Knights runners (l-r) Brynn Albertsen, Kate Carlson, Lily Lorenzen, and Millie Condon pictured on Tuesday, April 29, at the Dike-New Hartford Lady Simons Relays after breaking Union’s school record in the event with a finish of 9:56.30. Albertsen, Carlson, and Condon along with Union Class of 2024 alumna Lauren Youngblut set the record last year at the Hudson Relays by breaking the previous record set in 2003. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNION BOOSTER CLUB

LA PORTE CITY – Union’s track and field teams both took first place in front of a hometown crowd on Friday, May 2, during the REB Coed Relays — named for now-retired Union track and field coach and teacher Richard Ernest Behrens – with the girls scoring 179 points for the top spot out of five teams and the boys scoring 169 points to beat out eight other teams.

The Knights girls won seven events to hold off East Buchanan in second place with 131 points, while the Knights boys also took gold in seven events to hold runner-up Benton Community at bay with 147 points.

The girls won the 4×400, shuttle hurdle, 4×800, and sprint medley relays. Individual first-place finishes included Kate Carlson in the 400-meter dash (1:1.89), Amilia ‘Millie’ Condon in the 3,000-meter run (10:45.18), and Lily Lorenzen in the high jump.

Second-place finishes included Adeline Tudor in the 1,500, Brynn Albertsen in the 800, Reese Anderson in the 100-meter hurdles, Haylee Hegdahl in the high jump, and Taylen Smith in the long jump; the distance medley relay team also took silver.

Union boys won the 4×400, 4×100, and the 4×800 relays. Individual first-place finishes included Cooper Davis in the 800-meter run (2:7.20), Justice Luke in the 110-meter hurdles (15.71), Levi Hadachek in the 100-meter dash (11.10), and Justice Luke in the high jump.

Second-place finishes included Davis in the 1,600 and Stratton Luke in the long jump; the 4×200, distance medley, shuttle hurdle, and sprint medley relay teams also captured silver.

Records fall April 29

Ahead of the REB Relays, the boys 4×100 team of Evan Hanus, Trevor Clark, Garrett Kaalberg, and Levi Hadachek broke their own record set on April 22 (44.20 at Oelwein) by running 44.13 to take second place behind Marion (44.04) at the Vinton-Shellsburg Coed on April 29. That same night, the 4×200 team of Hanus, Clark, Luke Winkelpleck, and Hadachek broke a school record set in 2018 with a 1:31.23 finish, just behind Benton in first with a time of 1:31.21.

Knights girls also set a new school record on April 29 when the 4×800 team of Brynn Albertsen, Kate Carlson, Lily Lorenzen, and Millie Condon cruised to a first-place finish at the Dike-New Hartford Lady Simons Relays in Dike with time of 9:56.30, well ahead of the hosts who came in a distant second (10:15.71) and breaking Union’s record of 10:00.83 set last year at the Hudson Relays by Albertsen, Lauren Youngblut, Carlson, and Condon.