Fairfield track and field trip to Burlington cut short

BURLINGTON ? Fairfield can?t get out of the way of Mother Nature, and lost another opportunity to the weather at Burlington Thursday evening.

The meet lasted through the 400-meter dash ? nine events including four in the field ? before lightning ultimately won out.

?We had a good start, were having a real competitive night, and I?m really disappointed we couldn?t finish,? said head coach Brian Dunlap. ?We missed out Tuesday and have nothing scheduled next week, so it?s really unfortunate.?

Tuesday?s Don Newell Classic in Ottumwa was rained out and will not be made up, but Dunlap says he will look for a meet to join next week.

Part of Thursday?s strong start was helped by the trio of Daniel Schwarz, Corbin Harwood and Michael Smithburg in the field events.

Schwarz jumped a season best 6-feet, 2-inches to win the high jump while Harwood was second at 5-feet, 10-inches and also came up with a good mark of 19-feet, 8-inches in the long jump that would have placed high.

Smithburg had his hands full with Sam Joens in the discus ? the Cedar Rapids Prairie senior who has the second best discus throw in the state this year ? and settled for second place. Smithburg didn?t win the event for the first time all year, but still had one of his better nights of the season with three throws of more than 155-feet.

?He was disappointed he got beat by a matter of inches, but he really threw well in some less than ideal conditions,? Dunlap said.

Smithburg has qualified for the Drake Relays and will see Joens as well as the rest of the state?s best discus throwers for the event beginning at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Trojans? 4x100 team also slipped in just ahead of the qualifying cut.

As of Friday, the only meet left on Fairfield?s schedule before conference and district competition is the Brookhart Relays on its home track May 2.