Fairfield drops times at Denny Anderson Relays

BLOOMFIELD ? The thin group of middle-distance runners will go a long ways in telling what kind of year the Fairfield boys? track and field team will have, and Tuesday night was a step in the right direction at the Dennis Anderson Relays.

Alex Love anchored the 1600 medley relay team to a win, while Travis Schombert helped the 4x400 team to runner-up and the 4x800 squad to third as the Trojans ended up third in the final team standings.

Pella won the team event with 142 points while Eddyville-Blakesburg squeezed into second six points ahead of Fairfield.

?The 400 and 800 kids had a good night, and they ran some pretty encouraging times,? said head coach Brian Dunlap. ?Those are the guys we need to fill some spots, and I?m happy with what I saw.?

Schombert may have been the best of the bunch after running the two relays and also adding a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash (52.61). Dillon Fry, Justin Hammes and Forrest Miller joined him on the 4x400.

Zach Simpson, Mason Carnahan and Vince Horras ran before Love ? all underclassmen ? in the winning 1600-medley that was one of the two wins on the track for the Trojans.

Grant Curran notched the other in the 400-hurdles (59.11). After a tough race in the 110-highs that saw him fall to fifth place, Curran rebounded to win the 400-lows three events later.

However, Corbin Harwood picked up the 110-meter hurdle slack ? his first time ever running the open event ? to take second in 15.77 and solidify Fairfield?s 1-2 punch in the event.

?It was a pretty good performance for his first time ever running it,? Dunlap said. ?It?s good to have him back running, and he?ll certainly make a difference.?

Harwood also made a difference in the field events where he cleared 6-feet, 0-inches to take second in the high jump.

The field events also received a much-needed, as well as expected, boost from Michael Smithburg. The 2010 Class 3A champion threw his first outdoor meet of the season and easily won the discus event. Smithburg?s season-opening throw of 165-feet, 3.5-inches bested the rest of the field by more than 30 feet, is less than seven feet off the school record he set last year and should be enough to send him to the Drake Relays.

The senior also added a third-place result in the shot put with a toss of 45-feet, 5-inches.

Next up for the Trojans will be Thursday trip to Washington for the Washington Invitational.

Dennis Anderson Relays

@ Davis County

Fairfield Individual Results

Discus ? 1. Michael Smithburg (165? 3.5?)

Shot Put ? 3. Michael Smithburg (45? 5?)

High Jump ?2. Corbin Harwood (6? 0?)

4x800-relay ? 3. Fairfield (Horras, Davis, Love, Schombert, 9:08.40)

Shuttle Hurdle-relay ? 2. Fairfield (Simpson, Swanson, Harwood, Curran, 1:03.26)

100-dash ? 5. Heath Jackson (11.90), 6. Max Johnson (11.91)

400-dash ? 3. Travis Schombert (52.61)

4x200-relay ? 2. Fairfield (M. Johnson, B. Johnson, M. Hammes, Jackson, 1:35.12)

110-hurdles ? 2. Corbin Harwood (15.77), 5. Grant Curran (16.26)

400-hurdles ? 1. Grant Curran (59.11)

1600 Medley-relay ? 1. Fairfield (Simpson, Carnahan, Horras, Love, 3:55.78)

4x100-relay ? 3. Fairfield (M. Johnson, B. Johnson, M. Hammes, Jackson, 45.26)

4x400-relay ? 2. Fairfield (Fry, J. Hammes, Miller, Schombert, 3:40.94)

Final Team Standings

1. Pella (142), 2. Eddyville-Blakesburg (108), 3. Fairfield (101), 4. Pella Christian (86), 5. Davis County (72), 6. Scotland County (42)