Cascade captures 2A girls’ state track title with 50 points, 1 champion

DES MOINES — Cascade took pride in believing it is as close of a group as one would hope to be in.

The team symbolized that by huddling into a tight formation as they walked down the homestretch at Drake Stadium, clutching the Class 2A girls' state track and field trophy in their hands.

'We kind of pride ourselves on that,' said coach Tim Frake. 'We had 19 events and that's what it took for us. We scratched and clawed our way to the title.'

Cascade's girls boasted just one champion — the 800 relay — but got three top-three finishes Saturday to claim 50 points on the weekend. The Cougars were second in the sprint medley relay (1:51.04), second in the shuttle hurdle relay (1:06.74) and third in the 400 relay (50.59).

Union was second in the team race with 43 while Monticello was third at 40.

Cascade held the lead as a team throughout the day and had clinched the title before the final two events of the weekend and clinched its third team championship in school history.

'It just feels really awesome,' said senior Macie Weber. 'Our team is just so close and from our distance to our sprinters and to our hurdlers, we're just really close and wanted this one. A team title means so much to us.'

Union grabbed two event titles with its shuttle hurdle relay and 400 relay teams. Its time of 50.11 in the 400 relay officially sealed up a second-place finish as a team while a 1:05.34 run in the shuttle hurdle put the squad on a path for a high team finish.

Megan Hudson was the third leg in that title-winning relay for Union and created roughly 10 meters of separation for Kaitlin Holschlag to cruise to the finish line.

'It's kind of a sense of urgency for me knowing somebody is out in front to get them and get the team that lead,' Hudson said. 'I'm placed there for a reason so it's good for me to get ahead and get us a big lead to put us in a position that we need to be.'

Mid-Prairie sophomore Anna Hostetler followed up her third-place finish in Thursday's 3,000 meters by winning the 1,500 Saturday in 4:38.96, roughly five seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

'My strategy was to just go as hard as I could,' Hostetler said, 'push it in the middle when it hurts and just finish as hard as I could.'

STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET: CLASS 2A GIRLS

Teams (top 10) — 1. Cascade, 50; 2. Union, LaPorte City, 43; 3. Monticello, 40.50; 4. Pekin, 39; 5. Northeast, 38; 6. Des Moines Christian, 34; 7. Western Christian, 31; 8. Osage, 30.50; 9. Pocahontas, 30; 10. Albia, 24

Results (top 3, plus area)

Sprint medley relay — 1. West Marshall (E. Meyer, S. Larsen, A. Hilleman, K. Cripps), 1:49.84; 2. Cascade, 1:51.04; 3. Alta/Aurelia, 1:51.04; 4. Waukon, 1:51.93; 8. North Cedar, 1:53.15

800 — 1. Okasana Covey (Des Moines Christian), 2:12.62; 2. Gwynne Wright (Pekin), 2:14.68; 3. Ellie Friesen (Osage), 2:15.73; 4. Corinne Gadient (Monticello), 2:15.74; 5. Paige Holub (Monticello), 2:16.34; 7. Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 2:17.86

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Union, LaPorte City (A. Garwood, N. Sallee, M. Hudson, K. Holschlag), 1:05.34; 2. Cascade, 1:06.74; 3. Northeast, 1:07.29; 4. West Branch, 1:07.30

100 — 1. Keaton Kester (Earlham), 12.92; 2. Morgan Funke (Dyersville Beckman), 12.91; 3. Rylan Santi (Madrid), 13.12; 5. Alyssa Crock (Tipton), 12.97

100 hurdles — 1. Aleenah Marcucci (Northeast), 15.05; 2. Megan Hudson (Union, LaPorte City), 15.53; 3. Karlie Taylor (Eddysville-Blakesburg), 15.49; 5. Lisa Tucker (Cascade), 15.90; Isabel Brehm (Dyersville Beckman), 16.38

200 — 1. Keaton Kester (Earlham), 25.33; 2. Anna Garwood (Union, LaPorte City), 25.60; 3. Erika Feenstra (Western Christian), 25.83; 4. Megan Hudson (Union, LaPorte City), 25.88; 5. Morgan Funke (Dyersville Beckman), 25.96; 7. Rachel Gadient (Monticello), 26.47

1,500 — 1. Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 4:38.96; 2. Gwynne Wright (Pekin), 4:43.92; 3. Jordan Winke (Albia), 4:45.09; 8. Josie Kreiner (South Winneshiek), 4:55.43

400-relay — 1. Union, LaPorte City (M. Hudson, M. Driscol, C. Powell, K. Holschlag), 50.11; 2. Madrid, 50.35; 3. Cascade, 50.59; 6. Monticello, 51.00

1,600-relay — 1. Western Christian (K. VantHul, B. Nelson, E. VanGinkel, E. Feenstra), 3:58.52; 2. Pocahontas, 3:58.71; 3. North Cedar, 4:01.27; 4. Monticello, 4:01.36; 7. Cascade, 4:08.64

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