J-Hawks match all-time Iowa best in 400 relay

DES MOINES - Lucy Schneekloth cried on Morgan Meese's shoulder in the media room Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

'It was our last Drake Relays race together,” Schneekloth said, a tear drizzling down her left cheek. 'It was a great ending.”

It sure was.

Seniors Schneekloth and Meese joined juniors Abilene Ranschau and Jasmine Blue and matched an all-time Iowa best in the girls' 400-meter relay. The foursome from Cedar Rapids Jefferson finished in 47.55 seconds, matching the standard set by Des Moines Roosevelt in 2012.

Schneekloth fought to stay composed as she sat in the blocks before the race.

'It hit me then that this is our last race together at Drake,” she said.

After the gun went off, though, it was all business. The J-Hawks won the race by about a half-second over runner-up Waukee, and the rest of the pack was far behind.

'There was nobody in my sight when I had the baton,” said Meese, who ran third. 'I handed off to Jasmine, and I started counting ... 1, 2, 3 ... before the Waukee girl went by.

'Then I just sprinted to the finish line as fast as possible.”

A celebration beckoned. It was the second of the weekend; the J-Hawks won the 800 relay on Friday.

This foursome consists of four distinct personalities.

'We're all so different, but when we're on the track, we come together and we're the same person,” Meese said.

'We trust each other,” Blue said. 'And we wanted to do this for each other, for Coach (Bill Calloway), for our other teammates.”

There are three weeks of training before the J-Hawks return for the state meet.

'We can go even lower,” Schneekloth said.

DRAKE RELAYS: GIRLS RESULTS

3,200 relay - 1. Davenport Assumption (Schumacher, Rohlf, King, Ripslinger), 9:20.99; 2. Linn-Mar, 9:27.74; 3. Waukee, 9:30.49; 4. Gilbert, 9:39.26; 5. Muscatine, 9:42.99; 6. West Des Moines Valley, 9:45.41; 7. Fort Madison, 9:46.03; 8. Des Moines Roosevelt, 9:47.93.

Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Waukee (Schau, Nelson, Gray, Modrell), 1:03.55; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:04.03; 3. Urbandale, 1:05.35; 4. Clear Creek Amana, 1:06.88.

1,500 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 4:31.09; 2. Trina Moreno (Urbandale), 4:42.19; 3. Abby Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), 4:43.24; 4. Gwynne Wright (Pekin), 4:44.71; 5. McKenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley), 4:44.76; 6. Kate Smith (Ankeny Centennial), 4:44.85; 7. Ellie Friesen (Osage), 4:46.11; 8. Megan Schott (Des Moines Roosevelt), 4:46.52.

400 hurdles - 1. Sarah Plock (Iowa City High), 1:01.22; 2. Carly Donahue (Pleasant Valley), 1:02.89; 3. Erika Lewis (Waukee), 1:03.23; 4. Kaleigh Haus (Carlisle) 1:03.60; 5. Valerie Welch (Iowa City West), 1:05.72; 6. Liz Miklus (Saydel), 1:05.81; 7. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 1:06.90; 8. Aleenah Marcucci (Northeast), 1:14.52.

400 relay - 1. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (Schneekloth, Ranschau, Meese, Blue), 47.55 (ties Drake record and all-time Iowa best); 2. Waukee, 48.07; 3. Pleasant Valley, 49.47; 4. Urbandale, 49.48; 5. Des Moines East, 49.69; 6. Boone, 49.76; 7. Southeast Polk, 49.80; 8. Ankeny Centennial, 50.32.

1,600 relay - 1. Pleasant Valley (Donahue, Whigham, Banks, Swanson), 3:55.49; 2. Davenport Assumption, 3:56.21; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:56.27; 4. Waukee, 4:03.89; 5. Southeast Polk, 4:04.43; 6. Iowa City West, 4:05.86; 7. Muscatine, 4:08.70.

DRAKE RELAYS: BOYS RESULTS

3,200 relay - 1. Pleasant Valley (Sommer, Zimmer, Moss, Dixon), 7:53.84; 2. Johnston, 7:55.75; 3. West Des Moines Valley, 7:57.25; 4. Linn-Mar, 7:58.00; 5. Ames, 8:03.33; 6. Mount Vernon, 8:04.33; 7. Iowa City West, 8:05.40; 8. Cedar Falls, 8:06.52.

Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Waukee (Renchaw, Brown, Gray, Wessels), 56.62; 2. Linn-Mar, 57.69; 3. Mount Pleasant, 57.98.

1,600 - 1. Ryan Schweizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 4:18.18; 2. Josh Yeager (Center Point-Urbana), 4:20.21; 3. Karson Sommer (Pleasant Valley), 4:21.89; 4. Josh Borwick (Johnston), 4:22.61; 5. Greg Rinn (West Des Moines Valley), 4:22.85; 6. Eric Lenz (Tipton), 4:23.58; 7. Atem Akok (Ames), 4:23.94; 8. Tysen VanDraska (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 4:25.27.

400 hurdles - 1. Jacob Smith (West Burlington-Notre Dame), 52.55; 2. Pat Gray (Waukee), 53.90; 3. Nick Kennicker (Northeast), 53.90; 4. Wyatt Rhoads (Gilbert), 54.57; 5. JoJo Frost (Center Point-Urbana), 54.83; 6. Clayton Sommers (Saydel), 54.99; 7. Cole Phillips (Mount Pleasant), 58.44; 8. David Jellings (North Fayette Valley), 59.93.

400 relay - 1. West Burlington-Notre Dame (T.Williams, Wrede, Trousil, X.Williams), 42.87; 2. Johnston, 43.00; 3. Glenwood, 43.06; 4. Cedar Falls, 43.16; 5. Cedar Rapids Washington, 43.40; 6. Linn-Mar, 43.46; 7. West Des Moines Dowling, 43.59.

1,600 relay - 1. Waukee (Vogel, Allen, Schneiter, Gray), 3:19.94; 2. Cedar Falls, 3:20.06; 3. Albia, 3:21.41; 4. West Des Moines Dowling, 3:21.91; 5. Urbandale, 3:23.27; 6. Cedar Rapids Washington, 3:25.68; 7. Davenport Central, 3:26.43.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com