Rethwisch breaks through; Little Hawks win 4x800

DES MOINES -- Rebecca Rethwisch crossed the finish line with wide eyes and her jaw dropped.

She is a champion at Drake Stadium at last.

Always a contender, Rethwisch broke through with a championship Saturday morning, anchoring Iowa City High to the Drake Relays girls' 3,200-meter relay title.

"Every year I come here, and I want a Drake championship, a state championship ... something. Every single year, it seems something happens and I get second or something.

"I crossed the finish line and thought, 'Oh gosh, it finally happened.' "

City's quartet of Meg Richardson, Lori Lines, Ellen Carman and Rethwisch were clocked in 9 minutes, 20.25 seconds. Bettendorf was second in 9:20.94.

"Our coaches said we could do it, and we believed them," Carman said.

Rethwisch and Richardson are cross country and track veterans. Carman is a freshman, a rookie.

"I was so nervous this morning, I felt sick," she said. "The other girls told me, it's just another meet, on a blue track."

City High was at or near the front throughout.

"I tried to get ahead as far as possible and see what happens," Richardson said.

Rethwisch took the lead for good with about 400 meters to go, then held off Bettendorf anchor Mahnee Watts.

City High's title was the only one for the area -- girls or boys -- Saturday.

Cedar Rapids Washington entered the finals of the shuttle hurdle relay as the No. 2 seed, then settled for third in the finals. Urbandale won it in a Relays-record 1:03.65. Waukee (1:03.83) and Washington (1:04.50) also broke the old Drake mark.

Brooke Foreman, Taylor Vogel, Alissa Oney and Layloni Beard competed for the Warriors, who led halfway through.

“I didn't expect to be out that fast," Foreman said.

Washington's first shuttle experience this season produced a time of 1:09, and the Warriors have shed time ever since.

“We didn't start running the shuttle until midseason," Beard said. "I think those other teams are catchable as long as we keep running the way we can."

Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East became the first girl ever to win three individual events in one Relays. She captured the 1,500 in 4:29.26, adding to her titles in the 3,000 and 800.

Alex Gochenour of Logan-Magnolia had an opportunity join Houlihan as a triple winner, but we denied by teammate Karen Hutson in the 400 hurdles. Hutson was clocked in 1:02.33.

Holly Salzbrenner of Mount Vernon-Lisbon and Foreman were third and fourth.

"It wasn't too bad," Salzbrenner said. "I really tried to work through my first 300 meters."

Des Moines Roosevelt established a new Drake record and all-time Iowa best in the 400 relay, in 47.79 seconds. Iowa City West and Washington were third and fourth.

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