Ankeny’s Reagan Hanfelt finally made it to the top of the awards podium.
The senior won a Class 4A title in the high jump during the opening day of the coed state track meet on Thursday at Drake Stadium. She had tied for third twice and placed second in the event in the previous three years.
“It feels amazing,” said Hanfelt. “I just trusted my mom (Kelly). She’s my coach, and she knew what it took. I just had to believe in her and believe in my coaches. I just had to trust the process.”
Hanfelt cleared the bar at 5 feet 6 inches on her final attempt. Alex Gaskell of Dowling Catholic then matched her, moving the bar up to 5-7.
“I was like, ‘Ok, I’ve got to lock in again,'” Hanfelt said. “She’s a great jumper, and it’s so fun to go up against her. I knew it was going to be between me and her. I’m super happy for her.”
After both girls missed all three tries at 5-7, Hanfelt was awarded the victory based on fewer misses. Gaskell had missed her first attempt at 5-4.
Hanfelt said she wasn’t confident earlier in the day.
“This morning it was raining and cold, but then when we got here it was so nice outside,” she said. “I was really excited. And then my first jump in warmups felt really good.”
Hanfelt’s win helped Ankeny take the lead in the girls’ team standings. The Hawkettes scored 24 points on Thursday, putting them just ahead of Waukee Northwest (22.5) and Dallas Center-Grimes (20).
Ankeny Centennial sits in 13th place with six points. The Jaguars scored points in a pair of events, finishing just behind Ankeny in both of them.
The Hawkettes got a fourth-place finish in the 3,000 from Drew Beason, who set a personal record of 10:01.58. Centennial’s Anika Mohrhauser finished sixth in 10:09.39 and also set a personal record.
“I really wanted to go sub-10, but I’m happy with it,” said Beason, who had placed sixth in the event in both 2023 and 2024. “I had a good kick at the end.”
Piper Messerly of Dallas Center-Grimes won the race in 9:52.08. She pulled away from the field on the final two laps after the first 2,200 meters were ran at a slow pace.
“It was really odd,” said Mohrhauser. “(Coach Eric) Cog(dill) gave me a race plan, and it was hard to follow because it played out like that. But it was fun being in a big group.”
Ankeny placed fifth in the 4×800 relay with a time of 9:16.43. The Hawkettes finished about 3 seconds ahead of Centennial, which took sixth in 9:19.20.
The Ankeny team consisted of Reagan Prendergast, Sophia Graber, Gillian Schramm and Makenna Madetzke.
“It was ok,” said Madetzke, who ran the anchor leg in 2:15. “We were hoping to break the school record, but overall I’m happy with our performance.”
Ellie Blevins, Cora DenHartog and Trinity Klingensmith ran the first three legs for the Jaguars before handing off to Bella Hodges, who anchored the team to a school record.
“We were really happy,” said Hodges. “We got sixth last year, so getting sixth again is really fun.”
Hodges closed the gap on Madetzke before the Ankeny junior held her off on the homestretch.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch her, just because of how fast she is,” Hodges said. “I just tried to stay with her as long as I could, and I did until the last 100.”
Madetzke almost caught Dallas Center-Grimes’ Messerly at the finish line. Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley won the race in 9:00.75, setting an all-time Iowa best.
“I was definitely a little worried this morning when it was windier and colder. It’s nice that it cleared up,” Madetzke said. “I knew (Hodges) was right there when we got the handoffs. I had a sense of where she was the rest of the way.”
Ankeny later scored some more points in the 400, where freshman Morgan Fisher contributed a fourth-place finish. She set a personal record of 56.61 seconds, which now ranks second in school history.
“I’m very happy,” said Fisher. “That was so good.”
Kloe Nissen of Cedar Falls won the race in 55.78. She edged two of Fisher’s rivals in the CIML, Avery Winter of Northwest and Olivia Fehn of Johnston.
“I was hoping to (place high), because I knew I could run close to them and I just tried to stay with them the whole time,” Fisher said. “I’m pretty proud of it.”
Earlier, Fisher ran in the same preliminary heat of the 200 along with teammate Lillian Buckley. Fisher placed 11th overall in 25.58 seconds, while Buckley finished 12th in 25.59.
“It went well. It was a good start to the meet,” Fisher said. “I was a little disappointed that I didn’t make the final, but it’s ok. I can get it next time.”
Centennial later closed out the opening day by qualifying for the final in the shuttle hurdle relay. The foursome of Anna Woods, Kylin Smith, Taylor Gilbreaith and Ava Barten posted the sixth-fastest time of 1:03.90.
Here are the rest of the girls’ results from Thursday:
Discus: Sam Poock (A), 118-11 (16th); Maliya Cobb (A), 109-1 (20th).
3,000: Haley Hveem (AC), 10:51.61 (22nd).
200: Aly Balashaitis (AC), 26.01 (18th).
High jump: Mila Badillo (A), 5-0 (Tied for 14th); Woods (AC), 5-0 (22nd).
100: Charlee Cibula (A), 12.74 (15th).
400: Schramm (A), 1:01.66 (20th); Cassidy Griggs (AC), 1:03.81 (24th).