Only 15 points separated the top five teams in the Hawkette Invitational girls’ track meet on Thursday at Ankeny Stadium.
Indianola won the meet with 118 points. Ankeny Centennial was the runner-up in the eight-team field with 113, edging Cedar Falls by one point.
“We had another great meet,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “It was awesome having almost our entire roster competing and supporting each other, and it was a really fun night. We had many PRs and season bests.”
Johnston placed fourth with 107 points. Ankeny, the two-time defending champion, finished fifth with 103.
“We are really excited about this year’s team,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “They have worked extremely hard and been training really well. This was our first outdoor meet so we were really selective of what events we keyed on for each athlete. We limited our athletes with their number of events because we have been training hard, and it’s early in the season. We wanted to balance quality performances with also staying healthy.”
The Jaguars won four events, including a pair of relays. Bella Anderson won the discus with a throw of 115 feet 7 inches.
Kylin Smith took the 400 in a time of 1:01.05. Ankeny’s Gracie Lindaman was the runner-up in that event in 1:02.53.
Centennial won the distance medley relay in a time of 4:20.71. That team was comprised of Aly Drefke, Bella Buesch, Cassidy Griggs and Cora DenHartog.
The Jaguars also won the 4×800 relay in 9:45.85. That team consisted of Anika Mohrhauser, Ellie Blevins, Kylee Patterson and Bella Hodges.
“It is great to see our younger athletes starting to really be a part of the team and watch our veterans lead every day,” Asbe said. “It was a really well-rounded effort as a team, and our coaching staff is really happy with how our girls performed.”
Ankeny double-placed in both jumping events. Reagan Hanfelt won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 2 inches, while Mila Badillo was second at 5 feet.
Maya Durbin-Wilson was the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 16-10.5. Ava Leinen jumped 16-7.5 and placed third.
The Hawkettes closed out the meet with a second-place finish in the 4×400 relay. The foursome of Morgan Fisher, Charlee Cibula, Reagan Prendergast and Lillian Buckley was clocked in 4:04.22.
Fisher also placed second in the 100. She posted a time of 12.65 seconds.
Ankeny got a third-place finish in the 3,000 from Makenna Madetzke, who was clocked in 10:17.18. Drew Beason finished third in the 1,500 in 4:49.49.
“We saw that the pieces of the puzzle are there and over the next few weeks we’ll start to put everything together as we approach the end of the season,” Jumper said. “It is so much fun to coach with our coaching staff and the athletes we have. The foundation for our season has definitely been set and these performances definitely showed that.
“It was great to see all of our athletes compete and put some results on the board. This team has some real potential for this year,” he added.
Centennial’s Anna Woods placed second in the 100 hurdles in 15.53. She also cleared 5-0 in the high jump to place fourth in that event.
Aly Balashaitis took second in the 200 in 26.45. Ava Barten finished second in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.70.
