Goodell does it again in the discus

DES MOINES -- Dakotah Goodell felt she needed to legitimize herself. She did.

The Drake Relays discus champion here three weeks ago, Goodell returned to Drake Stadium and claimed the Class 3A state championship Thursday morning.

Goodell's best throw was 140 feet, 10 inches.

"I felt like I had to live up to winning (Drake)," said Goodell, a junior from Williamsburg High School. "I was so nervous out there today."

It didn't help when her competitors threw near her leading mark. Dubuque Wahlert's Katelyn Weimerskirch came within a half-foot.

"I had a million heart attacks today," Goodell said. "I was freaking out. You never know when somebody is going to whip one out there."

Goodell doesn't mess around when she gets in the ring.

"I'm not one to take my time. I want to get in there and throw," she said. "That is my style. It seems to work."

Two-time defending champion Mount Vernon-Lisbon is expected to chase Wahlert for the team championship, and the T-Rexes chased the Golden Eagles in the 3,200-meter relay.

Wahlert was timed in 9:23.71, MV-L edged Benton Community for second in 9:30.12.

"We're going to have to work to beat them," said MV-L anchor Alex Wilson, who closed with a 2:15.9 split to hold off Benton's Madison Weekly -- who ran a 2:15.8 of her own.

"We need as many points as we can get."

The first-day standings reflect that. Wahlert leads the race with 32 points, followed by Davenport Assumption (18). Mount Vernon-Lisbon has 12.

Wilson missed a couple meets early in the season with calf problems, then missed a couple more because of weather.

"There was a stretch that I didn't run much," she said. "But I feel a lot better now."

Laura Deininger, Holly Salzbrenner and Lauren Wilch ran the first three legs for MV-L.

Benton also got a third-place from Chloe Schmidt in the discus.

Lauren Benzing of Solon was third in the 3,000, finishing in 10:09.13.