Newell-Fonda, Ridge View athletes earn wins at Kingsley-Pierson Relays

Newell-Fonda and Ridge View each left the Kingsley-Pierson Panther-Wildcat Relays with more than one reason to believe their spring seasons can keep building. On the girls side, Mareni Brabec and Danika Meyer gave Newell-Fonda individual wins, while Addison Tesch and Hannah Brown did the same for Ridge View in a meet that showed how wide the local track depth runs across western Buena Vista County.

Brabec won the 3,000 meters in 11:35.28 and Meyer claimed the 1,500 meters in 5:30.89, giving Newell-Fonda victories in two distance races that often carry the tone for a team’s overall strength. Ridge View answered with Tesch’s 800-meter win in 2:30.76 and Brown’s victory in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:14.33, a strong sign that the Raptors were not relying on one event group to carry them at Kingsley.

The team scoreboard backed up that balance. Hinton won the meet with 144 points, but Newell-Fonda finished third with 66 and Ridge View tied for fifth with 60. Those totals mattered because they came from points spread across a wide range of events, not just from a single standout performance. Newell-Fonda’s distance medley relay finished second and its sprint medley relay took fourth in 2:02.71, while Ridge View’s sprint medley relay was sixth in 2:05.69.

The field and sprint marks added even more depth to the day. Ridge View’s Shea Rapp placed second in the 100 meters, Cora Tesch finished fourth in the hurdles, and Melany Horan took fourth in the long jump at 15-3. Newell-Fonda’s Ellie Sievers matched Horan at 15-3 and finished fifth in the long jump, while McKayla Hanson was eighth in the discus at 89-4 and seventh in the shot put at 28-10.

For both programs, that kind of spread across distance races, hurdles, relays and field events is the kind of early-season barometer coaches watch closely. The relays also fit into a larger local track night, with the boys results drawing additional area winners from Ridge View and Newell-Fonda as well. Kingsley will see more of the same later in the spring, when the Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central/River Valley teams return May 7 for the K-P/WC/RV Invitational.