Thursday’s Jaguar Invitational was hosted by Ankeny Centennial, but the Ankeny girls’ track team clearly felt right at home.
The Hawkettes won seven events and easily captured the six-team meet with 171 points. Dowling Catholic placed second with 145.
“We checked off every box we had going into the meet,” said Ankeny coach Thomas Cotter. “We wanted to give our team a chance to win a ‘home’ meet, which we didn’t get to do. I’m proud of both our varsity and JV efforts in getting that done. We also hit three more blue standards, so we could sleep a little easier.”
Centennial, meanwhile, placed third with 120 points. The Jaguars won three events and placed second in seven others.
“What a fun night at Ankeny Stadium,” said Centennial coach Andrew Kruzich. “It’s always great to host your own meet and say thank you to our seniors. We were due to have a good weather meet–way overdue, actually–and this was it. It was special to get out there and chase some Drake times, but it was also great to get everybody some races. We had over 100 girls compete tonight, and that’s a lot of fun, too. There was a lot of energy and buzz in the stadium.”
Ankeny freshman Alli Macke took advantage of the nice conditions to set a school record in the 800. She won the race in a time of 2:17.56, edging Dowling’s Ella Anliker by .72 seconds.
“I think the weather really helped just being able to run without the bad conditions we have been running in,” said Macke. “It was a perfect night, and I was super excited.”
Macke broke the mark of 2:18.72 that was set by Katie Bosch in 2014. And she wasn’t even fresh.
Macke had earlier won the 400 in 59.55. She also anchored the winning sprint medley relay, teaming up with Lillian Smith, Karsen Jacks and Eva Fulk to post a time of 1:50.75.
“For Alli to run multiple 400s and come back and win that 800 is special stuff,” Cotter said. “She loves to compete and refuses to lose.”
Ankeny’s Drew Beason won the 3,000 in a time of 10:22.38. Her sister, Paige, took third in 11:08.00.
“Drew continues to impress,” Cotter said. “To run that race all alone is tough. She had to stay focused and dialed in. I can’t wait to see her compete with some of the state’s best because I have no doubt she will hold her own.”
The Hawkettes won the distance medley relay in a time of 4:28.43. That team consisted of Jenna Pitz, Gracie Lindaman, Zoe Shadravan and Brylee Moyer.
Ankeny ended the meet with another victory in the 4×400 relay. The foursome of Morgan Johnson, Shadravan, Fulk and Lindaman was clocked in 4:06.10.
In the field events, Kendra Winfrey won the shot put with a throw of 39 feet 3.5 inches, while Ja’Dein Madison took third with a toss of 34-7. Hannah Baier placed second in the discus with a throw of 124-2, and Reagan Hanfelt took second in the high jump at 5 feet.
Centennial was led by Kambria Leazer, who swept the jumping events. She won the high jump at 5-2 and the long jump with a leap of 16-8.25.
“I’m pretty happy,” Leazer said. “I was trying to make it to Drake, and I just missed in the high jump. I needed that last (attempt at 5-3.25).”
Kruzich was pleased with Leazer’s performance.
“Kam jumped very well,” he said. “She had three good chances at a school record high jump, which would have gotten her into Drake, too. I’m pleased with how she’s doing, and I think she can get better when we get to state and she doesn’t have to long jump right before the high jump all the time. She’ll miss the long jump by about 4 inches and the high jump by about 1.25. But she’s a sophomore, so I think her best days are ahead of her.”
The Jaguars’ other victory was provided by Kylin Smith, who won the 400 hurdles in 1:06.45. Teammate Olivia Kroska was fifth in 1:08.32.
Those two also teamed up with the Jumper twins–Ella and Jordy–for a runner-up finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. Centennial was clocked in 1:10.80.
“Kylin and Olivia ran the No. 2 and No. 4 times in school history in the 400 lows,” Kruzich said. “They’d only run the event twice each before tonight, so we are really pleased to see both of them compete like that. Kylin ran a Drake blue standard, so she’ll get to run down there. Both of those girls are really tough and fun to coach.”
The Jaguars got second-place finishes from Maraye Breeding in the 200 (26.78), Rondi Quass in the 1,500 (4:51.15) and Anika Mohrhauser in the 3,000 (10:57.52). Addison Arringdale took third in the 100 in 13.31.
Quass also ran on the runner-up 4×800 relay.
“We had a ton of positives tonight,” Kruzich said. “Our 4×800 had all four girls run lifetime bests to drop a season best 10:04 down to a 9:44. That’s Rondi and three freshmen (Julia Flick, Bella Hodges and Tillie Smith), and they’ll only get better. I think they’ll squeak into Drake, which is very exciting.”
Ankeny’s Smith placed second in the 100 in 13.12 and third in the 400 hurdles in 1:06.99. Johnson was the runner-up in the 400 in 1:01.83, and Fulk finished third in the 200 in 27.11.
Sophie Loeffler added a third-place finish in the 800 in 2:25.35. Hanfelt was third in the 100 hurdles in 17.16.
Loeffler and Macke are among the girls on the Ankeny squad competing in both track and soccer this spring.
“We have soccer girls splitting their time at Drake and a soccer tournament in Burlington which has been a bit of a blessing in disguise as we started thinking bigger picture weeks ago and feel very confident with our plan post-Drake,” Cotter said. “It’s going to be a fun week and an even better last few weeks to the season.”
Kruzich is also looking beyond next week’s Drake Relays.
“We just missed qualifying in the 4×200 and 4×400, and it’s always tough to barely miss,” he said. “We have great kids, though, and they raised over $7,000 for Can Do Cancer the last couple of weeks. Drake is really important, but there are bigger issues out there that some people have to face. We’ll try to keep things in perspective as we keep our eyes on finishing the season on some high notes. I think we’ve got the right kids to do just that.”