Saturday’s Central College Indoor Meet provided one last opportunity for the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ track teams to compete in a controlled climate.
Both the Hawkettes and Jaguars turned in some strong performances.
“It was great to bring almost 50 girls to a spring break meet and get to run everybody,” said Centennial coach Andrew Kruzich. “A lot of track debuts were made (Saturday).”
Ankeny coach Dennis Adamson was also pleased with his team’s effort. He said the meet concluded the second part of the Hawkettes’ schedule.
“Our season is always divided into four parts–the general prep during winter conditioning, the general prep indoor season, the competition season in April and the championship season in May,” Adamson said. “We had a very successful winter conditioning season, and we have now concluded our general prep indoor season. What we have learned is that most of our returners are at or near the performances they ended with last year’s season.”
Ankeny’s Olivia Sharar and Centennial’s Calea Jones tied for third place in the high jump. They both cleared the bar at 4 feet 11.75 inches.
“Olivia is always a competitor,” Adamson said. “She just missed 5-2 for a third-place finish.”
Jones also made the finals in the 60 hurdles and anchored the Jaguars to a fourth-place finish in the 4×200 relay. She teamed up with Karri Pippett, Megan Gray and Claire Wubben to post a time of 1:55.84.
“Calea had a very nice meet,” Kruzich said. “She is a versatile athlete who will continue to be a key part of what we want to do this year.”
Gray, Pippett and Wubben also ran on the third-place 4×400 relay. Gray anchored Centennial to a runner-up finish in the 4×800 relay, teaming up with Kathryn Vortherms, Jesslyn Gaumer and Emma Gordon to post a time of 10:12.15.
“Megan had a nice day, too, despite being on vacation most of the week,” Kruzich said. “She always represents our program extremely well.”
Ankeny got a 10th-place finish in the long jump from Eva van den Mortel, who posted a leap of 14 feet 8.5 inches. She is part of the Hawkettes’ talented freshman class.
“There are several freshmen who are showing promise to help replace the seniors who graduated from the state team,” Adamson said. “All are hard workers who are setting high goals for themselves and the team. We are fired up and ready for the outdoor season March 27 at Waukee.”
Here are the rest of Ankeny and Centennial’s top-10 finishes:
3,000–Kate Hoogensen (AC), 12:43.66 (8th).
4×800–Centennial ‘B’ (Peters, Alt, So. Lee, Smith), 10:27.27 (4th); Ankeny ‘A’ (Murphy, S. Bosch, Fillinger, Drea), 10:39.53 (6th); Centennial ‘C’ (Frazier, Sy. Lee, Wubben, Woerdeman), 11:01.51 (9th).
60–Hannah Wilson (AC), 8.46 (8th).
1,500–Morgan Graybill (AC), 5:26.22 (4th).
4×200–Ankeny ‘A’ (van den Mortel, Becker, Utterback, S. Wendling), 1:55.88 (5th); Centennial ‘C’ (Northway, France, Eilander, Lampe), 1:58.49 (10th).
400–Megan Bosch (A), 1:08.94 (10th).
800–Gordon (AC), 2:29.64 (5th).
4×400–Centennial ‘A’ (Gray, Pippett, Vortherms, Wubben), 4:25.09 (3rd); Ankeny ‘A’ (S. Wendling, Murphy, van den Mortel, Becker), 4:28.71 (5th).
High jump–Sophie Lampe (AC), 4-9.75 (tied for 9th).