Ankeny freshman Alli Macke wasn’t even aware that she had smashed her own school record by more than 4 seconds.
After placing fourth in the girls’ 800-meter run at the Drake Relays on Friday afternoon, Macke was asked if she was happy with her time.
“What was it?” she responded.
When told that she was clocked in 2:13.45, Macke beamed a huge smile.
“That’s great!” she said.
Carlisle star Ainsley Erzen pulled away from the field to win the race in 2:09.39, defending her title. Clare Kelly of Van Meter was the runner-up in 2:12.11.
Erzen pushed the pace right away and ran the first 400 meters in 1:02.36. Macke was about 3 seconds behind in eighth place midway through the race.
“I knew there was another runner that was really close to (Erzen)–Gabby Cortez of Cedar Rapids Prairie–but she wasn’t running it,” Macke said. “So Ainsley was kind of way ahead, and there was a pack behind her that it was my goal to stay up with them.”
Macke then passed four runners on the second lap.
“I knew I had to run it smart because everyone was going to go out really fast, so I started in around 10th,” she said. “I just trusted myself on the finish and was able to kick it to fourth.”
Earlier on Friday, Macke helped the Hawkettes to a ninth-place finish in the sprint medley relay. She teamed up with Lillian Smith, Karsen Jacks and Eva Fulk to post a time of 1:49.58.
Ankeny was seeded 16th in the event.
“We finished really well,” Macke said. “With the other teams, we weren’t very far off. So if we can get down even half a second, that would move us up quite a few places.”
The Hawkettes ran in the second section along with Carlisle. Macke ran the final 400 meters in 57.37 seconds while running against Erzen, who had a split of 55.99 to anchor the Wildcats to a seventh-place finish.
“It was good competition,” Macke said. “I was running next to (Erzen) for most of the time. She passed me at the end, but it was fun to run against her.”
Western Dubuque won the event in a time of 1:46.01. Audrey Biermann ran the anchor leg in 53.98.
Ankeny later competed in the preliminaries of the 4×400 relay on Friday night. Macke did not run in that race, however, because she left immediately after the 800 to travel to Burlington–where she will play for the Hawkettes’ soccer team in the Tournament of Champions on Saturday.
Without her, Ankeny still qualified for Saturday’s final with the seventh-fastest time. The foursome of Morgan Johnson, Fulk, Smith and Zoe Shadravan was clocked in 4:01.39.
On Friday morning, Ankeny junior Hannah Baier placed seventh in the discus with a throw of 122 feet 2 inches, which came on her first attempt in the preliminaries. She was not able to surpass 115 feet with any of her remaining five throws.
Kennedy Axmear of English Valleys recorded a toss of 131-6 to win the event, which was held in rainy weather.
“We all competed in the same conditions,” Baier said. “However, I do rely on speed for my technique, which is difficult to generate in the rain. I was hoping for the school record today, which didn’t happen, but that goal remains heading into conference.”
