Senior Drew Beason and her Ankeny teammates left it all out on the track Saturday.
Their crosstown rivals from Ankeny Centennial did the same.
Both the Hawkettes and Jaguars walked away from the girls’ Class 4A state meet at Drake Stadium feeling good about what they accomplished.
“We could not be more proud of this team and how they performed,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper, whose team placed fifth with 51 points. “Every athlete did their part. We train hard, commit to the process, have loads of fun, and compete with heart. This put us in the position for a top-three finish going into the 4×400 relay. The team exceeded expectations. We broke multiple school records and set many personal bests.”
Centennial, meanwhile, finished in a tie for 15th place. The Jaguars were one of four teams to score 18 points.
“Our girls had an outstanding team performance,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “Every athlete that competed brought their best all three days, and we walked away with nine events that medaled. It was a well-rounded effort with team points coming from many different event groups, and our coaching staff couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
Waukee Northwest easily won the Class 4A crown with 101.5 points. Defending champion Pleasant Valley was second with 68.5.
Ankeny, Cedar Falls and Indianola all had a chance to place third going into the final event. The Indians edged the other two teams for second place in the 4×400 relay, but Cedar Falls’ third-place finish allowed the Tigers to take third overall with 56 points–four more than Indianola.
Still, the Hawkettes were happy with their final race of the weekend. The foursome of Morgan Fisher, Charlee Cibula, Reagan Prendergast and Lillian Buckley placed fourth in a time of 3:52.10.
“We were thinking about (the team race), but we were super happy with our time,” said Cibula. “We broke our school record (Friday) night (in the preliminaries), and we broke our record just now by like 2 seconds. So we’re super happy with it.”
Centennial closed out the meet with a seventh-place finish in the event. The quartet of Aly Balashaitis, Ava Barten, Teagan Jackson and Cora DenHartog was clocked in 3:57.42.
Waukee Northwest won the race in 3:47.46, allowing the Wolves to surpass the 100-point mark.
Earlier, Beason capped off an outstanding career by placing third in the 1,500 with a time of 4:36.27. It was a lifetime best for Beason, who was just shy of teammate Makenna Madetzke’s school record of 4:36.22.
Beason became an individual state medalist for the sixth time, but this marked her first appearance on the awards podium.
“It feels so good,” said Beason. “It’s like the one thing I wanted all weekend.”
Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls won the race in 4:29.87. Beason used a strong kick to edge Pleasant Valley star Ani Wedemeyer by .04 seconds for third place.
“I don’t think I realized how much I had left in me,” Beason said.
Madetzke placed fifth in the same race in 4:36.40. Bella Hodges of Centennial was seventh in 4:38.22.
“I was really happy,” said Hodges. “I PR’d, which broke my school record, and I was really happy to place, too.”
Hodges, a senior, said she enjoyed running one last time against her Ankeny rivals as well as teammate Anika Mohrhauser, who finished 20th in 4:49.22.
“They were really nice,” she said. “They really pushed me in the race.”
Madetzke earlier placed sixth in the 800 for the second straight year. The junior posted a time of 2:14.31.
Olivia Fehn of Johnston won the race in 2:12.03. Centennial’s Ellie Blevins placed 15th in 2:18.05, while teammate Tallie Plueger was 22nd in 2:29.94.
“I’ve raced a lot of races with this bunch in the last two years, and each year they just keep getting stronger,” said Madetzke, who won four medals this weekend. “I definitely wanted to place higher than last year, but the race got a little crazy and I got shoved around a lot.”
A year ago, Madetzke split her time between the track and the soccer pitch. However, she has not been a two-sport athlete this spring.
“I decided to step away (from soccer) to focus on track,” she said.
The Jaguars got a seventh-place finish from sophomore Anna Woods in the 100 hurdles. She posted a time of 14.96 seconds.
Valley star Emma Havighurst won the race in 13.68, finishing .24 seconds ahead of teammate Morgan Karr.
“I felt like I could go faster, but like I just wasn’t,” said Woods. “I’m still happy with it. I’m glad that my new consistent times are better than what they were last year.”
Woods also helped Centennial to an eighth-place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. She teamed up with Kylin Smith, Taylor Gilbreaith and Barten to post a time of 1:04.20.
“I think the girls were happy with how we did,” Woods said. “I’m just glad we finished the year strong with a solid time.”
Waukee Northwest won the race in 1:01.10. Four other teams ran under 1:02.
“I felt like we did pretty well considering we’ve had a pretty busy weekend,” said Barten. “A lot of us have ran a lot. We went into it with a good mindset, which is always good. We gave it all that we had, and that’s all you can ask for. I’m happy with it.”
Woods earned a pair of medals on Saturday after running a leg on the 11th-place 4×200 relay that set a school record of 1:44.15 on Friday. Her meet began on Thursday with a 22nd-place finish in the high jump.
“The high jump was really disappointing, but I wasn’t going to let that mess up my other races,” Woods said. “I’m glad I finished pretty strong.”
Centennial also placed 19th in the sprint medley relay. The team of Bella Buesch, Gilbreaith, Aly Drefke and Jaeden Jackson posted a time of 1:54.16.
Waukee Northwest won that race in 1:45.72.
“We walked away with many PRs and two new school records this weekend,” Asbe said. “We had a great mix of state meet veterans and younger athletes who got their first state meet action. This senior class has been very special, and they had some great accomplishments this weekend and have done so much for our program. It was great to end the season on a high note for that group. The accomplishments and leadership they have brought to our team will continue to be felt for years to come.”
