Maher leads CMB girls to four medals
By TROY HYDE NDN Sports Writer
DES MOINES — The last two shuttle hurdle performances at the blue oval in Drake Stadium were unforgettable in a not-so-good way for the Collins-Maxwell-Baxter girls.
They got one last chance to redeem themselves at the State Track and Field Championships this past weekend and came through in a big way.
After qualifying with the top time on Friday, the foursome of senior Amanda Aukes, junior Abby Maher, senior Jackie Coughenour and senior Jordan Maher ran nearly as fast Saturday on their way to a third-place medal.
And it was a performance that erased the memories of two past disqualifications at Drake Stadium.
“I expected first, but I am happy and it’s exciting,” Coughenour said. “They just got ahead of us, and we couldn’t catch up. Making it to the finals and not getting DQed was our goal, so we did good. I am happy we made it through. I’ll take third, but I wanted to win it.”
The Raider foursome finished with a time of 1:06.83. Manson Northwest Webster won the gold medal with a time of 1:06.38, while West Fork was second at 1:06.69.
Jordan Maher was a part of four medals on the weekend. She got a bronze medal in the shuttle hurdle relay and anchored the 400-meter relay to seventh as well. In individual events, Jordan Maher was fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the discus.
In the hurdles, Maher qualified fourth on Friday with a time of 15.86. That placing stood up on Saturday, but the senior improved her time to 15.44. Sophomore Alex Gochenour of Logan-Magnolia won the race with an all-time meet record time of 14.33. Coughenour also ran in the race for CMB but finished 12th after running a 16.61 in the prelims Friday.
“I’ve gone above and beyond my expectations,” Jordan Maher said. “I am proud of everyone who has helped us get here.”
During the 100 hurdle finals, Maher clipped a hurdle and was forced to run most of the race with a gash on her knee.
“Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t get hurt,” Maher said. “But that’s just a what if.”
Maher’s other individual medal came in the discus. After needing a late throw just to get into the finals, the senior unleashed a 132-0 on her fourth throw and a 129-11 on her sixth throw to end up fifth. She was seventh her sophomore year and sixth at the state meet last season.
“It was better than last year,” Maher said. “I have had some poor throws lately. It was nice to get back up there in the 130s. I wanted to get to 140, but I can’t redo it. I just have to be happy about it.”
The Class 2A field was the best in the state this season. Becca Fischer of Sheldon had the best throw in the state at 139-7, while Devon Jensen of Underwood took second in 2A with a toss of 138-9. Maher would have placed second in Class 3A and third in Class 4A.
CMB sophomore Zeah Peterson also competed in discus at the state meet. Unfortunately, it was not her day as she scratched her first two throws and was marked at 87-3 on her final toss. She did not make finals and finished 24th overall.
The final medal picked up by the CMB girls came in the 400-meter relay where the Raiders qualified eighth Friday and finished in seventh on Saturday. The foursome of Jackie Coughenour, Amanda Coughenour, Abby Maher and Jordan Maher finished with a time of 51.27. The winning time of 49.96 came from Hudson.
That race marked the final track meet for sisters Jordan and Abby Maher.
“It was nice to have one year to have things go well,” said Jordan Maher, who will play volleyball and possibly run track at Simpson College next year. “It was a nice bonding experience for us. We’ll always have this year.”
The CMB boys also participated on the blue oval Friday and Saturday.
Senior Jon Findlay finalized his career in the 110-meter high hurdles on Friday as his time of 15.32 was not quite good enough to advance him to Saturday’s final. He was 10th overall as the eight best times advance.
Eddyville-Blakesburg’s Jacob Batterson won the state title with a time of 14.46.
The Raiders’ distance medley team of Trevor Sharp, Dylan Hansen, John Deutsch and Ethan Schmidt hit the track in a timed final Friday. CMB’s foursome ended up 16th with a time of 3:42.07.
Winning the Class 2A boys distance medley was Northeast Goose Lake in 3:32.58. Fort Dodge St. Edmond was second in 3:32.97.
The final competitor for the Raiders also took 16th place on Saturday. Senior Dom Reinhold competed in the 800-meter run and finished in 2:02.29. Northeast Goose Lake’s Ryan Krogman grabbed the gold medal with a time of 1:54.62.
Notes: Findlay ran a 15.32 in the preliminaries of the 110 hurdles. The final qualifying time was a 15.2. ... Maher’s best career throw in the discus came at this year’s Drake Relays when she hit 133-3. That is CMB’s school record. ... Logan Magnolia ran away with the Class 2A girls title, finishing with 61 points and besting second-place Hudson by 13. Fort Dodge St. Edmond easily won the boys crown with 62 points. Dike-New Hartford was second with 46. Madrid won the Class 1A boys title, while North Tama took the girls crown after getting all 40 points from senior Sara Stoakes. Central Clinton captured the Class 3A boys title, while Mount Vernon scored 98.5 points on the girls side to claim the championship ... There were 20 meet records set throughout the three days at Drake Stadium.
