In its first season under coach TJ Jumper, the Ankeny girls’ track team was in contention for a state title before eventually finishing fifth in Class 4A with 50 points.
This spring, the Hawkettes will be looking to capture a trophy.
“We believe if we can stay healthy that we could be a team that could contend for a state title,” said Jumper, who was named an At-Large Coach of the Year in Class 4A in 2023. “There are a number of teams who could also contend. It’s a long season, and we need to continue to build on our successful start by working hard, being detailed, continuing to improve, and supporting our teammates when things get tough.”
Last year, Ankeny trailed eventual champion Waukee Northwest by a single point heading into the final day of the state meet. The Hawkettes then fell out of trophy contention, but still earned a top-five finish for only the fifth time in the last 49 years.
There are 21 athletes returning from last year’s state meet squad, including several placewinners. Among the returnees are senior Lilly Smith; juniors Drew Beason, Reagan Hanfelt, Sophie Loeffler and Alli Macke; and sophomores Reagan Prendergast and Jayla Williams.
Macke placed fifth and Prendergast finished 15th in the 800, while Beason took sixth in the 3,000 and eighth in the 1,500. Beason earlier set a school record in the 1,500 at the Drake Relays, where she placed ninth in a time of 4:44.13.
Beason, Macke and Prendergast also joined Loeffler on the state champion 4×800 relay, posting a time of 9:17.69 that set a school mark and ranked 32nd nationally in 2023.
Macke, an Iowa soccer recruit, is a two-time state champion. She also joined Smith on the winning distance medley relay in 2022.
Smith, who will run for Nebraska-Omaha, placed fourth in the 400 hurdles as a junior. She also joined Macke and Loeffler, a St. Cloud State soccer recruit, on the runner-up distance medley relay.
“Lilly had a great season last year, and it continued over the summer,” Jumper said. “Starting this season she has not missed a beat.”
Hanfelt, an Iowa State volleyball recruit, is a two-time placewinner in the high jump. She tied for third as a freshman before jumping 5 feet 5 inches to place second a year ago.
Hanfelt also placed third at the Drake Relays, where she tied her own school record with a leap of 5-6.
“Reagan jumped around her PR at the first (indoor) meet and has really been focused on what she needs to improve on to go even higher,” Jumper said.
Williams added a third-place finish at the state meet in the high jump. She also took 11th in the 100 hurdles.
Senior Morgan Johnson is also back along with juniors Ava Leinen and Gracie LIndaman. They are Ankeny’s other returning individual qualifiers.
Johnson placed 17th in the 400 and joined Loeffler and Macke on the sixth-place 4×400 relay. Macke ran the anchor leg in 56.76 seconds as the Hawkettes posted a time of 3:54.26 in the 4×400, breaking a school record that had stood for 42 years.
Lindaman took 19th in the 400 hurdles. Leinen finished 20th in the long jump.
“Ava had a six-inch PR at our first meet,” Jumper said. “Her dedication has been fun to watch.”
The other returning qualifiers are Katelyn Braun, Grace Buch, Marlee Buchan, Morgan Conklin, Sophia Graber, Karsen Jacks, Lauren Jackson, Ella Jumper, Riley Kayser, Kaylyn Miller and Madeline Poock.
Jacks, Conklin and Loeffler are back from the seventh-place 4×200 relay. Jacks and Conklin also joined Smith on the 10th-place sprint medley relay and joined Miller on the 16th-place 4×100 relay.
Jumper and Poock joined Smith and Williams on the state-qualifying shuttle hurdle relay.
“We are definitely further ahead than we were at this time last year, when everything was new and we were teaching general concepts almost the entire year,” Jumper said. “Our returners have hit the ground running, and we are able to be way more specific and detailed now. The team knows what it will take to be highly successful. There is an understanding of the process that it takes to perform our best at the end of the season. Our eighth grade program coaches did a great job of preparing our current freshmen with the big concepts and expectations.”
Ankeny has already competed at three indoor meets, turning in some impressive performances.
“We are very encouraged by what we have seen so far,” Jumper said. “Our seniors have done a great job of leading by example. It has been amazing to see our returners carry over their improved technique from the end of last season to the beginning of this season. Our performances so far have shown the coaching staff that we will have more depth in each of the training groups this year.
“The group who has had the most change is our distance group. We have implemented a new training philosophy, and they have just been smashing it in training and meets. Each of our distance runners have run their PR or bettered it so far. Graber had a 14-second PR and Jackson had a 6-second PR in the 1,500. It is going to be fun to watch this distance crew this season take the next step and reach new performance levels,” he added.
The Hawkettes will open the outdoor season by competing in the Waukee Relays on March 26.
“We have a number of goals both individually and as a team,” Jumper said. “We want to qualify more than 10 events for the Drake Relays, we want to be conference varsity and JV champions, and we want to win the state team title.”