CHERRYVALE — It’s his senior season so Yates Center High’s Dylan Sicka is going all out on the track.
Thursday he set his sights on winning the three distance races — 800, 1600 and 3200 meters — at Cherryvale High Invitational. And he almost pulled it off.
“Dylan ran the half (800) and the 3200 with only the 200-meter finals in between,” said Dan Berg, Yates Center head track coach. “I’m proud of the effort he put forth because it wasn’t an easy triple.”
Sicka won the 1600-meter run in 4 minutes. 55.3 seconds. He took gold in the 800-meter run in 2:05.5 then finished second in the 3200 meters in 11:34.1.
Donnie Bennett was a triple gold-medal winner. Bennett won the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.4 seconds with teammate Sam Aguirre in sixth at 18.5.
Bennentt won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 42.3 seconds. He had already taken the gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, plus was second in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5’8”.
“Freshman Sam Aguirre and sophomore Brent Rice continue to improve in their events,” Berg said.
Aguirre took sixth in the 400-meter dash in 58.05 seconds.
Rice was seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:30. He also had a personal-best jump of 35’11⁄2” but did not place in the triple jump.
Brae Adams and Sami Hatch got things started Thursday for the Yates Center girls. Adams won the discus with a throw of 108 feet with Hatch in fourth at 70’9”.
Cherokee Shaffer claimed the silver medal in the high jump at 4’8”.
On the track, Haley Bedel captured the gold medal in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 57.3 seconds. Paige Steinforth was second in the 400-meter dash in 67.5 seconds.
Hatch took fourth in the 100-meter high hurdles in 20.4 seconds. Shaffer was fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:54.3.
“Our girls had a strong meet. Brae got back into winning form in the discus,” Berg said. “It was the first time Cherokee ran the 800 and Sami placed in the 100 hurdles. Paige ran strong in the 400.
“The only setback was a botched handoff in the 4×100-meter relay.”
Berg said the Wildcat athletes have today off then get back to practice Monday, preparing for the Tri-Valley League meet at Burlington Thursday and the Class 1A regional the next week.
Humboldt was also at Cherryvale but the Register did not receive a report by deadline today.
Sicka wins two of three races
