finished ninth in the prelims and three one-hundredths of a second out of the finals. The quartet of Logan Williams, Ferguson, Travis Libbert and Kirk carried the Vikings to a time of  3:27.05, just off the pace of Waverly-Shell Rock’s 3:27.02 

Probably the biggest heartbreaker of the weekend came in Friday’s 4x200 relay. The foursome of Leyden, Ferguson, Barnes and Kirk was in contention for the title, but a muffed baton exchange ended things early for the team. 

Clint Ferguson took the handoff from Taylor Leyden in the prelims of the 4x100 relay. Along with teammates Jordan Barnes and Jason Kirk, the foursome reached Saturday's finals and came home with a fourth-place finish in Class 3A.

In the distance medley relay, the Viking group of David Ervin, Brian Fischer, Barnes and Libbert finished 16th overall in a time of 3:42.46. And on the Thursday, the V-S shuttle hurdle relay team of David Richter, Matt Pettengill, Chase Whitnell and Will Hancock was disqualified in the prelims. 

In individual action, Ferguson finished 21st overall in the 100 meters with a time of 11.88, Thursday, while Kirk finished 18th in the 200 meters in 23.41. 

Friday, Leyden sailed 19 feet, 11 inches in the long jump to end up 18th, while shot-putter Grant Wittmer just missed out on the finals and medal contention with a ninth-place finish with a throw of 48 feet, 11 and three-quarters inches.