The Ankeny girls’ track team won nine events at the Valley Quadrangular on Tuesday. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Indianola and the host Tigers also competed in the unscored meet.
One of the victories came in the shuttle hurdle relay, where the Hawkettes posted a time of 1:06.11, which met the Drake Relays Blue Oval standard. It was the fourth-fastest clocking in the state this season and ranks fifth on the school’s all-time list.
The team consisted of Lillian Smith, Maddie Poock, Ella Jumper and Jayla Williams.
“That was the highlight of the night,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “The Valley coach put together a last-minute meet and asked us to be a part of it and help run the meet. The weather has cancelled a couple meets here early in the season. The meet was a little more informal, but was great to have because of the amazing weather and it allowed us to focus in on a few events, get times on some more athletes, and provide an opportunity for our JV athletes to compete. We also worked on improving in a few areas. It helped us to progress for this year and also future years.”
Williams also won the 100 in 12.91 seconds and the 100 hurdles in 15.52. Morgan Johnson took the 400 in a time of 1:01.21.
Teagan Moyer captured the 200 in 27.80, edging teammate Charlee Cibula by .08 seconds. The race between Ankeny teammates was even closer in the 400 hurdles, where Smith won the event in 1:09.78 and Lillian Buckley was second in 1:09.79.
Lauren Jackson won the 800 for the Hawkettes in 2:24.91, setting a personal record. Mila Badillo won the high jump at 4 feet 10 inches based on fewer misses, and Ankeny also took the distance medley relay in 4:33.21.
Jumper said there were many other highlights, too.
“Drew Beason bettered her season-best time in the 1,500,” he said. “We had a 7-second PR in the 1,500 from Sophia Graber, which is a total now of 21 seconds from last year’s time. Gwen Briggs and Ainsley Kiene ran really well in the 3,000. Quinn Roush set a new PR in the long jump. Ava Tomilinson tied her lifetime PR in the shot put, and Samantha Poock PR’d in the shot put as well.”
The Hawkettes will compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational on Saturday.
“The team is making strides each day, and this meet showed that we are heading in the right direction,” Jumper said. “As coaches we are very impressed with how coachable our team is this year and their ability to execute in competition. We are looking forward to the Jim Duncan Invite to have a chance to compete on the track at Drake before the championship part of our season.”