Central girls peaking as conference track and field meet approaches
Layla Embretson finished second in the discus at MFL MarMac. Her mark of 95-00 feet was nearly eight feet further than her previous best. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
One of the standout performances at the MFL MarMac meet was achieved by Coral Rork in the 3000-meter run, which she won in a time of 13:16.35. That was 12 seconds faster than her previous best time, and her fourth personal record in the last five races. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
Taylor Moser placed third in the 400-meter hurdles at last week's Waukon Relays. (Photo by Bev Hamann)
Reese Berns catapulted to sixth place in the long jump in the meet at Waukon. (Photo by Bev Hamann)
The Warriors exchange the baton in the 800 sprint medley relay at MFL MarMac on April 25. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
Hannah Friedlein competed in the 1500 at the Waukon Relays. (Photo by Bev Hamann)
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central girls track and field team had one of its best meets in years at the Waukon Indian Relays on April 23, earning 13 top-10 finishes across 11 events, with nine personal records and showing “improvements,” said coach Martha Bauder. The Warriors finished sixth overall with 26 points.
The 100-meter dash featured Staci Herman in ninth place in 14.68 seconds, while the 800-meter run had Alexis Thiese crossing the finish line fourth. The Warriors had two runners in the 3000, with Coral Rork coming in fifth and Hannah Friedlein eighth. Both runners achieved personal records.
Taylor Moser ran both hurdle events, coming away with fourth place in the 100-meter in 17.66 seconds, just over a second out of first. Reese Berns was ninth in 18.57 seconds, which was a personal record time. Moser also finished third in the 400-meter hurdles, in 1:14.93, about four seconds behind first place.
Central competed in a handful of relays, including the 4x100 with the team of Madelyn Gregerson, Thiese, Lillian Becwar and Berns, who finished seventh. They also competed in the 4x100.25 meter weightperson relay, with Layla Embretson, Allison Herr, Isabella Schmidt and Audrey Palas taking second. In the 800 sprint medley, Alivia Wiley, Becwar, Herman and Thiese placed sixth, and Berns, Gregerson, Wiley and Moser earned fourth in the shuttle hurdle relay.
In the field events, Berns put up a personal record in the long jump, with a distance of 14-04.00 to finish sixth. Embretson 10th in the discus and Herman 12th.
“I think one good highlight would be, after the meet was over, the team was having a great time taking pictures with the nice sunset, reminding us that there’s more to being on a team than winning and losing. The opportunity to be with a great group of girls is right up there too,” Bauder said.
The Warriors’ next meet was at MFL MarMac on April 25, which featured 14 top 10s and four wins in 14 events. Central placed sixth overall with 38 points, and Bauder called the meet a “good effort by everyone.”
The sprint races had several Warriors, starting with Herman, Becwar and Palas in the 100. Herman finished ninth in 15.54 seconds, followed by Becwar in 12th and Palas 16th. Palas was back for the 200 with a 12th-place mark, and Schmidt crossed line 16th. The 400 had Thiese coming in fourth in a personal record time of 1:09.60, while Friedlein finished 12th.
Zoey Hyde won all three wheelchair events, including the 101-yard, 201-yard and 801-yard races.
One of the standout performances of the meet was achieved by Rork in the 3000-meter run, which she won in a time of 13:16.35. That was 12 seconds faster than her previous best time, and her fourth personal record in the last five races.
“She’s currently seeded sixth in our district and third in our conference after we take away multiple South Winn runners who are ahead of her but won’t be able to compete due to the two-person per school limitation,” Bauder said.
Friedlein finished the 3000 in fourth place and was sixth in the 1500, just behind Embretson
Berns shined in the hurdle events, coming away with personal records in both the 100- and 400-meter races. She finished sixth in the 100 in 18.22 seconds and was third in the 400 in 1:18.86. Gregerson also ran the 100-meter hurdles, placing 11th.
The Warriors competed in two relays, starting with the 4x400, where Thiese, Becwar, Gregerson and Herman finished fifth. The sprint medley with Gregerson, Schmidt, Becwar and Embretson placed eighth.
The field events had Berns and Emelie Odberg in the long jump, with Berns leaping to ninth and Odberg in 12th. In the shot put, Allison Herr finished 20th and Schmidt was 21st. The discus featured two personal records, first by Embretson, who finished second with a mark of 95-00, nearly eight feet further than her previous best.
According to Bauder, that “temporarily bumped her up to second in the conference and third in the district.”
Herr achieved a personal record with a throw of 60-11 and finished 15th, while Herman placed 13th.
Next for the Warriors was a meet at Ed-Co on April 29. The team will compete in the Upper Iowa Conference meet at South Winn on May 2.
