Tuesday was a good night for both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ track teams.
Taking advantage of the favorable weather conditions, the Hawkettes placed third among 16 squads in the Jim Duea Relays at Ames. They finished with 64 points.
“We were very pleased with our team’s execution and how we competed,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “We are at the time of year where we are starting to look at different possibilities and preparing for different scenarios. Some of our athletes were given opportunities and they performed very well, which will help us when we get to the end of the season.”
While Waukee Northwest easily defended its team title by racking up 161.5 points, only 24 points separated the next eight squads. Centennial scored 45 points to tie for eighth place with Waukee.
“Our team competed well again,” said Centennial coach Tyler Asbe. “We have amazing depth this season in all event groups, and it was a night full of PRs and season bests.”
Ankeny posted a pair of victories. Mila Badillo won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 2 inches.
The Hawkettes also captured the distance medley relay. The foursome of Quinn Roush, Riley Kayser, Morgan Fisher and Makenna Madetzke was clocked in 4:08.56, the fifth-fastest time in school history.
Lena Bruening was the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 18-10.75. She moved ahead of Ankeny assistant coach Laura Jumper and into second place on the school’s all-time list.
Bruening placed second in the 100 hurdles in 15.35 seconds. She now ranks third all-time at Ankeny in that event.
Bruening also ran on the second-place 4×100 relay. She teamed up with Roush, Kayser and Fisher to post a time of 49.48 seconds.
“We developed our lineup with the idea of training, athlete development and execution,” Jumper said. “We accomplished what we set out to do. For some of our top scorers, we were also looking for consistency with performances and that was also accomplished.”
Centennial’s Bella Anderson placed third in the discus with a throw of 128 feet 1 inch, which set a school record. Ankeny’s Maliya Cobb also set a personal best in that event, taking fourth with a toss of 127-9.
“We are so happy for Bella!” Asbe said. “She has had this record on her mind for awhile now, and it was just a matter of time until she had a big one.”
The Jaguars placed second in the 4×800 relay. The team of Sammy Maile, Natalie Cogdill, Rebecca Flick and Ellie Blevins posted a time of 9:22.38, which hit the Blue Oval standard for the Drake Relays.
“This was a great race, and they cut 9 seconds off their previous season-best time,” Asbe said. “All four of these athletes had PRs in this race, and that is hard to do in a relay all on the same day. This group keeps improving and is in a great spot heading into the last month of the season. We are excited to see them compete in some big races soon.”
Centennial also met the Blue Oval standard in the shuttle hurdle relay. The quartet of Ava Barten, Siena Peddicord, Taylor Gilbreaith and Anna Woods placed third in a time of 1:04.46.
“It was good to see this group put a fast time out there,” Asbe said. “There have been a few hiccups the last few times we have run the shuttle so it was great to see them put it together and hit the Blue Standard. There is still work to do, but this was a big step in the right direction.”
Flick added a fourth-place finish in the 400. She was clocked in 58.94 seconds, the third-fastest time in school history.
“This was her first open 400 and only the second 400 of the season,” Asbe said. “She is extremely talented and versatile and will continue to make a big difference for us moving forward.”
Teagan Jackson placed fifth in the long jump. Her mark of 17-8.5 set a new personal best.
“She has been trending the right direction the last few weeks and put it all together and had three jumps over 17 feet,” Asbe said. “We are really excited for her and this performance will definitely give her some confidence moving into the last month of the season.”
Centennial will host the Jaguar Invitational on Thursday at Northview Stadium. Ankeny will be among the other teams in the field.