Cascade girls take 800 relay with freshman anchor

DES MOINES — Cascade's Rachel Trumm could sense runners on either side of her as she went down the homestretch.

All of a sudden, she started to feel her legs give out.

Trumm was worried as she neared the finish line in the Class 2A 800 relay that she might not have enough steps left in her to finish it off, but used one final spurt to give Cascade a win in 1:45.22.

Her momentum sent her falling on her hands and knees, but she didn't stay down for long.

'I knew I had my team to help me out and they got me a great lead, but my legs just gave out at the end,' Trumm said with a wide smile. 'We're lucky.'

Cascade edged Madrid and defending champion Western Christian at the finish line with Trumm's push and gave the Cougars some much-needed points in the team race. But she deflected most of the credit to her three teammates.

The foursome boasts two juniors, a sophomore and freshman, giving confidence that they can put themselves in the same position next spring.

The squad wasn't looking too far into the future though. Winning a state title isn't a moment that was lost on any of them.

'It means a lot,' said Annie Meyer. 'We've worked really hard for this and it's just great to be down here with everyone. And I guess winning a state title is pretty cool.'

After collecting a state title — and meet record — in the 3,200-relay Thursday, the Monticello girls came back to claim second in the distance-medley relay in 4:11.65. Des Moines Christian won out of heat one in 4:10.43.

Senior Paige Holub ran her second 800 split in as many days, running 2:16 in the medley.

'It was just all in my head and I knew I could do it,' Holub said. 'I took a deep breath and went for it and it was just all I had to do to believe in myself, and I did. It just takes you the distance when you have your mind in it.'

• 2A BOYS: Monticello wins 1,600 medley from second heat

Tipton's Caitlin Himes was third in the discus, throwing 129 feet, 5 inches. KP-WC's Kiana Phelps set an all-time Iowa record in her win, throwing 172-01, which is also the third best toss in the nation this season.

STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET: CLASS 2A GIRLS

Teams (through 10 events) — T-1. Cascade, 22; T-1. Northeast, 22; T-1. KP-WC, 22; 4. Monticello, 21.50; 5. Des Moines Christian, 20; 6. Pekin, 18; 7. Osage, 17.50; T-8. Durant, 16; T-8. Pocahontas, 16; T-10. Western Christian, 15, T-10. Albia, 15

Results (top 3, plus area)

Discus — 1. Kiana Phelps (KP-WC), 172-01*; 2. Kenzie Sullivan (Pocahontas), 131-07; 3. Caitlin Himes (Tipton), 129-05; 8. Haley Poula (West Branch), 116-11

High jump — 1. Sydney Durbin (OA-BCIG), 5-04; 2. Mary Shepard (Albia), 5-03; T-3. Cori DeJong (Western Christian), 5-01; T-3. Hannah Isley (Albia), 5-01; T-3. Kaysha Dodson (Pekin), 5-01; T-8. Rachel Gadient (Monticello), 5-01

400 hurdles — 1. Aleenah Marcucci (Northeast), 1:04.08; 2. Hannah Wagner (Central Springs), 1:05.27; 3. Jayci Vos (Monroe PCM), 1:05.69

800-relay — 1. Cascade (C. Rickels, A. Ryan, A. Meyer, R. Trumm), 1:45.22; 2. Madrid, 1:45.38; 3. Western Christian, 1:45.46

Distance medley relay — 1. Des Moines Christian (D. Evans, O. Mars, A. Bakke, O. Covey), 4:10.43; 2. Monticello, 4:11.65; 3. Cascade, 4:12.01; 5. North Cedar, 4:13.63

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