West forges ahead in 4A girls' race

DES MOINES -- If Micaela Haight was, say, a Great Dane, she probably would have been euthanized.

It would have been the "humane" thing to do to a sufferer of hip dysplasia.

Haight underwent surgery for the condition in November. She was on crutches for two months. She's got pins and screws inside her.

"A nice scar, too," she said.

And that's why Haight wept after her conversation with throwing coach Ron Wymer.

"He said he didn't know if I'd be able to throw 40 feet this year," Haight said.

Instead, she nailed a throw of 43 feet, 9 1/2 inches to win the Class 4A girls' shot put championship at the state track meet Friday at Drake Stadium.

It was worth the rehabilitation.

"Wymer said I deserved this. I worked so hard to come back," said Haight, who will throw at the University of Iowa.

Haight's title, earned when her fourth throw surpassed Margo Shandri of Urbandale (43-7 3/4), highlighted a big day for Iowa City West.

Jessica Gehrke claimed the long jump on her final attempt and the Women of Troy captured the 800-meter relay on their way to taking the lead in the 4A team standings.

With 10 of 19 events in the books, West leads with 55 points. West Des Moines Dowling is second with 36, Iowa City High third with 32.

Gehrke and Ames' Emily Wandling played tug-of-war with the long jump lead before Gehrke won it with a final leap of 18-2 1/4.

"It was really exciting," she said. "My heart was pumping."

Gehrke, who is winding down a brilliant prep career before leaving for Florida International University in the fall, spoke with Coach Mike Parker before her final jump.

"He just told me to do it like everything I've done, to get my speed up and float in the air the best that I could," Gehrke said.

West's Rebecca Tanner, Chloe Hoagland,  McKennan Cronbaugh and Shahana Williams claimed the 4x200 in 1:42.54, a 4A state-meet record and the third fastest time in state history.

"People said we weren't going to win this," Cronbaugh said.

Such as?

"We're not naming names," Hoagland added.

West came into the event seeded third.

"This is where it counts," Williams said.

Cronbaugh, Hoagland and Williams combined with Gehrke to improve on West's all-time Iowa best in the 400 relay, running 47.89 seconds in the preliminaries.