Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Gabby Cortez blisters the Kingston track

CEDAR RAPIDS - Her father was a distance runner. Her mother was a sprinter.

Gabby Cortez is both.

Blessed with speed and stamina, versatility and range, Cortez was the undisputed star of the J-Hawk Relays girls' track and field meet Saturday at Kingston Stadium.

The junior from Cedar Rapids Prairie won one event solo and anchored three victorious relays on a sunny 70-degree day.

'Last year was hard, not having a season,” Cortez said. 'I ran the Outdoor Carnival, but I wasn't as good as I wanted to be. I did a lot of work by myself, a lot of lifting, throughout the winter. It was something I needed.”

Cortez was Prairie's top runner at the state cross country meet in October. Now, she's a long sprinter, a middle-distance whiz. Choose your title.

Here's all she did Saturday:

She anchored Prairie's blazing 3,200-meter squad to a school record; Lindsey Barnes, Lily Johannes, Alexis Moses and Cortez broke the school record in 9:33.61. Not bad for April 3.

Johannes, Moses and Cortez ran splits of 2:22, 2:21 and 2:18.

'I got out really fast, 1:04 in the first lap,” Cortez said. 'I'm really happy with the school record.”

After winning the 200 in 26.38 seconds, Cortez anchored the 400 relay - out of the slow heat - in 49.92 seconds, then came back a few minutes later to post a 57.8-second split to bring the Hawks from behind in the 1,600 relay in 4:05.75.

As of Saturday afternoon, Prairie was ranked No. 1 in the state (all classes) in the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800, according to Varsity Bound.

That's a day.

In a 14-team competition, Solon opened some eyes by edging Cedar Falls for the title, 120.5 points to 117. Prairie was third with 110.

The Spartans and the Tigers were close all day before the Spartans clinched it with a second-place finish in the final event.

'We knew going in that we were an underdog,” Kaia Holtkamp said, probably referring to school enrollment only. 'It feels good to keep up with these teams.”

Solon had individual winners in Kiersten Conway (3,000), Ava Conrad (discus) and Emma Bock (800), and Holtkamp brought the Spartans from behind in the distance medley relay.

'I love running against the big schools,” Bock said. 'It really helps us push times. We were right where we wanted to be today.”

Other area winners were Iowa City High's Alia Vanderhoef (high jump), Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Addison Swartzendruber (400) and Iowa City West's Phoebe Burt (shot put).

GIRLS' TRACK & FIELD: J-HAWK RELAYS

At Kingston Stadium

Teams - 1. Solon 120.5, 2. Cedar Falls 117, 3. C.R. Prairie 110, 4. Dubuque Wahlert 94, 5. Decorah 65, 6. (tie) C.R. Kennedy and Iowa City High 52, 8. Iowa City West 51.5, 9. Mount Vernon 31, 10. Waterloo East 25, 11. Waverly-Shell Rock 21, 12. Benton Community 2, 13. (tie) C.R. Jefferson and C.R. Washington 0.

Shot put - 1. Phoebe Burt (ICW), 38-5 1/2; 2. Ava Conrad (Sol), 36-10 1/2; 3. Myah Brinker (CF), 36-9 1/4; Discus - 1. Ava Conrad (Sol), 120-5 1/2; 2. Phoebe Burt (ICW), 115-2; 3. Myah Brinker (CF), 114-10 1/2; High jump - 1. Alia Vanderhoef (ICH), 5-2; 2. Ramey Dahlquist (WSR), 5-0; 3. Allison Harris (CRK), 4-11; Long jump - Jasmine Barney (CF), 16-7; 2. MaKinley Levin (Sol), 16-5; 3. Callie Levin (Sol), 16-0.

Sprint medley relay - 1. Dubuque Wahlert (Yaklich, Wallace, Berning, Steffen), 1:49.63; 2. Solon, 1:52.22; 3. Cedar Falls, 1:54.37; 3,000 - 1. Kiersten Conway (Sol), 11:18.28; 2. Rowan Boulter (ICH), 11:22.70; 3. Laurdyn Meyer (CRP), 11:28.49; 3,200 relay - 1. C.R. Prairie (Barnes, Johannes, Moses, Cortez), 9:33.61; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 10:01.35; 3. Cedar Falls, 10:11.89; Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Cedar Falls (Bennett, Dieken, Mattson, McFarland), 1:08.95; 2. Solon, 1:11.36; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:12.36; 100 - 1. Ariana Yaklich (DW), 12.98; 2. Lindsey Sires (CF), 13.13; 3. Nyla Norman (WE), 13.42; Distance medley relay - 1. Solon (Stebral, Stahle, Stinocher, Holtkamp), 4:30.77; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 4:32.81; 3. Cedar Falls, 4:40.31; 400 - 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 1:02.51; 2. Alexis Moses (CRP), 1:03.03; 3. CeCe Harvey (ICH), 1:03.57; 800 relay - 1. Dubuque Wahlert (Yaklich, Wallace, Berning, Steffen), 1:45.85; 2. Waterloo East, 1:48.04; 3. Cedar Falls, 1:49.04; 100 hurdles - 1. Noelani Mattson (CF), 16.75; 2. Isabella Knutson (Dec), 16.80; 3. Ella Woods (ICW), 16.90; 800 - 1. Emma Bock (Sol), 2:22.56; 2. Emma Hoins (WSR), 2:24.41; 3. Lily Johannes (CRP), 2:25.32; 200 - 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 26.38; 2. Riley Steffen (DW), 26.46; 3. Sophia Stahle (Sol), 27.43; 400 hurdles - 1. Maddy McFarland (CF), 1:07.01; 2. Kallie Mincks (Dec), 1:13.97; 3. Molly Joyner (CRK), 1:14.34; 1,500 - Ellie Meyer (DW), 5:09.02; 2. Alix Oliver (DW), 5:09.07; 3. Kiersten Conway (Sol), 5:11.46; 400 relay - 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Decker, Reittinger, Cortez), 49.92; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 49.97; 3. Cedar Falls, 51.16; 1,600 relay - 1. C.R. Prairie (Barnes, Moses, Reittinger, Cortez), 4;05.75; 2. Solon, 4:07.74; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:14.48.

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