The rainy conditions provided a challenge for the Ankeny Centennial track teams on Thursday.
Both squads overcame a steady drizzle to earn top-four finishes in a Class 4A state qualifying meet at Norwalk. The Jaguars placed third among eight teams in the girls’ division with 117.5 points.
“We had a great meet with strong performances across the board including many PRs and season-best marks,” said Centennial girls’ coach Tyler Asbe. “The weather was not ideal, but the girls showed toughness in the way they competed all night. We had a very challenging district, and the competition was great and pulled us along to many state-qualifying performances. We were able to qualify all seven relays and many open events as well, and we are very happy about how everything went. We have a lot to look forward to next week at state.”
The Jaguars took fourth in the boys’ division. They finished with 104.5 points.
“It was great to see the team excited to compete and have fun,” said Centennial boys’ coach Nate Smith. “It wasn’t the greatest of conditions, but overall it was a pretty good night.”
Johnston won the girls’ crown with 165 points. Southeast Polk was the runner-up with 120.
Jaeden Pratt contributed the Jaguars’ lone victory in the long jump. She won the event with a leap of 17 feet 5 inches.
After scratching on her first two attempts, Pratt was one more scratch away from failing to qualify for state. But she came through with a successful jump.
“My performance was ok,” she said. “I was feeling very nervous after my second jump. Asbe just told me that I needed to get one jump in and I would be ok. I had the mindset that it’s now or never. I was super relieved when I got my third jump in!”
Pratt’s teammate, Kambria Leazer, took third in the event with a jump of 16-7.5. Leazer also placed second in the high jump at 5-0.
Pratt had a busy night on the track, too. She teamed up with Kylin Smith, Layla Hughes and Maddy LaVoi to place second in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1:50.12.
Pratt later anchored the Jaguars to a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay. She combined with Olivia Larsen, Morgan Posusta and Mariah Belzer to post a time of 49.92 seconds.
Centennial then ended the meet with a runner-up finish in the 4×400 relay. The foursome of Mya Crawford, LaVoi, Addie Pollock and Julia Flick was clocked in 4:00.56.
Flick earlier set a school record while placing fourth in the 400. She turned in a time of 58.81 seconds.
“This is a goal that Julia has had all season, and it was great to see her attack that race and break the record,” Asbe said. “It will give her some good confidence and momentum heading into next week.”
LaVoi also qualified for state in the 400. She took fifth in 59.45.
Rondi Quass placed third in the 3,000 in a time of 10:25.58, while teammate Anika Mohrhauser was fourth in 10:26.93. Quass later took fourth in the 1,500 in 4:52.79.
Johnston also won the boys’ title with 185 points. The Dragons finished 49 points ahead of Southeast Polk.
Centennial’s Blaine Sandquist won the discus with a toss of 144 feet 6 inches. Sam Dietz took second in the shot put with a throw of 48-5.5, but was not happy with his performance.
“The rain contributed to it a fair bit, but I also have a shoulder injury I’m dealing with as well,” Dietz said.
Distance runner AJ Schermerhorn qualified for state in both of his individual events. He placed second in the 3,200 in a time of 9:38.68, then later took second in the 1,600 in 4:30.39.
Connor Welsch was the runner-up in the 100. He posted a time of 11.11 seconds.
Welsch also teamed up with Elijah Porter, Lawson Langford and Max Snyder for a second-place finish in the 4×200 relay. The Jaguars posted a time of 1:30.54.
The same quartet took second in the 4×100 relay in 43.29 seconds. Earlier, that group placed third in the sprint medley relay in 1:34.50.
Langford added a fourth-place finish in the 200. He was clocked in 22.90.
Centennial also placed third in the distance medley relay. The team of Caleb Reed, Braeden Jackson, Zechariah Howe and Aammin Hassan posted a time of 3:41.53.
