Highs and lows keep Fairfield boys steady

OTTUMWA ? By late April, the Fairfield boys? track team knows what to expect when they step onto the track, and so does head coach Brian Dunlap.

The Trojans were right in line with what they have been for most of the year, and in a tough field at Tuesday?s Don Newell Classic in Ottumwa, took home fourth place. Host Ottumwa won the meet scoring 151 followed by Burlington and Centerville.

?We did just about what we normally do ? pretty steady and had some good performances,? he said.

?It was just about a perfect night to compete ? maybe the best we?ve had all year. We?re definitely not complaining there.?

Rolling the steadiness and good performance all into one was Fairfield?s top athletes Michael Smithburg, who stayed undefeated in the discus, and Grant Curran.

Smithburg fell 12 feet off of his school-record effort from last week, but still ?did what he was supposed to do? according to Dunlap and dominated the discus field with a winning throw of 159-feet, eight-inches. The next closest competitor was more than 30-feet back.

The Fairfield junior will next throw Thursday at the Drake Relays with hopes of avenging last year?s performance that ended up as three scratch throws.

Curran eeked out another victory for Fairfield in 400-meter hurdles outkicking Ottumwa?s Drake Bittner to the finish line to win the event in 57.57. Curran also took second in the 110-meter hurdles (15.86) just a stride behind top finisher Michael Porter of Burlington.

Earlier, Curran had anchored the shuttle-hurdle team to fourth place ? a relay led off by Alex Rebling, Corbin Harwood and Zach Simpson that finished in 1:03.43.

Freshman Daniel Schwarz returned to the Trojan lineup and hit the six-foot mark for the second time this season to win the event. With the victory in hand, Schwarz was just a hair off clearing what would have been a personal-record six-feet, two-inches.

Fellow freshman Alex Love was part of a 4x800 relay team that also ran well to finish in fourth-place (8:52). Marcus Clark turned in a personal record split time of 2:09 as the second leg.

The Fairfield sprinters had an up-and-down night that ended up with Dunlap scratching the 4x400-relay due to sore legs. As a high note, Lani Eversage and Michael Hammes double-placed in the 200-meter dash with Eversage placing fifth (23.89) and Hammes taking sixth (24.10).

Next up for the Trojans will be a quiet meet Thursday at Eddyville-Blakesburg before the 4x100 team heads to the Drake Relays for their 6:10 p.m. run Friday night.