The Comets’ 4×800-meter boys’ relay of Nick Pieper, Connor Lynch, Henry Kaisand and Cayden White finished sixth in the 4×800 finals with a time of 8 minutes, 27.91 seconds.

This was a group on a mission after a disappointing run at the state meet last season, and with the addition of White into the event, the Comets took the baton and finished off the job to put themselves back up where they felt they belonged.

“We knew we had some time to cut, pretty proud of where we are,” Lynch said.

“We all had pretty good handoffs, straightaways were very clean and smooth, then we just took off and stayed there,” White added.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHFLING - North Tama senior Jules Breakenridge (1) runs stride-for-stride with Clara Gorham of Boyer Valley (12) on the opening leg of the girls’ Class 1A 4x800-meter relay at the Iowa High School Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships on Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The North Tama quartet of Jules Breakenridge, Ava Breakenridge, Jamie Jacobs and Grace Lidgett combined on a time of 10 minutes, 26.36 seconds to finish in eighth place.

It was the Comets’ first medal of the weekend.

Pieper said the motivation and execution the Comets had throughout the relay was key to a solid finish, as there were no real mistakes throughout the race. Pieper credited the warm conditions as providing a boost for the relay as well.

“The opportunity to come out here and run in some actual running conditions, it’s amazing,” Pieper said.

Tyler Bracy ran in two events for the Comets Thursday morning, taking part in the preliminaries for the 100 and 200 dashes. He finished 16th in the 100 with a time of 11.9 and 10th in the 200 with a 23.41 — 1.1 seconds off of a spot in the finals.

BCLUW’s 4×800 girls’ relay consisting of Miranda Jones, Mallori Jones, Abby Kemp and Kalia Stover finished 18th with a 10:41.54, while Kemp finished in 22nd in the 3,000 with a 12:24.9.

In the 400 dash finals, Lynch finished in 17th place with a 52.85.

North Tama’s efforts were headlined by the girls’ 4×800 relay, with the group of Jules Breakenridge, Ava Breakenridge, Jamie Jacobs and Grace Lidgett taking eighth place after running a 10:26.36.

Earlier in the morning, Lidgett had run in the 3,000 run and just missed out on a medal by five seconds. She ended up finishing ninth in 11:24.81.

North Tama’s next event is the distance medley relay final Friday morning.

GMG sophomore Jabari Woodbury made his first appearance in the state meet as a competitor in the 400 dash finals. Running in the first heat, Woodbury’s time of 52.46 was good enough to give him a tie for 13th place.