One of the highlights for the Greene County track and field teams at their own Early Bird Meet on Monday in Jefferson was how well the girls and boys did throwing the discus. The Rams won both discus titles, plus a third place finish and all three performances were personal bests. Throws coach Justin Guiter was asked if the strong westerly winds aided his throwers. “I don’t think the wind helped. It was pretty much straight from the west and we throw toward the southeast. If the wind had been more south-southwest, it would have been a helping wind.”

Hannah Onken won the girls’ discus throw with a personal best toss of 118′ 6″. Alex Rasmussen won the boys’ discus throw at 138′ 8″, and Isaac Perez was third at 135′ 7″. Both of the boys also recorded personal bests with Perez throwing nearly 20 feet farther than he ever had.

There was a little drama for the two winners as the majority of their throws went out of bounds. As Rasmussen put it, “It only takes one to get where you want to be.” Rasmussen won a varsity discus competition for the first time with his 138′ 8″. He said he wants to top 140 feet in the discus and he has revised his goal in the shot put. He originally wanted to top 45 feet, but he went 47′ 7″ indoors on March 21 in Storm Lake, so he now has set 50 feet as a new goal.

Onken scratched two of her four discus throws on Monday, The winning toss was a PR by some eight feet. She just missed a PR in the shot put by two inches. She opened the season indoors in Storm Lake with a best toss of 32′ 8″ and she went 32′ 6″ outdoors in Jefferson on Monday. “Overall, I think it was pretty good for the first outdoor meet of the year.”

The Greene County girls are scheduled to take part in the Audubon Early Bird Meet today, but that’s weather permitting. The same could be said for the Greene County boys next meet scheduled for Friday in Winterset.