The Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ track teams both competed in the Jim Duea Relays on Tuesday at Ames.
The Hawkettes placed fifth in the 14-team field with 64.5 points.
“The team competed hard,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “We are starting to really narrow down our varsity team as we get closer to the championship part of our season. We are building momentum, and this team is building confidence. We have a great balance of high-level upperclassmen and some very talented underclassmen.”
The Jaguars, meanwhile, finished eighth with 40 points.
“We saw a lot of great efforts across the board,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “Each event group had standout performances, and the level of support our athletes give each other is really cool to witness.”
Waukee Northwest easily won the team crown with 142 points. Johnston was the runner-up with 90.
The Hawkettes double-placed in the high jump, where Reagan Hanfelt took second (5 feet 2 inches) and Mila Badillo finished third (5-0). Mariam Noah of Des Moines Roosevelt also cleared 5-2, but earned the victory over Hanfelt based on fewer misses.
Ankeny got a second-place finish from Drew Beason in the 3,000. She posted a time of 10:23.66.
Centennial’s Ava Barten placed third in the 400 hurdles. She was clocked in 1:06.47.
“Ava ran a PR and continues to impress us,” Asbe said. “She is a tough competitor, and she continues to improve each week.”
Placing fourth for the Hawkettes were Reagan Prendergast in the 400 (1:01.47) and Makenna Madetzke in the 800 (2:15.69). Madetzke set a new personal record.
“Makenna continues to show she is one of the top distance runners in the state,” Jumper said. “She will most likely qualify for the Drake Relays in four events: 800, 1,500, 3,000, and 4×800 relay. Qualifying in the four distance events is quite the feat because not many distance runners have both the speed and endurance to be elite in all four of those.”
Ankeny edged its crosstown rival by one-hundredth of a second for a runner-up finish in the 4×200 relay. The foursome of Ava Leinen, Morgan Fisher, Charlee Cibula and Lillian Buckley posted a time of 1:45.79.
“We haven’t shown our true potential yet, but we started to see some glimpses of it tonight,” Jumper said. “The team is right on target for what the coaches believe they can do performance-wise.”
The Centennial quartet of Aly Drefke, Bella Buesch, Aly Balashaitis and Anna Woods finished third in the 4×200 in 1:45.80.
“Our 4×2 ran a season-best time and looked really strong,” Asbe said. “It has been fun to watch the group continue to drop time this season.”
Woods and Barten helped the Jaguars to a second-place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. They teamed up with Taylor Gilbreaith and Kylin Smith to post a time of 1:07.15.
“Taylor had a breakout night in the hurdles,” Asbe said. “She ran a really strong leg of the shuttle hurdle and turned around and ran a huge lifetime best in the 100 hurdles. She is really starting to find her rhythm at the right time, and it was awesome to see her put two strong races together back-to-back.”
The Hawkettes took third in the sprint medley relay. The team of Cibula, Riley Kayser, Fisher and Buckley posted a time of 1:50.32.
“We are really excited for the strong sprint legs that Riley is giving us in relays,” Jumper said. “She is adding another dimension to our team.”
Kayser also teamed up with Brylee Bach, Alice Oleson and Gillian Schramm for a third-place finish in the distance medley relay in 4:29.79.
“We have a very strong focus on development in our program,” Jumper said. “Gillian had a heavy load tonight and is an example of someone who is committed to the process and working hard. She PR’d by 7 seconds in the open 800 running 2:26, and that was after running an 800 on a relay.”