Francisco Barrientos rounds the curve during his leg of the 3200 meter relay, en route to one of three firsts he was a part of at Cambridge’s meet Monday. He also was on the gold medal 1600 meter relay team and won the individual 400. (Johnson Publications photo)
Eli Hinojosa release the discus in action at Cambridge Monday. He finished third, and also earned silver in the shot. (Johnson Publications photo)
Longhorn boys have banner day at Cambridge meet
Winning 10 of the 17 events in Cambridge Monday came at a meet Chase County wasn’t originally scheduled to attend.
However, Coach Carl Zuege said he couldn’t have been happier with the way the Longhorn boys performed, dominating a meet that included eight other teams.
When Perkins County moved last Saturday’s meet to early May, Zuege said he really appreciated that Cambridge let Chase County attend its meet on short notice.
If they hadn’t gotten into Cambridge, it would have meant two weeks between meets, he noted.
“We need those meets each week for a measuring stick,” he said. “We really had a positive day.”
One added plus was that Monday’s meet allowed those athletes to compete who were gone Saturday to the FFA and FBLA conventions.
Again, Chase County throwers led the team in point tallies, as they took first, second and third in both the shot and discus.
Jack Bauerle won both, while teammates Eli Hinojosa and Evan Fisher shared second and third honors in each.
Considering both the boys’ and girls’ marks Monday, Chase County throwers turned in 15 personal bests that day, Zuege said.
Chase County also won all three relays, which had the coach smiling.
A 45.19 finish by his 400 meter team of Kadin Vrbas, Scott Wheeler, Juan Venegas and Chase Rowley was “a great time” at this point in the season, he said.
Wheeler and Venegas were joined by Caleb Weiss and Francisco Barrientos on the 1600 meter team, which edged DC Stratton by less than half a second at the line.
Barrientos, Wheeler, Weiss and Venegas also earned gold on the 3200 meter team. Zuege said they went all out, winning by a large margin as each runner recorded close to a 2:11 split.
Barrientos also turned in his career best in the open 400, picking up the gold with a time of 53.19 seconds.
After dealing with illness, Will Kuenne was back to 100 percent last week, winning both the 1600 and 3200 meter events. By taking the 1600 gold, the school came home with the meet’s traveling 1600 meter champion plaque. Chase County will hold onto it until next year’s meet.
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