The Ankeny Centennial track teams earned second-place finishes in a Class 4A state qualifying meet on Thursday at Council Bluffs Lincoln.
Dowling Catholic captured both team titles. The Maroons won the boys’ division with 213 points–24 more than Centennial–after losing to the Jaguars by one point at the CIML Conference meet on May 8.
“The biggest goal for the day was to qualify all our events, which we did,” said Centennial sprinter Braeden Jackson.
Centennial won the final event of the girls’ meet, the 4×400 relay, to finish with 190 points. But Dowling placed second in the race to claim the team crown with 194 points.
Still, it was a great night overall for the Jaguars. The two squads combined to win 15 events and qualified for next week’s state meet in many others.
“We had a really strong full team performance,” said Centennial girls’ coach Tyler Asbe. “Every event group brought their best effort and looked really sharp. We are peaking at the right time and have a lot to be excited about heading into the state meet next week.”
The Centennial girls’ team was led by Ellie Blevins and Kylin Smith. They each won an individual event and also ran on a winning relay.
Smith won the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:04.53, which broke her own school record. Teammate Ava Barten took third in that event in 1:06.86.
Those two also teamed up with Anna Woods and Taylor Gilbreaith to win the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:03.60, which set a new school mark for the second straight week.
“Our hurdle crew has been really dialed in this year and had an outstanding night,” Asbe said. “Both 100 hurdlers and both 400 hurdlers qualified for state as well as the shuttle hurdle team.”
Blevins was part of Centennial’s dominance in the distance events. She won the 800 in a time of 2:21.54, while teammate Tallie Plueger was third in a personal-best 2:25.01.
Anika Mohrhauser won the 3,000 in a time of 10:37.26. She later placed second in the 1,500 in 4:50.43 behind teammate Bella Hodges, who won the event in 4:49.48.
Blevins also teamed up with Trinity Klingensmith, Kylee Patterson and Cora DenHartog to win the 4×800 relay. The Jaguars were clocked in 9:40.89.
“We were able to qualify 16 events and have 21 total entries,” Asbe said. “We qualified all seven relays and a bunch of individuals as well.”
Centennial took the distance medley relay in a time of 4:14.89. DenHartog and Hodges were joined on that squad by sisters Lauren and Audrey Sandholm.
DenHartog later anchored the Jaguars to another victory in the 4×400. She combined with Aly Balashaitis, Barten and Teagan Jackson to post a time of 4:03.95.
Centennial got runner-up finishes from Woods in the 100 hurdles (14.76) and Cassidy Griggs in the 400 (1:01.72).
“Cassidy had a 2-second PR to qualify,” Asbe said. “It was another situation where a senior earned an opportunity to punch her ticket in an individual event, and she gave it everything she had and was able to reach her goal of racing on the blue oval for the first time.”
Woods also qualified in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 1 inch. Jackson advanced in the long jump by jumping 17-2.75 to place third.
The foursome of Bella Buesch, Gilbreaith, Smith and Jaeden Jackson placed second in the sprint medley relay. The Jaguars posted a time of 1:53.06.
Balashaitis placed fourth in the 200 in 26.03. She also anchored the third-place 4×200 relay that qualified with a time of 1:45.15.
Gilbreath took fourth in the 100 hurdles in 16.03, and Haley Hveem finished fourth in the 3,000 in 11:10.05. Centennial also qualified by placing fourth in the 4×100 relay.
“There were some really special performances from some of our seniors,” Asbe said. “Haley has been injured almost all season and has fought extremely hard to just have an opportunity to get back on the track late in the year. She has lost months of training and had a gutsy performance to qualify. We were so excited for her to punch her ticket after a tough season!”
On the boys’ side, Centennial swept the throwing events in impressive fashion. Max Dickinson won the shot put with a throw of 55 feet 6.25 inches on his final attempt, while Caleb Larson took the discus with a toss of 160-6.
Jackson won the 200 in 21.77 seconds. Teammate Robert McGhee was the runner-up in 21.86.
Jackson placed second in the 100 in 11.03 behind Dowling’s Luke Nevitt. He then avenged that loss in the 200.
Jackson and McGhee teamed up with Noah Ross and Caleb Reed to win the 4×200 relay in a time of 1:26.87. The same quartet took second in the 4×100 in 42.27.
“I was very happy with my races, and I feel really good heading into the state meet,” Jackson said.
Cael Woods captured the 400 hurdles in 53.76 seconds. He also anchored the winning sprint medley relay, teaming up with Ross, Reed and McGhee to post a time of 1:31.89.
The Jaguars later closed out the meet with another victory in the 4×400 relay. The team of Jackson Reed, Corbin Vander Weerdt, Kyler Jones and Caleb Reed was clocked in 3:24.24.
Centennial also qualified for state by placing second in the 4×800, shuttle hurdle and distance medley relays. The Jaguars lost to Dowling in all three of those races in addition to the 4×100, including a narrow defeat by .05 seconds in the shuttle hurdle.
Jackson Reed placed third in the 400 in 49.95. Also placing third were Mark Nelson in the 400 hurdles (56.62) and Sean Thomas in the 3,200 (9:41.42).
Brayden Vander Wilt placed fourth in the 800 in a time of 1:59.75. Cohen Moll was fourth in the 1,600 in 4:25.21.
