When the dust had finally settled on Saturday afternoon, the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ track teams both had plenty of reasons to be happy about their performances in the Class 4A state meet at Drake Stadium.
The Hawkettes and Jaguars also showed that they have a bright future.
Several underclassmen played key roles for both squads in the three-day meet. Freshman Lillian Buckley helped Ankeny cap off the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 4×400 relay, allowing the Hawkettes to finish eighth in the team standings with 34 points.
“We’re definitely happy with how we performed overall,” said Buckley.
Another freshman, Anna Woods, medaled in four events as Centennial placed 12th with 22 points, equaling the team’s highest finish ever. The Jaguars also scored 22 points in 2019, when they tied Ankeny and Johnston for 12th.
“I’m really happy with how everyone did,” said Woods.
Buckley teamed up with Sophie Loeffler, Morgan Johnson and Alli Macke to post a time of 3:58.74 in the 4×400. Macke ran the final 400 meters in 58.6 seconds.
“I think we all felt really good about it,” Buckley said. “We all just wanted to run our hardest and whatever happens, happens.”
Pleasant Valley won the race in 3:48.47, setting a meet record. The Spartans edged Waukee Northwest by .58 seconds.
The victory also punctuated the team title for the Spartans, who finished with 92 points. Northwest, the two-time defending champion, took second with 81 points.
Earlier on Saturday, Ankeny double-placed in the 800. Macke placed fifth for the second straight year, posting a time of 2:14.37.
“I felt pretty good about it,” said Macke. “I knew I just wanted to stay as close to that front pack as possible to run a good time. I think I accomplished that goal, so I’m pretty happy with it.”
Macke was followed by teammate Makenna Madetzke, who placed sixth in a personal-best time of 2:16.65.
“I was just trying to place for the team as high as I could get,” said Madetzke. “I’m really happy.”
Dubuque Hempstead star Keelee Leitzen won the race for the second straight year in 2:09.15. Leitzen and the Pleasant Valley duo of Ani Wedemeyer and Grace Boleyn pulled away from the field on the opening lap.
“Seeing how they’ve been running all season and at Drake, I knew that those three would be competing way ahead,” Macke said. “I just wanted to compete for those spots behind them.”
Ankeny also got a fifth-place finish from Drew Beason in the 1,500. She broke her own school record with a time of 4:39.60.
Beason, a five-time state placewinner, was coming off a sixth-place finish in the 3,000 on Thursday.
“The 3,000 was definitely not my best race, and I used that as motivation to prove who I am,” said Beason, who ran on Ankeny’s winning 4×800 relay a year ago. “I feel much better about this race.”
Valley’s Addi Dorenkamp won the race in 4:25.32. She set an all-time Iowa best despite the less-than-ideal running conditions with temperatures in the mid-80s.
“It’s really hot out here,” Beason said.
Centennial’s Bella Hodges also scored a point in the 1,500, placing eighth in 4:42.09. She set a personal record, and so did teammate Anika Mohrhauser–who finished 11th in 4:46.79.
Woods placed sixth for the Jaguars in the 100 hurdles. She came out of Lane 8 to post a time of 15.22 seconds.
“I don’t really like being on the outside,” Woods said.
Valley’s Emma Havighurst won the race in 14.54. Woods was just happy to be in the finals after running 15.34 in the preliminaries on Friday.
“I clipped one (of the hurdles) and that threw me off during prelims, so I knew I could go faster,” she said. “I didn’t go that much faster, but it was still a clean race. So it was ok.”
Woods also helped Centennial to a sixth-place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. She teamed up with Samantha Johansen, Kylin Smith and Ava Barten to post a time of 1:05.07.
“I’m really proud of all of us,” said Barten. “We ran really hard, and we were able to (match) our seed. It would’ve been nice to PR, but I just think we tried to run a clean race. It was all right.”
The Jaguars ran in the same section with Ankeny, which placed eighth overall in 1:08.37. The Hawkettes’ squad consisted of Madeline Poock, Reagan Hanfelt, Ella Jumper and Lillian Smith.
“They’re obviously a nice group of girls,” Barten said. “It was just fun to talk to them before the race. They’re so sweet.”
Here are the rest of the results from Saturday:
Sprint medley relay–Ava Leinen, Lillian Smith, Karsen Jacks and Lillian Buckley (A), 1:51.89 (12th).
800–Julia Flick (AC), 2:20.09 (10th); Ellie Blevins (AC), 2:23.31 (12th).
