Knights Win Tipton State Qualifying Meet, Send 11 Events To State

Tipton's Sam DeMoss competes in the shuttle hurdle relay event at the state qualifying meet last week in Tipton.  North Cedar will send 11 events to the state meet this week.  Photo by Darren Miller.

Solid Tigers Season Continues with 5 state events

TIPTON — The North Cedar Knight girl’s track and field team looks to finish in the top-5 in class 2A at this week’s state track meet at Drake Stadium after qualifying 11 events out of the Tipton state qualifying meet last Thursday.  The Knights will take the most events in school history to the state meet and have high hopes for top finishes in many of those events.  The Tipton Tigers will get to cap off a solid track season with five events going to the state meet.  The Tigers have had a steady incline this season and the fruits of their labors are being realized with the events going to state.

North Cedar won the state qualifying meet, racking up 148 team points and winning seven events.  The Kngihts were the only team to crack 100 team points at the meet.  Northeast Goose Lake was the meet runner-up with 82.5 points followed by Mediapolis in third (79.5) and Tipton in fourth with 79 points.

Of North Cedar’s seven event wins, the Knights won four relays and three individual events.  Two of the three individual event wins came with another Knight finishing second.

The Knights finished first and second in the high jump and the 400-meter dash.  In the high jump, Darby Hawtrey won the event with a best jump of 5-0.  Lexi Crist was second with a best jump of 4-10.

In the 400-meter dash, Grace Proesch won the event in 58.56 while teammate Cassie Cox was second in 59.13.  

North Cedar won the 4x100-meter relay in a time of 52.28 with the team of Brittyn Wilhau, Darby Hawtrey, Andrea Wachendorf and Lexi Crist.  The Knights won the 4X200-meter relay with the team of Darby Hawtrey, Lexi Crist, Brittyn Wilhau and Martha Jesuit in a time of 1:50.88.  The Knights won the 4x400-meter relay event with the team of Martha Jesuit, Cassie Cox, Tessa Fields and Grace Proesch in a time of 4:04.95.  The Knights also won the sprint medley relay with the team of Brittyn Wilhau, Martha Jesuit, Cassie Cox and Grace Proesch in a time of 1:51.70.

The other North Cedar individual event win came from Proesch in the 200-meter dash in 26.59.

North Cedar will have events competing on all three days of the state meet.  On Thursday, Crock throws in the shot put at 2:00.  At 4:20, Proesch runs in the 200-meter dash prelims and at 7:00 she runs in the 400-meter dash prelims.  The Knights cap the first day off with their shuttle hurdle relay team running at 7:40.

On Friday, Nicole Sander throws the discus at 2:00 and Hawtrey and Crist compete in the high jump at 4:30.  Tessa Fields runs in the 400-meter hurdles at 5:20 and two relays compete in prelims with the 4X100 at 6:20 and the 4X400 at 7:00.

Saturday, the Knights sprint medley runs at 9:12 and Cassie Cox runs in the 800-meter run at 11:20.  If there are any relays that qualify for the finals, those events are also on Saturday.

Tipton won Kenzie Mente won two individual titles at the meet in the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter events.  The Tiger senior won the 1,500-meter run in a season best time of 5:16.07 and won the 3,000-meter run in 11:30.30.

Jamie Kofron won the discus and was second in the shot put events to earn two spots at state.  Kofron threw a season best 125-feet, 10-inches in the discus to win the event.  In the shot put, Kofron had a best throw of 39-feet, 4.5-inches to advance to state.

The other Tipton event to qualify for the state meet was the Tigers 4X800-meter relay team.  The team of Tiffany Schott, Alyssa Elijah, Kenzie Mente and Amanda Smith were runners-up in the event in a time of 10:41.93 to punch their ticket to the state meet.

Bryanna Simmermaker had a pair of top-10 finishes in throwing events.  Simmermaker was 6th in the discus and 10th in the shot put.  Other top-10 finishes for Tipton were from Hunter Humphrey 3rd in teh 100-meter dash; Amanda Smith, 5th in the 800-meter run; the Tigers shuttle hurdle relay team of Samantha DeMoss, Brittney Ford, Ashlyn Curry and Tiffany Schott were 5th, and Tiffany Schott was 7th in the 400-meter hurdles.  The Tigers 4X400-meter relay team also placed 7th.

Several Tigers set season best times at the meet in their respective events.  Sommer Daniel set a new season best in the 400-meter dash in 1:04.48 and placed 6th.  Ashlyn Curry placed 13th in the 100-meter hurdles, setting a new season best time of 18.77.  Erica Shumaker set a new season high in the 800-meter run in 2:46.23 in placing 8th in the event.  Madison Conrad placed 12th in the 1,500-meter run in 5:58.50 to set a new best time in the event for her this season.  The Tigers 4X100-meter relay team that placed 4th lowered their best time of the year to 53.25.  That team was made up of Emily Hermsen, Sommer Daniel, Karlee Kamberling and Hunter Humphrey.

Wilton Pair To Compete At State Meet

A pair of Wilton girls’ will be among the throng of high school athletes this week decending on Drake Stadium in Des Moines for the state track and field meet.  Senior Kaylee Ford and sophomore Kortney Drake each qualified for the state meet in two events out of the Tipton state qualifying meet last Thursday.

Ford will cap a stellar running career for the Beavers in both cross-country and track with a pair of events going to state.  Ford, who will run at Indian Hills Community College next year, battled Tipton senior Kenzie Mente in both the 1,500 and the 3,000-meter events.  Ford and Mente were neck-and-neck in the 3,000-meter run and separated themselves early from the rest of the field of runners.  The race was a two person race early and in the end, Ford placed second to Mente in a time of 11:32.18 to earn an automatic trip to state in the event.  North Cedar’s Carly Montz was third, nearly a minute off of the pace set by Mente and Ford.  

Ford also qualified in the 1,500-meter run after placing third in the event.  In another closely contested race, Ford, Mente and Allie Coates of Mediapolis battled for two spots.  Mente and Ford led for two of the laps, but Coates edged to second place after three laps.  Coates led Ford heading into the final turn and even with 50 meters left in the race, but the Beaver senior found another gear and sped past Coates at the finish line to narrowly edge her for the second, auotmatic spot out of the event.  Ford finished in a time of 5:17.39.  Coates finished in a time of 5:17.53.  Ford is at state, Coates is not, having missed out on one of the eight wildcard spots.

Ford will run at 2:52 on Saturday in the 1,500-meter run and at 3:20 on Thursday in the 3,200-meter run.

Drake qualified for state in the 200-meter and 400-meter dash events.  Drake was third in each event and earned one of the eight statewide wildcard spots after having one of the next best eight times in the state.  Drake was third in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.86 and third in the 200-meter dash in 27.58.  

Drake will run in the 400-meter dash prelims on Thursday night at 7:00.  She is in heat 2, lane 5.  She will run in the 200-meter dash prelims on Thursday as well at 4:20.  She will be in heat 1, lane 8 of the event.

Wilton scored 41 team points at the meet and placed 9th in the team race.  In field events, Drake placed 7th in the long jump and Emily Lange placed 8th in the high jump to lead the Beavers field events.

In relay events, the Beavers top relay finish came from its sprint medley relay team and a 5th place finish.  The team of McKinnley Pittman, Aubrey Putman, Linsey Ford and Drake were 5th in a time of 1:55.57.

State Qualifying Meet - Class 2A Tipton

Thursday, May 11

At Tipton

Girl’s Team Scores: 1. North Cedar 148, 2. NE Goose Lake 82.5, 3. Mediapolis 79.5, 4. Tipton 79, 5. Louisa-Muscatine 61.5, 6. West Branch 60, 7. Camanche 52, 8. Highland 47.5, 9. Wilton 41, 10. Columbus Junction 32, 11. Iowa City Regina 27, 12. Wapello 26.

Field Event Results:

High Jump: 1. Darby Hawtrey (NC) 5-0, 2. Lexi Crist (NC) 4-10, 8. Emily Lange (WIL) 4-6.

Long Jump: 1. Lani Hillard (LM) 16-07.50, 2. Shania Boyd (CJ) 16-05.5, 7. Kortney Drake (WIL) 15-05, 8. Aubrey Putman (WIL) 14-11, 12. Kassidie Galloway (NC) 13-08.50.

Discus: 1. Jamie Kofron (T) 125-10, 2. Courtney Schnoor (CAM) 121-0, 3. Nicole Sander (NC) 111-03, 5. Callie Meyer (NC) 107-0, 6. Bryanna Simmermaker (T) 97-04, 9. Karrissa Storjohann (WIL) 88-02, 19. Hallie Speed (WIL) 64-06.

Shot Put: 1. Courtney Schnoor (CAM) 40-8, 2. Jamie Kofron (T) 39-04.5, 4. Leah Crock (NC) 36-05, 5. Nicole Sander (NC) 35-11.5, 10. Bryanna Simmermaker (T) 31-08.5, 12. Hallie Speed (WIL) 31-0.75, 13. Karrissa Storjohann (WIL) 29-03.5.

Individual Event Results:

Sprint Medley Relay: 1. North Cedar (Brittyn Wilhau, Martha Jesuit, Cassie Cox, Grace Proesch) 1:51.70, 2. Iowa City Regina (Madeline Adam, Elizabeth Klesner, Emma Corkery, Grace Swenning) 1:54.75, 5. Wilton (McKinnley Pittman, Aubrey Putman, Linsey Ford, Kortney Drake) 1:55.57, 9. Tipton (Bailie Butterbrodt, Sara Webb, Grace Nichols, Kamryn Chapman) 2:14.13.

3,000-meter run: 1. Kenzie Mente (T) 11:30.30, 2. Kaylee Ford (WIL) 11:32.18, 3. Carly Montz (NC) 12:23.55.

4X800-meter relay: 1. NE Goose Lake (Kaczinski, Hasken, Friedrichsen, Messerich) 10:30.81, 2. Tipton (Tiffany Schott, Alyssa Elijah, Kenzie Mente, Amanda Smith) 10:41.93, 7. Wilton (Abby Brown, Becca Ball, Emily Fausel, Kirsten Jurgersen) 12:28.49.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay: 1. West Branch (Koenig, Luneckas, Votroubek, Miller) 1:08.51, 2. North Cedar (Darby Hawtrey, Martha Jesuit, Andrea Wachendorf, Tessa Fields) 1:10.41, 5. Tipton (Samantha DeMoss, Britney Ford, Ashlyn Curry, Tiffany Schott) 1:12.79.

100-meter dash: 1. Lani Hillard (LM) 12.97, 2. Emily Yahnke (Highland) 13.21, 3. Hunter Humphrey (T) 13.37, 6. Brittyn Wilhau (NC) 13.65, 16. Haley Schmuecker (T) 15.21, 19. Katie Jilovic (NC) 15.36.

Distance Medley Relay: 1. NE Goose Lake (Gray, Kaczinski, Webster, Hasken) 4:27.70, 2. Wapello (Casey, Lanz, Parsons, Hank) 4:29.61, 5. North Cedar (Kiara Musser, Alyssa Higbee, Katie Thompson, Haven Brown) 4:50.20.

400-meter dash: 1. Grace Proesch (NC) 58.56, 2. Cassie Cox (NC) 59.13, 3. Kortney Drake (WIL) 1:00.86, 6. Sommer Daniel (T) 1:04.48, 7. Katie Binns (T) 1:10.86.

4X200-meter relay: 1. West Branch (Koenig, Votroubek, Luneckas, Miller) 1:48.49, 2. Louisa-Muscatine (True, Sanders, Schriener, Hillard) 1:49.98, 3. North Cedar (Darby Hawtrey, Lexi Crist, Brittyn Wilhau, Martha Jesuit) 1:50.88, 9. Wilton (McKinnley Pittman, Aubrey Putman, Emily Lange, Lexi Maurer) 1:58.43, 12. Tipton (Bailie Butterbrodt, Grace Nichols, Zoe Rezac, Bryanna Simmermaker) 2:07.39.

110-meter high hurdles: 1. Sarah Vorwerk (MEPO) 16.12, 2. Shanie Boyd (CJ) 16.49, 6. Linsey Ford (WIL) 17.59, 7. Andrea Wachendorf (NC) 17.63, 10. Samantha DeMoss (T) 18.16, 13. Ashlyn Curry (T) 18.77, 17. Morgan Sander (NC) 20.70.

800-meter run: 1. Cassie Cox (NC) 2:25.74, 2. Carly Hasken (NEGL) 2:32.91, 5. Amanda Smith (T) 2:38.20, 6. Sadie Brown (NC) 2:38.81, 8. Erica Shumaker (T) 2:46.23, 15. Abby Brown (WIL) 2:58.49.

200-meter dash: 1. Grace Proesch (NC) 26.59, 2. Lani Hillard (LM) 26.86, 3. Kortney Drake (WIL) 27.58, 17. Emma Pratt (T) 32.77, 19. Sarah Hansen (NC) 34.05, 20. Isabell Garcia (T) 34.59, 22. Brooke Doehrmann (WIL) 37.48.

400-meter hurdles: 1. Paige Miller (WB) 1:06.34, 2. Sarah Vorwerk (MEPO) 1:07.68, 3. Tessa Fields (NC) 1:09.01, 7. Tiffany Schott (T) 1:14.33, 11. Kamryn Chapman (T) 1:21.54, 12. Kayla Hildreth (WIL) 1:24.74.

1,500-meter run: 1. Kenzie Mente (T) 5:16.07, 2. Kaylee Ford (WIL) 5:17.39, 4. Carly Montz (NC) 5:43.04, 12. Madison Conrad (T) 5:58.50, 13. Sarah High (NC) 6:17.98.

4X100-meter relay: 1. North Cedar (Brittyn Wilhau, Darby Hawtrey, Andrea Wachendorf, Lexi Crist) 52.28, 2. Highland (Schneider, Hora, Thomann, Strokes) 52.50, 4. Tipton (Emily Hermsen, Sommer Daniel, Karlee Kamberling, Hunter Humphrey) 53.25, 9. Wilton (McKinnley Pittman, Aubrey Putman, Linsey Ford, Lexi Maurer) 55.91.

4X400-meter relay: 1. North Cedar (Martha Jesuit, Cassie Cox, Tessa Fields, Grace Proesch) 4:04.95, 2. West Branch (Koenig, Votroubek, Luneckas, Miller) 4:08.09, 7. Tipton (Sommer Daniel, Alyssa Elijah, Karlee Kamberling, Emily Hermsen) 4:41.15.