Before she stepped back onto the blue oval Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium, Ankeny junior Makenna Madetzke realized how lucky she was to be running her next race under sunny skies and moderate conditions.
“I was just talking to my teammate (Sophia Graber) before the race about how we were getting the perfect temperature for the weekend,” Madetzke said.
Madetzke went on to place sixth in the girls’ 1,500 on the final day of the Drake Relays. She posted a time of 4:36.22, which broke a school record.
Madetzke dropped about 5 seconds off her previous best time.
“I’m very happy,” she said.
Graber placed 17th in the event with a time of 4:45.07. Bella Hodges of Ankeny Centennial took 14th in 4:43.69.
“Bella just missed a lifetime best,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “She ran a really strong race and is trending in a great direction as we approach the last few weeks of the season.”
Freshman Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls moved to the front of the pack on the second lap. She ran the opening 700 in 2:08.15 and went on to win the race in 4:31.54.
Gall had earlier won the 3,000 on Thursday.
“They went out way faster even than their seed times,” Madetzke said. “I was just surprised with that, but I’m happy how it ended up going.”
Earlier, Madetzke and Graber helped Ankeny to a fifth-place finish in the 4×800 relay for the second straight year. They teamed up with Reagan Prendergast and Gillian Schramm to post a time of 9:16.34.
It was the second-fastest clocking in school history. Graber and Madetzke were also part of the team that ran 9:16.24 at last year’s state meet.
“We thought we could get top 10 for sure, but we weren’t sure how fast we could go because we haven’t ran this group that much this year,” said Graber.
Ankeny was in sixth place after the first three runners each ran a split of 2:20 and change. Madetzke then ran the anchor leg in 2:14.60.
“We were really happy,” Graber said. “We were surprised with the time that we got today, but getting fifth–the same as last year–without some of our key runners, we’re really proud of all the girls. Gillian ran at Drake for the first time as a sophomore, and we’re really proud of her for showing up today and all the other girls did great, too.”
Pleasant Valley won the race in a time of 9:07.54. The Spartans led almost the entire way after a strong opening leg from Ani Wedemeyer.
The Centennial foursome of Hodges, Cora DenHartog, Anika Mohrhauser and Ellie Blevins finished 12th in 9:29.19. DenHartog led the way with a split of 2:20.13 on the second leg.
“Our 4×8 ran a season-best time,” Asbe said. “This is a group with a lot of big meet experience between track and cross country. They are progressing nicely this season, and we are excited to see where they can be in the next month. Anika had a PR in the 3,000 as well. She has been battling some illness and has been recovering the last few weeks, so it was great to see her come out and compete at a high level.”
Both teams later closed out the meet by running against each other again in the final of the 4×400 relay. The Ankeny team of Morgan Fisher, Prendergast, Charlee Cibula and Lillian Buckley placed fourth in 3:55.64, the fourth-fastest time in school history.
“I think we all ran really well,” said Prendergast. “We’ve had a hard couple of days just with all the races we’ve been in, but with that I think we did amazing. We’ve just gotten along as a team this year, and it was just fun to be able to come out here and compete against a lot of the best teams in the state.”
Waukee Northwest won the race in 3:51.02. The Wolves edged Indianola by .14 seconds.
The Centennial squad of Aly Balashaitis, Ava Barten, DenHartog and Teagan Jackson placed seventh in a time of 4:02.00. The Jaguars had ran a time of 3:58.48 in Friday’s preliminaries.
“Our 4×4 ran a huge season best in the prelims to qualify for finals,” Asbe said. “That group continues to impress us with their grit and determination, and it was so special to see them make the final and then compete hard again in the finals. This should be a huge confidence boost for these girls.”
Both teams also ran in the prelims of the 4×100 relay on Saturday morning. The Ankeny team of Ava Leinen, Fisher, Cibula and Buckley placed 15th overall in 49.80 seconds, while the Centennial quartet of Kacy Olson, Bella Buesch, Aly Drefke and Balashaitis finished 70th in 51.55.
Buckley later competed in the 400 hurdles, where she placed 15th in a time of 1:06.21. She finished just behind Kylin Smith of Centennial, who took 14th in 1:06.19.
Barten also competed in that event. She finished 20th in 1:08.10.
Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake won the 400 hurdles in 59.86, setting a Relays record and becoming the first to run under 60 seconds. After earlier winning the long jump and the 400, she also became just the second athlete to claim three individual titles in the girls’ division–joining Iowa high school Hall of Famer Shelby Houlihan, the American record holder in the 1,500.
Centennial opened the day by competing in the prelims of the shuttle hurdle relay. The team of Anna Woods, Ellsie Cole, Taylor Gilbreaith and Barten was disqualified, but Asbe was still pleased with his team’s overall performance in the three-day meet.
“We had an awesome weekend!” he said. “Our girls all competed hard, and we are very happy with how we performed as a team. We had many season bests and PRs as well as some learning moments that will help us prepare for state next month. This meet was such a valuable experience for our younger athletes especially. We had a great mix of veterans with a lot of big meet experience and some younger athletes who were in this setting for the first time. We continue to be impressed with the leadership our junior and seniors athletes show.”