The battle for third place in the Jaguar Invitational on Thursday came down to the final event of the girls’ track meet.
Host Ankeny Centennial placed fourth in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:11.06, finishing about 10 seconds ahead of fifth-place Ankeny. That allowed the Jaguars to finish third overall with 111 points on their Senior Night.
“It was an awesome night for our team, and it was special being able to celebrate our seniors at their last home meet,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “We had our full squad compete as everyone was able to compete in two events for the most part. We love getting to race everyone at our home meet and give the younger athletes in our program the experience.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, settled for fourth place. The Hawkettes scored 109 points.
“We had some good performances,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “We were super excited by how our team competed. We had multiple PRs again.”
Johnston won the meet with 153 points. Defending champion Dowling Catholic was second in the eight-team field with 135.
Julia Flick anchored the 4×400 relay for Centennial. Earlier, she anchored the Jaguars to a pair of relay victories.
Flick teamed up with Addison Arringdale, Morgan Posusta and Anna Woods to win the sprint medley relay in 1:52.80. The Jaguars edged Johnston by .61 seconds.
Flick, Woods and Arringdale also combined with Olivia Larsen to capture the 4×200 relay. Centennial was clocked in 1:46.90.
“Our girls had a strong night overall and are feeling more and more confident heading into the last month of the season,” Asbe said.
The Jaguars’ other victory came in the long jump, where Kambria Leazer recorded a leap of 17 feet 1.5 inches. Teammate Elizabeth Mahama was third in that event with a jump of 16-8.
Centennial got a runner-up finish from Kylin Smith in the 400 hurdles. She posted a time of 1:06.07.
“Kylin had a breakthrough in the 400 hurdles,” Asbe said. “It was her best race of the season, and she looked strong. The time she posted should have her feeling confident heading into the Drake Relays next week.”
Ankeny’s only win came in the 800, where Makenna Madetzke raced to a victory in 2:18.15.
“I was hopeful I would get close to the time I got,” said Madetzke. “Jumper has been coaching me to run these times all season, and my split in the 4×800 last weekend was also around that time. That gave me the confidence going into the run, and the great competition helped me finish strong.”
Madetzke edged Johnston standout Olivia Verde by .48 seconds.
“We had a few people who we thought could put performances together that would qualify them for Drake, and one of those was Makenna, who has been running amazing,” Jumper said. “It was definitely the performance of the night as she ran a PR and also outkicked one of the best distance runners in the state. Makenna exemplifies what we have as standards for our program. She works really hard, executes, pays attention to details, and competes with confidence.”
The Hawkettes got a second-place finish from Madeline Poock in the 100 hurdles. She was clocked in 16.56.
Placing third for Ankeny were Karsen Jacks in the 200 (26.28), Sophie Loeffler in the 400 (1:01.69), Lillian Buckley in the 400 hurdles (1:07.45), Mila Badillo in the high jump (5-0), Sam Poock in the discus (109-11) and Ava Tomlinson in the shot put (33-3).
“We wanted some kids to do some different events for training purposes and also to have fun,” Jumper said. “We have been grinding through the toughest part of our season training, and with this being the last meet before Drake we have to let loose and have some fun. The 4×100 at this meet is becoming a tradition where we allow almost anyone who wants to run in the relay so we have multiple teams. The girls get creative, and we just enjoy competing and having fun.”
