Woodward-Granger's Fleshner, Thomas win WCAC titles, girls golf wins at Ogden
Some weather got in the way in the middle of the week but that didn’t deter some fine performance for Woodward-Granger. (Note: Events covered May 1-6)
Boys Track
With an initial postponement that led to rain delays that stretched the WCAC meet across May 1 and 2, the Hawks placed ninth as a unit with 35 points. All of two points separated seventh and 10th place in the 11-school meet. Madrid won with 149 points.
After breaking the school record twice last week in the sprint medley relay, the crew of Talan Fuson, Ethan Dunlavey, Owen Dunlavey and Cael Leighton were feeling it once again. With a new time of 1 minute 37.37 seconds, they shed 2.21 seconds from their previous record. That placed fourth in the WCAC meet — just 0.51 seconds from first place.
And on his own, Leighton was in the groove. His time of 23.51 seconds and 52.23 seconds were both personal best times in the 200 and 400 dashes. He placed third in the 400, but due to a record error, his placement in the 200 is null.
The following day in Ogden, the Hawks ran again where they finished fourth overall with a couple of improvements after a day’s rest. The distance medley team of Talan Fuson, Owen Dunlavey, Ethan Jones, Dillon Limoges won with a time of 3:51.49. Alex Younts hit a new gear at 2:04.99 in the 800-meter, good for second place.
Girls Track
W-G found itself in a tight competition at the WCAC meet this past week, taking sixth place with 54 points. But that could have been two spots higher or lower with just five points separating fourth and eight place. Van Meter won with 139 points.
Contributing 16 points on her own, Eva Flesher won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:15.55. She worked her way to third place in the 1,500-meter at 5:09.29. Neither were season bests but she is currently situated in the top 20 in Class 2A in both events according to PR times.
And in a photo finish, freshman Hayden Thomas collected her first conference championship after crossing the tape at 12.92 seconds, 0.04 seconds ahead of second place Ogden. Thomas’ best time of 12.89 seconds this year has her slotted 21st overall.
Girls Golf
The Hawks had a performance to remember on Friday in Ogden.
Winning the night with an overall team score of 208 over the Bulldogs’ 227, Woodward-Granger got a big boost from Molly Cue's winning score and Mallory Polito as the runner-up. But that was only decided after the two went into a playoff to break their tied scores of 50 strokes.
Boys Golf
Friday in Ogden, the Boys found themselves in second place, just two strokes behind the hosting Bulldogs.
Hitting a season-low 38 on nine holes, Landon Chambers won the day with a three-stroke advantage. Max Behrends wasn’t far behind, grabbing 42 for third place.
Boys Basketball
Pending board approval, the Woodward-Granger has announced the hire of Matt Baker as the new boys basketball head coach. Baker served as the varsity assistant coach at Indianola. In addition to his coaching role, Baker will teach second grade at the elementary school.
Volleyball
Woodward also announced the prospective hire of alumnus Katelyn Bandstra as the volleyball team’s new head coach. Playing multiple positions over her career at W-G, Bandstra was an honorable mention on the WCAC all-conference team as a senior helping the team finish second in league play and a 23-11 record in 2019.