Both the Ankeny boys’ and girls’ track teams accomplished what they needed to on Thursday in a Class 4A state qualifying meet at Council Bluffs.
The Hawks and Hawkettes each finished second behind Valley in the team race while qualifying for next week’s state meet in numerous events.
“We had a great night and were very strategic about who we competed where,” said Ankeny girls’ coach TJ Jumper. “The team qualified in almost every area we wanted and really set us up for the state meet next week. We will update our lineup for state. We look at the meets as two different meets with districts competed in one night and state is over three days with a different schedule.”
Valley won the girls’ title with 197 points. Ankeny finished with 182.
The Hawkettes won nine events, including three of the four field events. Morgan Fisher and Makenna Madetzke each won two events and also anchored a winning relay.
“This team has had a lot of courage to overcome some injuries and illnesses,” Jumper said. “This team is so gutsy.”
Fisher won the 400 in 56.41 seconds and the 200 in 25.41. Teammates Gillian Schramm (1:00.35) and Lena Bruening (26.07) took second in those events and also automatically qualified for state.
Fisher and Bruening teamed up with Quinn Roush and Lilly Buckley to win the sprint medley relay. Ankeny posted a time of 1:45.42.
Madetzke took the 800 in a time of 2:16.76 and later captured the 1,500 in 4:46.33. She won both races by about 3 seconds.
Madetzke teamed up with Bruening, Buckley and Isabel Squires to win the distance medley relay. The Hawkettes were clocked in 4:11.59.
“Lena really pushed through tonight with her load and showed her toughness,” Jumper said.
Bruening also won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet 3.25 inches. Teammate Mila Badillo took the high jump by clearing the bar on her second attempt at 5-2.
Maliya Cobb won the discus with a throw of 124-5. Gwyn Christensen was the runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 37-2.5.
“I’m really happy for Gwyn and Maliya qualifying for state in the throws as they have given four years to the program and worked so hard,” Jumper said. “Mila has been consistent in the high jump and came through tonight with a nice win.”
Ankeny placed second in the 4×800 relay with a time of 10:06.32. That team consisted of Ella Schulz, Vanessa Wise, Reagan Prendergast and Schramm.
Roush and Buckley teamed up with Riley Kayser and Charlee Cibula to earn a runner-up finish in the 4×200 relay. The Hawkettes were clocked in 1:43.95, losing to Valley by just .25 seconds.
“Quinn and Lilly had heavy loads tonight and helped on some relays,” Jumper said.
Buckley later anchored Ankeny to another second-place finish in the final event of the night. She teamed up with Cibula, Squires and Schramm to post a time of 3:59.23 in the 4×400 relay.
“Overall it was a super night,” Jumper said. “The coaching staff did a great job preparing their event groups, and the girls executed our game plan for each event. Now it’s time to recover and give our best effort at state.”
Valley also won the boys’ crown with 199 points. The two-time defending state champion Hawks won five events, including four relays, and finished with 137 points.
“I think as a team we accomplished what we wanted,” said Ankeny senior Isaiah Smith. “We checked all the boxes and qualified in a lot of events. Truly that’s what districts is all about–just checking the box and getting qualified.”
Smith won the 800 in 1:55.14, the fastest time across all of Class 4A on Thursday. He edged Kuma Gutema of Sioux City North by .46 seconds.
The two runners later battled again in the 1,600, where Gutema pulled away for the victory in 4:22.03. Smith was the runner-up in 4:25.11.
Smith anchored the Hawks to an easy win in the distance medley relay. He teamed up with Finn McClure, Owen Fischer and Quin Somers to post a time of 3:34.88, finishing more than 5 seconds ahead of runner-up Council Bluffs Lewis Central.
“I certainly feel good going into state,” Smith said. “I feel that my coaches and teammates have helped a lot in my preparation, and I’m grateful to have them. This has been a good year so far, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out.”
Somers also ran on the winning 4×400 relay. He combined with Isaiah Swanson, Logan Peterson and Caden McDowell to turn in a time of 3:27.01.
McDowell earlier teamed up with Gideon Miller, Jackson Kaiser and Cody Banks to win the 4×800 relay. The Hawks were clocked in 8:15.70.
Ankeny’s other triumph came in the shuttle hurdle relay. The foursome of Jack Romig, Hayden Carlson, Sam Madsen and Norman Ha posted a time of 58.40 seconds.
Carlson later suffered a rare loss in the 110 hurdles, where he placed second in 14.56–finishing .09 seconds behind Miciah LeLaCheur of Valley. However, the Drake Relays champion still automatically qualified for state.
Madsen was third in that event in 14.85. He also advanced to state on a time basis.
Nathan Lee earned a runner-up finish in the shot put to qualify for state. He recorded a throw of 50-11 on his next-to-last attempt.
The Hawks placed second in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1:34.64, losing to Valley by just .06 seconds. That team was comprised of McClure, Fischer, Somers and Swanson.
Ankeny took third in the 4×200 relay. The quartet of McClure, Treyton Grossman, Cooper McDowell and Fischer posted a time of 1:28.49 to qualify for state.
Grossman and Cooper McDowell also ran on the third-place 4×100 relay that advanced as well. They teamed up with Madsen and Carlson for a time of 42.46 seconds.
