PCM girls finish second, send nine events to state meet

EDDYVILLE — Prairie City-Monroe junior Megan Cowman wasn’t sure she had much of a shot to clinch an automatic berth into the state meet in the 100-meter hurdles.

Cowman came into Thursday’s Class 2A state qualifier at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont High School with the fourth best time. And even when she hit the finish line, she was unsure she locked up a top-two auto spot.

“This is beyond belief, but I cried when they announced I was second. I can’t believe it,” said Cowman, who locked up her spot in the state meet with a personal-best time of 17.51 seconds.

Cowman’s second-place finish in the 100 hurdles was one of nine events that PCM’s girls qualified for the state meet. They’ll have a chance to send a few more to state, but the nine automatic qualifiers pushed the Mustangs to a runner-up team finish.

PCM scored 107.5 points in second. The Mustangs only trailed Mid-Prairie in the 12-team field.

“Our girls really rose to the occasion tonight,” PCM coach Bridget Martin said. “We are very happy with the performances.”

Senior Ashley Miller qualified for next week’s state meet in four events for the second straight season. Junior Paytan Schut, sophomore Sierra Foster and freshman Margo Chipps will all compete on the blue oval in three events.

PCM won five events and placed second in four.

Individually, Chipps won the 400 hurdles in a career-best time of 1 minute, 6.11 seconds. That’s now the fastest time in 2A, according to posted times on quikstatsiowa.com.

“I wanted to make state in an individual event. We were able to get a lot through tonight and it feels good,” Chipps said. “I attacked every hurdle tonight. It felt really good.”

Chipps also was part of the Mustangs’ winning shuttle hurdle relay team. The foursome of sophomore Lexi Kuecker, junior Morgan Uhlenhopp, Chipps and Cowman claimed the gold with a season-best time of 1:08.72. That’s the second best recorded time in 2A.

“It’s crazy. I can’t believe how far we’ve come,” Cowman said, “We’ve all improved throughout the year. I can’t wait to see how we do at state.”

The other three wins for PCM came in the sprint medley, 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

The sprint medley relay team of Kuecker, Uhlenhopp, Foster and Schut claimed the gold medal with a season-best time of 1:52.79.

The 4x200 relay team of Chipps, Foster, Schut and Miller ran a season-best time of 1:46.71. The 4x400 relay foursome of Miller, Foster, sophomore Kate McCarthy and Schut won the gold medal in 4:12.17.

“I have formed a close bond with all the girls in the 4x200 and 4x400,” Miller said. “Bridget kind of threw these teams together to see how we would do and things just clicked. We have been dropping time for a while now, and it’s a good sign going into state. Knowing we have a chance to medal in those events is insane, but we have worked hard for this.”

Miller was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200. Her 200 time of 26.27 seconds is a new season-best mark. She finished second in the 100 with a time of 13.08.

“It feels good to go back in four events,” Miller said. “It’s crazy that I have done this two years in a row. But this year, I actually have a chance to place in all four.”

The final automatic state qualifier came in the 4x800 relay. The foursome of junior Sayde White, sophomore Klaire Jungling, sophomore Hannah McCarthy and senior Baylee Smith finished second in a season-best time of 10:30.97.

“We have trained all season for these last couple of weeks,” Martin said. “Their hard work really showed this evening.”

Kate McCarthy finished one spot off an auto berth in the 400. She was third in the event with a personal-best time of 1:05.31.

Freshman Celeste Wagaman finished fourth in the high jump. Her best mark was 4 feet, 8 inches.

The Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships kick off Thursday and runs through next Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The final at-large berths into the 2A state meet will be announced some time Friday.

“We are excited about the auto qualifiers,” Martin said. “Although we are celebrating our successes, we aren’t done yet. We are hungry for more at the state meet. For those nine events, the season isn’t over yet, and the best is yet to come.”