Mother Nature brought an early end to the Jim Duncan Invitational on Saturday at Drake Stadium, but not before all four of the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ and girls’ track teams turned in some strong performances.
The meet was delayed for 30 minutes due to lightning after more than half of the events had been completed. Action later resumed on the blue oval, but then heavy rain forced the remaining events to be cancelled.
“The meet got cut short, but we took advantage of every race that we got the opportunity to run!” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jordan Mullen. “The kids looked amazing!”
Ankeny’s Jack Belding raced to a victory in the 400. He posted a time of 49.22 seconds.
Belding also teamed up with Tyson Miller, Tyler Sickerson and Bram van de Mortel for a runner-up finish in the sprint medley relay. The Hawks posted a time of 1:35.59.
Ankeny Centennial placed fourth in that race in 1:36.51. The team consisted of Elijah Porter, Lawson Langford, Isaiah Bassett and Bennett Blakeslee.
Ankeny also took second in the 4×800 relay. The quartet of Ethan Zuber, Levi Hill, Abel Squires and Jake Bosch was clocked in 8:03.56.
The Hawks finished fifth in the shuttle hurdle relay. The team of Landon Pote, Hayden Carlson, Sam Madison and Gavin Wise posted a time of 1:03.28.
“Kids were (setting PRs) across all events,” Mullen said. “Everyone is just competing, and I couldn’t ask for more! We’re starting to fire on all cylinders and looking really good at this point!”
The Jaguars earned a victory in the 4×200 relay. The foursome of Porter, Connor Welsch, Langford and Max Snyder posted a time of 1:30.81 to edge Waukee by one-hundredth of a second.
Centennial got a fourth-place finish from Sam Dietz in the shot put. He had a throw of 49 feet 8.75 inches.
Teammate AJ Schermerhorn raced to a seventh-place finish in the 3,200. He was clocked in 9:51.68.
In the girls’ competition, Ankeny’s Hannah Baier placed second in the discus. She had a toss of 131-4.
Reagan Hanfelt placed third in the high jump. She cleared the bar at 5-2.
Kendra Winfrey provided a fourth-place finish in the shot put. She had a throw of 36-5.
On the track, Lillian Smith placed seventh for the Hawkettes in the 100. She posted a time of 12.91.
“We had a number of absences because of other activities going on,” said Ankeny girls’ coach T.J. Jumper. “Our focus was to use the meet for those varsity team members to compete against some good competition and for our younger athletes to experience the blue oval so they will be ready when called upon. I wish the weather would have held off so all would have been able to compete. For those that did compete, we were satisfied with how they performed.
“In the next week we hope to take a step forward with our performances,” Jumper added.
Centennial’s Julia Flick placed fifth in the 400 in 1:00.28. Teammate Layla Hughes was 10th in the same event in 1:01.65.
Flick also ran on the seventh-place 4×800 relay. She teamed up with Anika Mohrhauser, Rondi Quass and Tallie Plueger to post a time of 9:55.00.
Haley Hveem took ninth in the 3,000 in a time of 10:59.62.
“We were happy with how the girls performed,” said Centennial girls’ coach Tyler Asbe. “Many of our girls had prom Saturday night so we were missing a lot of our roster. Haley had a huge PR in the 3,000 and raced solo for most of the race so that was really exciting for her. Our 4×800 had a season-best time, and all four girls ran their fastest splits of the season. Layla had a big PR in the open 400 as well. She is improving quickly in that event and is getting stronger every meet.”
The Ankeny boys’ team will host the Fred Smith Hawk Relays on Tuesday. The Jaguars will also compete at the meet.
The Ankeny and Centennial girls’ squads will both head to Ames on Tuesday for the Jim Duea Invitational.
