Boer gets her own championship moment

DES MOINES — Maddie Boer faced the clock and turned her back on the race that decided her fate as a potential state champion.

'I didn't watch any of it,' she said. 'I just watched the seconds tick away.'

When the clock finally stopped and the outcome determined, Boer raised her arms.

A senior at North-Linn, Boer emerged from Heat 2 as the Class 1A 400-meter hurdles champion. She ran in 1:05.16, then waited as the fast-heat competitors took their turn. Kenzie Keune of Sioux Central was the best of that pack in 1:05.41.

'It's kind of cool to win an individual event,' said Boer, who has been on six winning relays in her career. 'It's kind of cool to do something for myself, earn something on my own. I'm proud of it.'

North-Linn also won the distance medley relay title and stayed in the thick of a three-team 1A title chase.

Hudson leads the way with 38 points, followed by Pekin (35) and North-Linn (34). The final nine events will be decided Saturday.

Boer dabbled with the 400 hurdles as a freshman, then stepped away from it.

'I wasn't very fond of it,' she said. 'I didn't know if I was strong enough.'

But with team points at a premium, Boer returned to the event.

'In order to score more points, Coach (Bob) Mudd had to do something clever,' Boer said. 'He thought maybe this might be the key.'

Cassie Rawson, Kayla Neubauer, Sydney Mertens and Nicole Miller got the Lynx off on the right path Friday, capturing the distance medley in 4:12.04.

As was the case Thursday in the 3,200-meter relay, Miller didn't have to chase. She just had to maintain.

'The field was a lot better today than it was in the 4-by-8,' said Miller, who answered a challenge by Elkader Central's Haley Schroeder and pulled away. 'On the screen (at the northeast corner of the track), I could see (Schroeder) behind me on the first lap. On the second lap, I couldn't see her any more and I figured maybe she fell back a little.'

Central finished in 4:16.86.

Miller has brought the Lynx from behind several times in her career, which now features nine relay wins. It hasn't been necessary this weekend, yet.

'Even if we're not in the lead, it's good knowing we've got that good anchor,' Newbauer said.

North-Linn also placed fifth in the 800 relay Friday and has numerous scoring items set for Saturday. Then again, so do Hudson and Pekin.

Marissa Ward of Iowa Valley was the 1A high jump runner-up, clearing a career-best 5-5.

'I'm just ecstatic,' she said. 'I'm thankful I was able to come back after the 400 lows and clear that.'

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