The Ankeny Centennial girls’ track team met the Blue Oval standard in two events while tying for eighth place overall among 15 squads at the Waukee Northwest Relays on Thursday.
“It was an awesome night for our team!” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “The energy and effort displayed by the girls was fantastic, and we came away with many strong performances.”
Anna Woods qualified for the Drake Relays by placing third in the 100 hurdles. She was clocked in 14.96 seconds.
Woods was among four hurdlers who broke the 15-second mark. Northwest’s Alayna Schulte and Dowling Catholic’s Annie Smith both posted a time of 14.91, while Franny Brooks of Dowling crossed the finish line in 14.97.
“Anna had a huge breakout race,” Asbe said. “She works incredibly hard and is very detail-oriented and focused with her training so it was great to see her break the 15-second barrier and hit the Blue Oval standard.”
The Jaguars also qualified for Drake in the 4×400 relay. The foursome of Aly Balashaitis, Ava Barten, Cora DenHartog and Teagan Jackson posted a time of 4:02.04, finishing about 5 seconds behind Northwest.
“Our 4×4 team had a massive season-best as well,” Asbe said. “They all clicked on the same night and ran a super gutsy race to hit the Blue Oval standard. Our coaching staff is so proud of the effort and grit they showed to wrap up the meet.”
The host Wolves easily captured the team title, racking up 158 points. Dowling was second with 88, edging Waukee by a point for the runner-up spot.
Centennial and Bondurant-Farrar each finished with 37 points.
Woods and Barten also ran on the second-place shuttle hurdle relay. They teamed up with Ellsie Cole and Taylor Gilbreaith to post a time of 1:07.34.
Bella Anderson placed fourth for the Jaguars in the discus. She recorded a throw of 123 feet 8 inches.