Washington Relays put Fairfield in the great outdoors

WASHINGTON ? At the annual season-opening Washington Relays, the Fairfield boy?s track and field team competed with fresh air going through their lungs for the first time in 2009.

With several runners still away for spring break, the Trojans weren?t at full strength and finished with a sixth-place team finish competing in just 11 of the 18 events. Even with the limited numbers, Fairfield came home with two first-place finishes and several other close calls.

?It was just kind of a shell of our team, and we knew going in that we probably weren?t set up to win the meet,? said head coach Brian Dunlap. ?Not competing in seven events kind of handcuffs you from the beginning, but I think the boys that were there competed real well.?

The 18-team event was split into three classes with Fairfield being placed in Class B along with defending Class 2A state champion Mid-Prairie, Eddyville-Blakesburg, West Delaware, Monticello and Fort Madison. Fairfield also got a chance to see Southeast Conference rivals Washington and a strong Mount Pleasant team that finished in third in last year?s Class 3A state meet.

?Southeast Iowa is looking to be pretty good and it showed the boys what we have to do this year if we?re going to win some meets,? Dunlap said.

Fairfield?s Michael Smithburg used his first chance to compete in the discus to show everybody what he has been working on so far this spring. All four of Smithburg?s throws eclipsed 139 feet with a best of 143 feet, 7.75-inches. That mark was a personal best for Smithburg and tops among all discus throwers at the meet. Smithburg?s next closest Class B competition was a 135 foot, 6.5 inch throw from Mid-Prairie?s Christian Boehmer.

?To be the top discus thrower of all classes as a sophomore is pretty impressive,? said Dunlap. ?He?s kind of been chomping at the bit to get through the indoor meets and be able to throw.?

Fairfield?s sprint relays showed once again why they are the strongpoint of the team as the combination of Michael Hammes, Lani Eversage, Austin Atwood and Cody Norton pulled away from the field for a first-place finish in the 4x200 relay in 1:36.17. Leading their 4x100 heat, the Trojans were well on their way to another first-place finish before a dropped baton on the final exchange put a ?DQ? next to their name.

?It?s still early in the season, and those things are going to happen ? now is the time to make those mistakes though,? Dunlap said. ?We were probably on our way to a good time, but the baton just hit off a leg and that was it.?

Norton missed out on an individual gold medal of his own by .01 seconds after being edged by West Delaware?s Ben McDonald in the 100-meter dash. Norton took second for the Trojans and Grant Curran placed second in the 400-meter hurdles (59.25).

Other sprint events that turned out well for Fairfield was Lani Eversage?s fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (24.92) and another top-three finish for Curran in the 110-meter high hurdles.

For complete story, read the Friday, March 27, 2009 Fairfield Ledger.