It was a jubilant bus ride home for the Ankeny track teams on Thursday night.
Both squads captured team titles in a Class 4A state qualifying meet at Council Bluffs. More importantly, the Hawkettes and Hawks unofficially qualified for next week’s state meet in 17 and 15 events, respectively.
“We are so excited with how our team competed,” said Ankeny girls’ coach TJ Jumper. “Earning a district title was a goal, and this team stayed focused on that task. The team pushed through when we challenged them in training. This team has shown grit this year and displayed this again tonight.”
The Hawkettes finished with 187 points, six more than runner-up Valley. Dallas Center-Grimes was a distant third in the eight-team field with 122.
The Ankeny boys’ team, meanwhile, cruised to its crown, racking up 197 points. Valley was second with 129.
“We told the kids we wanted to go in and make a statement, and that’s exactly what they did!” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jordan Mullen. “We won every relay with a lot of depth! It was amazing to watch the boys rise up and just take control!”
The Hawks dominated the meet without any points from standout sprinter Tyler Sickerson, who aggravated a hamstring injury that he suffered at last month’s Drake Relays while competing in the 100. Sickerson could still be used in the relays next week if he’s cleared to run.
“Tyler is day by day, and we will make a game-time decision on him,” Mullen said. “But the kids have stepped up for us when we asked and are running really fast and ready to compete!”
The top two finishers in each event automatically qualified for state. Other qualifiers will be determined on a time and distance basis.
Ankeny swept the top two places in a pair of events. Logan Fairchild won the 200 in a Class 4A-best 21.69 seconds, while teammate Jack Belding was the runner-up in 21.78.
Belding easily captured the 400 in 49.69. Chase Bradley was second in 52.27.
Fairchild had four victories on the night. He also won the 100 in 10.72.
Fairchild anchored the Hawks to a win in the 4×200 relay. He teamed up with Caden Henkes, Devon Akers and Alexander Zuber to post a time of 1:28.62.
Ankeny later closed out the meet with another victory in the 4×400 relay. Fairchild combined with Tate Brownsberger, Jake Bosch and Belding to post a time of 3:20.49.
Ethan Zuber won the 1,600 in a time of 4:16.65, pulling away from Sioux City North standout Natnael Kifle to post the fastest time among all Class 4A qualifiers. Zuber avenged his earlier loss to Kifle in the 3,200, where he placed second in 9:25.07 but still qualified for state.
Zuber also ran on the winning distance medley relay. He combined with Sam Sandvig, Bosch and Brownsberger to post a time of 3:32.09.
Sandvig, Henkes and Akers ran together on two of the winning relays. They teamed up with Alexander Zuber to win the 4×100 in 42.53 seconds, and they combined with Belding to capture the sprint medley in 1:32.80.
“We definitely would’ve loved to have (Sickerson) out there with us, but we got done what we came to do,” said Akers. “It’s obviously going to be a lot harder (at state) if we don’t have Tyler given the fact that he’s the fastest kid in the state, but I think we’re one of–if not the deepest–teams in the state in my opinion. I always feel bad for a lot of the kids on our team who are running like 11.4 100s and can’t find a spot on a relay team, but that’s a pretty good problem to have.”
Hayden Carlson won the 110 hurdles for the Hawks in 14.89 seconds. He also teamed up with Landon Pote, Sam Madsen and Gavin Wise to win the shuttle hurdle relay in 59.67.
Pote placed second in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet 1 inch, while Nicholas Robie was the runner-up in the 800 in 1:58.88. Robie also teamed up with Bosch, Ike Smith and Abel Squires to win the 4×800 relay in 8:01.93.
“It was a total team effort!” Mullen said. “We are firing at the right time again, and the boys are having a ton of fun! We told the boys to enjoy it, and now we can focus on state. We’ve got a monster week ahead of us and if we go do what the Hawks do, we’re going to be really tough. This track and field team is the best one I have ever coached, and I have told them that multiple times! Now it’s time to go make a lot of noise on the blue oval!”
The meet provided an opportunity for both Ankeny teams to cheer for each other.
“We’re very happy with how it turned out,” Akers said. “It was pretty cool that both us and the girls won it.”
The Ankeny girls’ team could also contend for the Class 4A crown. The Hawkettes won six events on Thursday and had six runner-up finishes.
Ankeny swept the top two places in three events, including the high jump. Reagan Hanfelt set a meet record with a jump of 5 feet 6.5 inches, while Mila Badillo took second at 5-2.
“The conditions were great!” said Hanfelt, who was the top qualifier in Class 4A. “There was a little wind, but not too bad and it was probably 70 (degrees). I’m really hoping to get 5-8 here soon. I’ve been working at it for awhile.”
Morgan Johnson captured the 400 in a time of 1:01.12, while Charlee Cibula was second in 1:02.63. Alli Macke outdueled teammate Makenna Madetzke to win the 800 in 2:19.03, edging Madetzke by .24 seconds.
Ava Leinen won the long jump at 17-2. Sam Poock was another automatic qualifier in the discus, placing second in that event with a throw of 113 feet.
The Hawkettes won the 4×800 relay in a time of 9:32.46. That team consisted of Madetzke, Lauren Jackson, Gwen Briggs and Macke.
Ankeny also took the sprint medley relay in 1:49.37. That unit was comprised of Jayla Williams, Cibula, Jackson and Lillian Buckley.
“Lilly Smith, Lilly Buckley and Alli Macke had a heavy workload,” Jumper said. “They came up big for the team, and their efforts were something special.”
The Ankeny foursome of Madeline Poock, Smith, Ella Jumper and Williams placed second in the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:06.53. The quartet of Smith, Sophie Loeffler, Williams and Karsen Jacks finished second in the 4×200 relay in 1:47.76.
“As a program, this was a major step forward and quite the feat,” Jumper said. “Our goal is to have a well-rounded program and tonight showed what our girls are capable of. We had a number of PRs, and the coaching staff did an amazing job of preparing the girls. We have a few areas to fine tune for state, but we will be ready to go.”
