Central girls track and field continues upward trajectory with eyes on state
Hannah Asche claimed third place in the 400 at last week’s meet at Waukon. The Warriors placed sixth as a team. (Photos by Bev Hamann)
Lexi Loan and Central’s shuttle hurdle relay team took fourth in the Waukon meet.
Brooke Tieden represented Central in the long jump at Waukon.
Delaney Scherf accepts the baton from Reese Berns in the distance medley relay at Waukon.
Grace Kuehl led off the distance medley relay for Central at Waukon.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central girls track and field team competed in two meets last week, starting with the Waukon Indian Co-Ed Relays on April 26, an event coach Martha Bauder described as brutal.
“This was perhaps one of the top three most brutal meets in all my years. Partly due to the frigid temps and breeze but also because it was co-ed and went from 4 p.m. to almost 10:30 p.m.,” Bauder explained.
Despite this, the Warriors managed a sixth place finish with 66.66 points, ran some personal record times and even took home a few victories.
One of the personal records was achieved by Tori Sylvester, who finished sixth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.81, which was good for three points. Teammate Haley Mueller finished 10th.
Jaydin Dettman and Grace Kuehl both finished inside the top 10 in the 200, with Dettman securing third and Kuehl battling for ninth.
Dettman returned for the 400 dash alongside Hannah Asche, and the two easily finished among the leaders. Asche claimed third, slightly ahead of Dettman’s fourth. They earned a combined 11 points for the Central.
The 800 meter run featured Delaney Scherf, who finished eighth for one point.
The top 10s continued in the hurdles, with Taylor Moser placing seventh in the 100 event, while Lexi Loan ran to 10th. Kaitlyn Wiley ran a personal record 1:14.76 in the 400 hurdles, for third place, and Moser crossed the line seventh.
The field events also produced some top 10s, beginning with Aly Feickert’s sixth place in the discus with a mark of 80-07. Staci Herman finished 15th. In the high jump, Loan and Brooke Tieden tied for eighth with a height of 4-02.00. Loan returned in the long jump, finishing seventh with a season best 14-06.50 distance, while Gracie Cummer came in 14th. Scherf was the top Warrior in the shot put, finishing 10th, and Feickert was a close 11th.
But, as has been the case this season, it was the relays where the team really excelled.
The Warriors won the 4x400, as Dettman, Scherf, Wiley and Asche beat the pack by almost three seconds.
Kuehl, Mueller, Wiley and Asche finished third in the 4x100 and Central added a fourth place effort in the 400 meter shuttle hurdle relay with Loan, Moser, Cummer and Wiley. The 800 sprint medley of Kuehl, Mueller, Asche and Dettman was also fourth.
The 1600 distance medley was fifth thanks to Kuehl, Mueller, Reese Berns and Scherf, while the 4x800 finished sixth 6th.
The Warriors then competed in the MFL MarMac Girls Invitational on April 28, where they finished fourth with 49 total points. Compared to the weather at the Waukon meet, Bauder said this event felt like “Hawaii on the visitor side bleachers.”
“This meet was much better weather wise…because of how bad our weather has been all season. We did not have as many personal records this time, as this meet is just the regular varsity participants with no JV entries available,” Bauder said.
The Warriors had a rough time in the 100 meter dash, as Caitlyn Druecker and Kimberly Suhr finished a respective 13th and 14th, but they rebounded a bit in the 200 with a 10th place finish by Mueller. Brandi Herman came in 21st.
The 400 was more to the Warriors’ liking, as Scherf finished third, a little over a second behind first place, and Staci Herman crossed sixth. Alexis Thiese scored a 10th place finish in the 1500 meter run, while Aspen Rork finished 12th. In the 3000, Coral Rork took fifth.
The 100 meter hurdles had Cummer claiming 10th place and Madylen Gregerson 11th. In the 400 hurdles, the Warriors came away with a third place run by Wiley and ninth for Berns.
Once again, the relays were a highlight for Central, who took home the victory in the 4x100 with Sylvester, Kuehl, Mueller and Asche, edging Clayton Ridge by less than half a second. Central also won the 4x200 with Sylvester, Dettman, Kuehl and Asche, who ran two seconds faster than the second place squad from Central Springs.
The 4x400 wasn’t a victory for the Warriors, but they still ran to fifth, and the 4x800 was a fourth place effort.
Additionally, the Warriors just missed out on the top spot in the 800 sprint medley relay with a third place finish about two seconds behind first place Turkey Valley. Sylvester, Mueller, Asche and Dettman ran the race in 2:01.95.
In the 4x100, the group of Loan, Berns, Moser and Wiley finished in 5th. Finally, the 1600 distance medley placed ninth.
“We continue to gather stats and info to help make our decisions for our conference and district line ups with the goal of trying to win or to be in the top two of each of those meets. We also continue to monitor our best chances for events that could qualify for the state meet,” Bauder said. “Currently, we are pretty solid in the 4x400 meter relay, but definitely have several other good chances as well. Depends a lot on what other teams do with their team members and a lot on us staying healthy these next few weeks.”
The girls return to action May 2, at Edgewood-Colesburg, followed by the May 5 Upper Iowa Conference meet at Postville.
