Led by Dan Reynolds, the junior from Granby, Colo., several Chadron State College athletes had outstanding performances this past weekend at track and field meets in Colorado.
Reynolds won all three of the competitions he entered. He initially won the 35-pound weight throw at a meet hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy on Friday and then won both the weight throw and the shot put at the Colorado Mines Winter Classic on Saturday.
There was plenty of competition at both meets. The Air Force Academy meet was comprised mostly of Division I teams while nearly all the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams entered the Mines meet, as well as teams from as far away as California and Texas.
Reynolds’ winning weight throw at the Air Force Academy was 20.45 meters, or 67 feet, 1 ½ inches. That’s just 2 ½ inches shy of the Chadron State record that he set in December.
He won the weight throw again on Saturday with a mark of 65-10 ½ and won the shot put with a career-best of 53-7 ½.
Three of Reynolds’ fellow throwers at Chadron State also had career-bests at the Colorado Mines Classic. They are sophomore Christopher Jennings of O’Neill, who was fifth in the weight throw at 54-5 ½, and juniors Parker Gonser of Windsor, Colo., and Reid Spady of Oshkosh in the shot put.
Gonsor was fourth in the shot at 50-6 and Spady was eighth at 48-6 ¼.
A member of the CSC women’s throwing corps, Courtney Smith of Rock Springs, Wyo., also had a productive weekend. She placed fourth in the weight throw at the Air Force Academy with a career-best of 55-10 ½, and was third at Colorado Mines at 54-7 ½. In addition, she finished seventh in the shot on Saturday at 39- 1 ¼.
Chadron State high jumper Jourdaine Cerenil of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., also did well again Saturday. She cleared 5-5 ¾ to share first place with Kiana Hamm of Cal Poly Pomona.
CSC Coach Seth Mischke said he’s pleased that the Eagles are working hard and continue to improve their marks. This coming weekend a much larger contingent of team members will compete at Washburn University in Topeka.
Results at Air Force Academy:
Men’s weight throw—1, Dan Reynolds, 67-1 ¼; 8, Christopher Jennings, 53-11.
Women’s weight throw—1,*Lizzie Virgl, 63-9 ½; 4, Courtney Smith, 55-10 ½.
Results at Colorado Mines:
Men’s Events
Weight throw—1, Dan Reynolds, 65-10 ½; 5, Christopher Jennings, 54-5 ½; 6, Parker Gonser, 52-8 ¼.
Shot put—1, Dan Reynolds, 53-7 ½; 4, Parker Gonser, 50-6; 8, Reid Spady, 48-6 ¼.
Heptathlon—5, Harley Rhoades, 4,317 points.
Women’s events
Weight throw—3, Courtney Smith, 54-7 ½.
Shot put—7, Courtney Smith, 39-1 ¼.
High jump—1 tie, Jourdaine Cerenil, 5-5 ¾.
*Virgl is an assistant coach at Chadron State who graduated from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where she set the school record and won the Ohio Valley Conference weight throw.
What were Harley Rhoades scores on his Heptathlon events? Also, is there a reason that the score of the Gordon-Rushville Boys Basketball game on Saturday is not listed with all the rest of the scores. The Gordon-Rushville Girls score is there?