Kelly Proesch finds her own niche, writes her own success story at North Cedar

IOWA CITY — Instead of hanging onto her older sister’s coattails, Kelly Proesch is out to carve her own niche.

“I didn’t want to run what she ran,” Proesch said, referring to older sibling Grace Proesch, a former middle-distance standout who now competes for the Air Force Academy. “I figured I would do something new.”

Hello, hurdles.

Running the 400-meter hurdles for just the fourth time in her career, the senior from North Cedar blazed to victory in 1 minute, 6.63 seconds at the Eastern Iowa Track and Field Festival on Monday at West High School.

That’s a school record, and that’s No. 6 in the state this season, in all classes.

“My first goal was the school record, I think it was 1:08-something,” said Proesch, a University of Northern Iowa signee. “This was a good time to get it.”

The effort pretty much wraps up a spot in the Drake Relays in that event.

She’ll also be competing in the 100-meter hurdles. The top three are from Waukee, and Proesch is fourth.

“Yeah,” she said. “Three girls from Waukee, and one from Lowden.”

Originally scheduled for Saturday before the weather put the brakes on it, the non-scored meet consisted of more than 30 schools, from Saint Ansgar (in north-central Iowa) to Tri-Center (of Neola, in southwest Iowa).

Proesch was only one of two girls in the 400 hurdles and ran way out in Lane 7. Her only competitor was in Lane 2.

Despite the solitude and some windy conditions, Proesch pulled out a gem, beating her previous time this season by about 5 seconds.

“The sun was low when I was running, so I couldn’t even see the hurdles in the last corner. I was kind of jogging over them,” she said.

Since Proesch didn’t want to mirror Grace’s events, she sort of self-taught herself the hurdles. Then she joined Iowa Speed, a track club out of Iowa City.

“I got so much better between my sophomore and junior years,” she said.

Then came the pandemic, and a lost junior season. She’s not lost now. She also captured the 100-meter dash Monday, in 13.52 seconds.

Other highlights:

• Mid-Prairie freshman Danielle Hostetler prevailed in a competitive 1,500-meter race in which three girls broke 5 minutes. Hostetler was clocked in 4:52.77.

“I’m glad I had some girls to really push me,” Hostetler said. “I was a little boxed in for the first 200-300 meters, then I was able to get out.”

• Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Gabby Cortez continued her early-season spree, anchoring the Hawks to victories in the sprint medley and 1,600-meter relays, and winning the 800 in 2:22.09.

• Iowa City schools combined to win 10 of 19 boys’ events (City High five, Liberty three, West two). City’s Matt Schaeckenbach won the high jump and 110 hurdles, and Liberty’s Bowen Gryp anchored the Bolts’ winning distance medley and 1,600-meter relays.

EASTERN IOWA TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL

At Iowa City West

No Team Standings

GIRLS RESULTS

Shot put — 1. Carly Stevenson (Charles City), 38-8; 2. Tori Boyse (Mid-Prairie), 38-6; 3. Arionnah Sonii (Iowa City West), 38-5; Discus — 1. Anna Wohlers (Davenport Assumption), 128-7; 2. Tori Boyse (Mid-Prairie), 120-6; 3. Emma Joens (C.R. Prairie), 119-5; High jump — 1. Carlee Rochford (New Hampton), 5-0; 2. Peyton Seberg (Davenport Assumption), 4-8; 3. Aubrie Pruess (North Cedar), 4-8; Long jump — 1. Kelsey Pacha (Fairfield), 16-10 1/2; 2. Carlee Rochford (New Hampton), 15-10 3/4; 3. Kiki Connell (Charles City), 15-9.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Decker, Reittinger, Cortez), 1:51.69; 2. Davenport Assumption, 1:51.80; 3. Mid-Prairie, 1:54.14; 3,000 — 1. Sydney Yoder (Mid-Prairie), 11:05.50; 2. Laurdyn Meyer (C.R. Prairie), 12:01.37; 3. Kendall White (C.R. Prairie), 12:22.66; 3,200 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Reynolds, Kelly-Harvey, Boulter, Frazier), 10:08.95; 2. Denver, 10:29.42; 3. C.R. Prairie, 10:33.21; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Cascade (Gibbs, Rhomberg, Felton, Simon), 1:10.52; 2. Tipton, 1:14.28; 100 — 1. Kelly Proesch (North Cedar), 13.52; 2. Anna Curtis (Denver), 13.70; 3. Sarah Jordan (C.R. Prairie), 13.72; Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City High (Wedemeyer, DePrenger, Boulter, Corbin), 4:43.52; 2. Tipton, 4:45.92; 3. C.R. Prairie, 4:57.20; 400 — 1. Alexis Moses (C.R. Prairie), 1:02.35; 2. Eva Reynolds (Iowa City High), 1:04.37; 3. Iris Wedemeyer (Iowa City High), 1:05.03; 800 relay — 1. Davenport Assumption (Lynch, Combs, McConnell, Fitzpatrick), 1:48.20; 2. Bettendorf, 1:49.85; 3. Denver, 1:53.88; 100 hurdles — 1. Anna Dunlap (Fairfield), 15.96; 2. Kelsey Pacha (Fairfield), 16.21; 3. Jordan Sekafetz (Iowa City High), 16.29; 800 — 1. Gabby Cortez (C.R. Prairie), 2:22.09; 2. Kiki Connell (Charles City), 2:24.19; 3. Amanda Treptow (Jesup), 2:29.03; 200 — 1. Ella Blinkinsop (Camanche), 29.57; 2. Kelsey Dighton (C.R. Prairie), 30.31; 3. Trinity Suchan (C.R. Prairie), 30.37; 400 hurdles — 1. Kelly Proesch (North Cedar), 1:06.63; 2. Anna Dunlap (Fairfield), 1:11.06; 1,500 — 1. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 4:52.77; 2. Peyton Pogge (Tri-Center), 4:56.59; 3. Lily Johannes (C.R. Prairie), 4:57.14; 400 relay — 1. Davenport Assumption (Lynch, McConnell, Combs, Fitzpatrick), 50.79; 2. Bettendorf, 51.11; 3. North Cedar, 53.08; 1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Barnes, Moses, Reittinger, Cortez), 4:09.67; 2. Bettendorf, 4:11.52; 3. Iowa City High, 4:12.80.

BOYS RESULTS

Shot put — 1. Jesus Jaime (Ottumwa), 53-3 1/2; 2. Sage Hulshizer (Saint Ansgar), 48-0; 3. Togeh Deseh (Muscatine), 47-1; Discus — 1. Nolan Recker (Muscatine), 163-10; 2. Jesus Jaime (Ottumwa), 152-4; 3. Sage Hulshizer (Saint Ansgar), 148-9; High jump — 1. Matt Schaeckenbach (Iowa City High), 6-0; 2. Adam Dunlap (Camanche), 5-10; 3. Beau Miller (Iowa City Liberty), 5-10; Long jump — 1. Daquan Johnson (Iowa City West), 20-8; 2. Kade Kreinbring (Davenport Assumption), 20-6 1/2; 3. Nolan DeLong (Durant), 20-1.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Gerdin, Rickertsen, Knight), 1:41.56; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 1:42.12; 3. Iowa City Liberty, 1:42.13; 3,200 — 1. Eli Larson (Center Point-Urbana), 9:47.21; 2. Carson Houg (Des Moines Christian), 9:49.81; 3. Aaron Fynaardt (Des Moines Christian), 9:51.37; 3,200 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Washburn, Ostby, Hall, Smith), 8:28.10; 2. Danville, 8:31.03; 3. Bettendorf, 8:40.32; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Iowa City Liberty (Miller, Sanders, Thompson, Kraft), 1:03.84; 2. Clear Creek Amana, 1:04.09; 3. Ottumwa, 1:04.35; 100 — 1. Alex Figueroa (Clear Creek Amana), 11.30; 2. Treton Duffie (C.R. Jefferson), 11.50; 3. (tie) Prince Wei (Muscatine) and Nick Fetters (C.R. Prairie), 11.70; Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City Liberty (Miller, Chandler, Meyers, Gryp), 3:38.18; 2. Clear Creek Amana, 3:39.32; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:42.56; 400 — 1. Braden Powers (Saint Ansgar), 51.04; 2. Dylan Darsidan (Camanche), 51.08; 3. Caden Thomas (Wapello), 51.98; 800 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Gudenkauf, Brown, King, Applegate), 1:31.90; 2. Iowa City High, 1:32.10; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:32.11; 110 hurdles — 1. John Aschenbrenner (Iowa City High), 15.94; 2. Daquan Sanders (Iowa City Liberty), 16.37; 3. Jason Lu (Iowa City West), 16.38; 800 — 1. Dylan Darsidan (Camanche), 2:00.35; 2. Gavin Keeney (Iowa City Liberty), 2:00.37; 3. Jackson Mace-Maynard (Newton), 2:00.40; 200 — 1. Nolan DeLong (Durant), 23.67; 2. Aaron Kramer (Center Point-Urbana), 23.95; 3. Braden Powers (Saint Ansgar), 24.11; 400 hurdles — 1. Matt Schaeckenbach (Iowa City High), 57.10; 2. Jason Lu (Iowa City West), 59.23; 3. Clay Bopp (Iowa City West), 59.81; 1,600 — 1. Riley Witt (Saint Ansgar), 4:26.60; 2. Caleb Shumaker (Tipton), 4:28.45; 3. Ford Washburn (Iowa City High), 4:29.31; 400 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Aschenbrenner, Harris, Major, Rohret), 43.80; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 43.97; 3. Wapsie Valley, 44.21; 1,600 relay — 1. Iowa City Liberty (Meyers, Kinzer, Miller, Gryp), 3:30.09; 2. Danville, 3:32.94; 3. Muscatine, 3:34.93.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com