Taylor answers; Decorah prevails

DES MOINES - Amanda Taylor gave up the lead, and questions raced across her mind concerning her response.

'I thought, ‘What do I do now?' Taylor said. 'Should I stop? Should I keep going?”

She kept going. She got going faster.

Taylor answered, regained her lead and anchored Decorah to the Class 3A title in the girls' distance medley relay at the state track and field meet Friday morning at Drake Stadium.

The Vikings' effort of 4 minutes, 4.01 seconds ranks No. 9 all-time in Iowa. Kayla Quandahl, Tess Olinger and Taylor Schuring ran the first three legs.

'This was definitely a goal,” Olinger said. 'We knew we had the runners to do it. We just had to get it done.”

Taylor anchored in 2:14.9. She surrendered the lead to Brianna Mueller of Adel ADM with about 300 meters to go, but regained the advantage before the final stretch and won going away. ADM was clocked in 4:07.49.

And moments afterward, it was if Taylor hadn't run at all.

'She doesn't get tired,” Olinger said.

Williamsburg was third.

Davenport Assumption continues to lead the 3A team standings comfortably. The two-time defending-champion Knights have 49 points through 10 events. Boone is second with 33, followed by Solon (32).

The final nine events will be contested Saturday.

Solon's Shelby Gunnells repeated as the shot put champion. She took the lead with a first throw of 43-4 3/4, then surpassed it at 45-3 1/2 on her second attempts.

She scratched the next four throws, but wasn't threatened.

'I really wanted (the 3A state-meet record of 45-5), so I'm a little upset,” Gunnells said. 'It wasn't a bad day, but I really wanted to end it off with a bang.”

Mild disappointment was part of the reason for Gunnells' tears afterward. Accomplishment was another.

'I'm kind of sad because it's over,” she said. 'It's been a great four years.”

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