Ridge View boys win OABCIG Relays with balanced depth

Ridge View did not need a single dominant performance to take control at the OABCIG Relays in Ida Grove. The Raptors won eight events and rolled to the boys team title Tuesday with 230 points, a total that showed strength across the track and field lineup rather than in one specialty.

The gap behind Ridge View was sizable. Alta-Aurelia finished fourth with 84 points, and Newell-Fonda was sixth with 22, leaving the Buena Vista County schools well back of the pace set by the Raptors. In a meet that rewards teams able to score in sprints, jumps and throws, Ridge View separated itself quickly and stayed ahead all afternoon.

The throws gave Ridge View an early boost. In the discus, Karsen Jensen finished second with 119 feet, 2 inches, Jacob Friedmann was fourth at 97-2 and Robert Carlson placed sixth at 91-4. Alta-Aurelia’s Caden Rydstrom added a county result of his own by taking eighth at 76-7. Those finishes reflected the kind of layered scoring that turns a good dual-meet team into a relay-meet winner.

Newell-Fonda also put points on the board in the high jump, where Kinnick Kaufman took second at 5-8 and Cody Wolf was third at 5-4. Those results kept the Mustangs in the mix in individual events, but Ridge View’s spread of scoring across the meet proved too much to overcome. With eight victories, the Raptors had answers in enough places to keep building their team total.

The victory also fit a larger pattern for Ridge View as the heart of track season approaches. The Raptors won the same meet last year with 172 points, when Kellen Jensen won two individual events, Jack Todd won one and two relay teams also prevailed. Ridge View’s boys were already a proven state-level program in 2025, qualifying four events for the state meet, including the 4x200 relay, 4x400 relay and high jump. In Ida Grove, that depth showed again, and this time the score was even more lopsided.