There are times during a track season when a coach won’t necessarily enter his team’s best lineup at a meet.
Tuesday was one of those nights for Ankeny girls’ coach T.J. Jumper.
The Hawkettes placed second among six teams in the Hi Covey Relays at Ames, finishing with 142 points. The host Little Cyclones won the meet for the second straight year with 165 points.
“Tonight we experimented a little and had some great surprises,” said Jumper. “We also took the meet as a workout for some while also getting some of the younger athletes experience. We are trying to build even more depth.”
Ankeny won a pair of field events, going 1-3 in both the high jump and the discus.
Reagan Hanfelt took the high jump at 5 feet 4 inches. Jayla Williams was third at 5-0.
Hannah Baier won the discus with a throw of 120 feet 7 inches. Athena Singharaj placed third with a toss of 112-10.
Maya Durbin-Wilson added a fourth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 16-5.
“That was a huge one-foot PR by Maya,” Jumper said.
Karsen Jacks set a personal record in the 100, placing second in 12.95 seconds. She broke the 13-second mark for the first time.
Jacks also teamed up with Lillian Smith, Williams and Morgan Conklin to place second in the 4×100 relay. Ankeny posted a time of 50.19 seconds to meet the Blue Oval Standard for the Drake Relays.
Alli Macke placed third in the 1,500. She was clocked in 4:55.65, edging teammate Sophie Loeffler by .03 seconds.
“Morgan Johnson had an enormous PR in the 800,” Jumper said of the junior, who placed fifth in a time of 2:29.58. “I’m excited for the direction we are heading. Our performances will keep getting better as we build to the championship part of our season.”
The Hawkettes will compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational on Saturday at Drake Stadium.