Monday’s Larry Weier Invitational at Dowling Catholic served as a final tuneup for the Drake Relays for six girls’ track teams, including Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial.
The Jaguars placed second overall with 168.5 points. Dowling won the meet for the third straight year, racking up 205.5 points.
“The Dowling meet was a nice tuneup for the Drake Relays for our qualifiers and a great night full of opportunities for the rest of our girls,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “We saw many PRs and season bests, and our team had a ton of fun. Many of our younger athletes competed hard, and it was nice to see some of our athletes try new events or run with a new relay group.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished fifth. The Hawkettes scored 60 points.
“We love the Dowling meet the week of Drake because it allows our younger athletes the opportunity to compete at the varsity level and gain experience,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “Although it may not show in the results on a team score, this is highly important to maintaining our program at a high level. We want our athletes to be pushed and also know what the next level feels like. This way everything we do is purposeful, and the athletes know what it will take to not only get to the next level but be successful at it. There were several personal bests set by those that competed which means they are ready for the next step in their training and performance.”
Centennial won seven events, including three relays. The Jaguars were led by Ellie Blevins and Bella Hodges, who each won an individual event and ran on a winning relay.
Blevins took the 3,000 in a time of 10:46.29. She later teamed up with Aly Balashaitis, Cassidy Griggs and Teagan Jackson to win the 4×400 relay in a time of 4:07.64, edging the host Maroons by .22 seconds.
Hodges won the 1,500 in 4:55.14. Teammate Cora DenHartog was the runner-up in 5:00.45.
Hodges and DenHartog also combined with Griggs and Aly Drefke to win the distance medley relay. Centennial was clocked in 4:23.33.
Anna Woods captured the 100 hurdles in 15.52 seconds. Kylin Smith took the 400 hurdles in 1:05.55, edging Dowling’s Alex Gaskell by .19 seconds.
The Jaguars’ other victory came in the sprint medley relay. The team of Lauren Sandholm, Bella Buesch, Balashaitis and Ava Barten posted a time of 1:53.24.
Centennial’s Kylee Patterson placed second in the 800 in 2:26.87. Buesch finished third in the 200 in 27.05.
Jackson was the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet 5.5 inches. Bella Anderson took third in the discus with a throw of 106-4.
Ankeny scored 16 of its points in the high jump, where the Hawkettes double-placed. Reagan Hanfelt won the event with a leap of 5 feet 6 inches, while Mila Badillo took third at 5-4.
Hanfelt earned the victory over Dowling’s Gaskell based on fewer misses.
“Reagan and Mila have been working on improving technically,” Jumper said. “Coach Hanfelt made some adjustments with them this last week, and it was great to see both of them transfer that to a meet setting. Reagan is super focused and dedicated to her craft, and we will be looking for her to continue to jump well and higher. She had some great attempts at 5-8.”
Ankeny placed second in the shuttle hurdle relay. The foursome of Marlee Buchan, Grace Buch, Lillian Austin and Quinn Roush posted a time of 1:11.88.
Centennial also sent a group of junior varsity athletes to a meet in Gilbert.
“It was great to have our entire roster compete on Monday,” Asbe said. “As we move into the home stretch of our season, it is important to get every athlete chances to compete as often as possible to give them opportunities to keep improving and building their excitement.”