March 28, 2024

Four area teams compete in Ames

Girls complete first half of High School Classic

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AMES — After teams across the state kicked off indoor track season Friday night, many of those teams converged onto Ames for the first day of the High School Classic at Lied Recreation Athletic Center on the campus of Iowa State University.

The first day belonged to girls’ teams, including squads from Newton, Prairie City-Monroe, Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully. The meet blended schools from all over the state and from different classes.

Individual track events run at the meet included the 3,000-meter run, 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash, 800 and 1,500. Relay events included the sprint medley, 4x800, 4x100 and 4x400. The long jump, high jump and shot put were included for field events.

Newton

One of the teams making the quick turnaround from Friday was Newton, which brought a full squad to Monday’s meet. Despite the short rest time, the Cardinals turned in a number of solid performances.

“It is difficult to have meets back-to-back this early in the season with no time to regroup,” Newton coach Rachel Tomas said. “Several girls improved on their performances from Friday. I look forward to what the rest of the season brings based on our indoor season performances.”

Most of the Cardinals’ success came in the relay events, highlighted by a 10th-place finish by the 4x400-meter team of Alexis DesPlanque, Taylor Fisher, Sydney Jenkins and Amber Karsten with a time of 4 minutes, 22.39 seconds.

The 4x800 team of DesPlanque, Karsten, Anna Barr and Hailey Coy finished 15th with a time of 10:23.17, and the sprint medley team of Jenkins, Kacy Cazett, Leela Spencer and Taylor Fisher took 18th with a time of 1:59.99. In the 3000-meter run, senior Josie Thurmond placed 36th with a time of 12:42.02.

In the field events, sophomore Sarah Kalkoff once again led the Cards in the shot put with a distance of 33 feet, 6.25 inches for 14th place. Freshman Resa Baltisberger earned a 26th-place finish with a distance of 31-0.25. Barr and Spencer also finished 39th and 44th in the long jump, respectively.

Prairie City-Monroe

Under the direction of first-year head coach Bridget Burns, the PCM girls competed in their first action of the season, and had some success in the process.

Junior Lexi Kain had the team’s top showing, taking 21st in the 133-girl field of the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.5 seconds. Finishing not far behind her in that event was sophomore Mackenzie Clarke, who was 38th with a time of 8.67 seconds. Senior Kelsey Townsend had a top-30 showing in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 10.42 seconds for 29th, while junior Shelby Palm and sophomore Emma Williams finished 41st and 48th in that event, respectively.

The Mustangs also had some success in their relay events, taking 19th in the sprint medley (2:00.08), 25th in the 4x400 (4:32.89) and 27th in the 4x100 (55.30).

Sophomore Rachel Peter represented PCM in both individual distance events, taking 34th in the 3000-meter run with a time of 12:27.64 and 47th in the 1500 with a time of 5:57.61.

Colfax-Mingo

Also making a turnaround from a meet on Friday was Colfax-Mingo, who had a full squad on hand Monday.

Senior Mari Gonzales had a busy day, taking 51st in the 800 with a time of 2:52.72, 59th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.99 and 25th in the long jump with a distance of 4 feet, 6 inches.

The Tigerhawks found consistent results in their relays, taking 40th in the 4x400 (4:46.98) and 41st in the 4x100 (56.65). Sophomore Kennedi Hostetter finished 40th in the 3000 (13:06.39) and in the shot put, junior Kayla Van Dusseldorp recorded a distance of 26-10.75 and junior Jade Lewis took 56th with a distance of 25-1.5.

Lynnville-Sully

Although the Hawks brought an abbreviated squad to the meet, coach Darin Arkema seemed pleased with the results, especially since this is their first competition of the season.

Junior and returning state qualifier Alexa Vander Leest finished 22nd out of 56 competitors in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:50.99. The 4x800 relay team of junior Tara Vos, sophomores Cori Rice and Madison Rasmusson and freshman Shelby Foster finished third in its heat and 29th overall with a time of 11:28.77, much to their pleasant surprise. With the exception of Foster, that team is also a returning state qualifier.

“This is a big meet with competition from all over the state, so I wanted these girls to get some early season exposure to that level of competition since many of our local meets during the year are smaller and usually the same teams,” Arkema said.