Union’s Ruby Parson anchors the girls 4x100-meter shuttle hurdle relay team to a champion finish last Thursday in La Porte City during the 2024 Gassman Coed Relays. The team which also included Ava Mills, Reagan Sorensen, and Jailyn Petersen took gold in 1:11.64. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

LA PORTE CITY – Two Union athletes ran a perfect meet and several more came close last Thursday at the 2024 Gassman Coed Relays, helping to propel both the Knights boys and girls track and field teams to champion finishes.

The Knights-hosted meet took place under sunny skies backed by a steady wind. The event – held in memory of the late Adam Gassman, a Union High School math teacher and assistant track coach who passed away due to complications of cancer nearly five years ago at the age of 43 – was the inaugural outdoor meet of the 2023-24 season for many of the nine schools in attendance.

In addition to Union, teams competing included BGM, Don Bosco (girls), East Marshall, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Janesville, South Tama County, Vinton-Shellsburg, and West Central (boys).

Union boys took gold with 186 points beating out South Tama in second with 131.5 points and Vinton-Shellsburg in third with 117 points, while the Knights JV boys came in seventh overall with 40 points.

Union’s girls’ team also took the top podium spot by scoring 183 points and beating out Vinton-Shellsburg in second with 141 points and East Marshall in third with 109.5 points.

Knight Brayden Bohnsack, left, takes off after accepting the baton from teammate Cameron Mullen during the third leg of the boys’ 4x800-meter relay race last Thursday during the 2024 Gassman Coed Relays. Bohsack, Mullen, Brock Ruzicka, and Sawyer Spence earned a gold medal in the race – one of 10 total for the boys’ team – helping propel the Knights to the championship. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Knights boys at Gassman

Leading the way for the Knights boys team, athletes Levi Hadachek and Logan Rosauer both scored a perfect 40 by taking gold in each of the four events they competed.

Hadachek raced to first in both the 100-meter dash (11.42 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (23.34 seconds). He was also the third leg of both the boys winning 800-meter sprint medley (1:38.32) and 4×100-meter (45.51 seconds) relay teams.

Rosauer’s perfect night came courtesy of champion finishes in both the long jump (20-foot, 4.5-inch jump) and 110-meter hurdles (15.86 seconds), as well as first-place team finishes in the 4×110 shuttle hurdle relay (1:05.55) and 4×100 relay (45.51 seconds) – both of which he anchored.

In total, Knights boys secured 18 Top-3 finishes including first place in 10 events: long jump (Rosauer), high jump (Justice Luke), 800-meter sprint medley (Evan Hanus, Trevor Clark, Levi Hadachek, Mason Mullen), 4×800 relay (Brock Ruzicka, Cameron Mullen, Brayden Bohnsack, Sawyer Spence), 4×110 shuttle hurdle relay (Briar Mast, Justice Luke, Andrew Sadler, Logan Rosauer), 100-meter dash (Hadacheck), 4×200 relay (Briar Mast, Caden Sorensen, Kolton O’Connor, Garrett Kaalberg), 110-meter hurdles (Rosauer), 200-meter dash (Hadachek), and 4×100 relay (Evan Hanus, Trevor Clark, Levi Hadachek, Logan Rosauer).

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Knights taking silver included Trevor Clark in the 100-meter dash (11.91 seconds) and Evan Hanus in the 200-meter dash (23.93 seconds).

Union head boys track coach Scott Denner praised his student-athletes following the meet, telling the newspaper: “It was a great night for the Knights. We had some great individual and team performances.”

In addition to Hadachek and Rosauer’s excellent evenings, Coach Denner also highlighted Justice Luke – who cleared six feet on the high jump for gold – Evan Hanus, and Trevor Clark as stand-out athletes during the meet.

Knights girls at Gassman

Union’s girls team was anchored by its distance runners including Amilia Condon who took first in both the 3,000-meter run (11:11.31) and the 1,500-meter run (5:14.28).

Union’s Amilia Condon leads the way in the girls’ 3,000-meter run during the 2024 Gassman Coed Relays held last week Thursday in La Porte City. Condon’s first-place finish was one of 20 Top-3 finishes by Knights girls which earned the team the meet championship. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

In total, Knights girls tallied 20 Top-3 finishes including first place in seven events: discus throw (Brigitte Rohrer), long jump (Taylen Smith), 3,000-meter run (Condon), 4×100 shuttle hurdle relay (Ava Mills, Regan Sorensen, Jailyn Petersen, Ruby Parson), 100-meter hurdles (Jailyn Petersen), 1,500-meter run (Condon), and 4×400 relay (Kate Carlson, Ruby Parson, Brynn Albertsen, Lauren Youngblut).

Knights taking silver included Rohrer in shot put (36-feet, 8-inch put), Mills in high jump (4-feet, 10-inch jump), Youngblut in the 3,000-meter run (11:29.87), the 4×800 relay team (Brynn Albertsen, Lily Lorenzen, Kate Carlson, Emily Petersen), and Mills in the 100-meter hurdles (16:87).

One of the highlights of the night was Union’s first-place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. The team was competing without senior standout and anchor Syndey Anton.

“Sydney is currently out with a stress fracture in her back. We are waiting to hear what her prognosis is on April 10, but I am fearful that we won’t get her back this season,” girls head coach Justin Parson told the newspaper.

In Anton’s place, Ruby Parson stepped in, leading the team to their 1-minute, 11.64-second finish over East Marshall who crossed in 1:14.84.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“I thought we did a decent job for the first meet outdoors,” Parson continued. “We will just play the hand we have and do the best we can. I have a bunch of high-spirited girls that are making this season fun and I know we will give our best effort each and every day.

“The team has done a great job of rallying behind each other and that is what we need to progress.”

Knights girls were scheduled to compete tonight in Jesup, while the boys were scheduled to head to Grundy Center for the Spartan Early Bird Meet.

On Thursday, the boys were set to run in the Hudson Pirate Relays.

The girls will again see action on Monday, April 8, at the Dike-New Hartford meet taking place on the Kruger-Oster Track in Dike.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER