Staebler denied by a split-second

 DES MOINES -- Surrender crossed Jasmine Staebler's mind, is only for a split-second."I thought about letting her have it," Staebler said in reference to the girls' 800-meter race Friday afternoon at the Drake Relays."But then I thought, 'No, I'm here. I'm going to go for it.' "She very nearly got it.In the tightest race of the day, the sophomore from Clayton Ridge came a whisker short of a championship. West Des Moines Valley's Lydia Saggau repeated with a time of 2 minutes, 11.20 seconds.Staebler was next in 2:11.21. One-hundredth of a second away."I wish I would have won," Staebler said. "But I'm really happy with my time (a personal best by 6 seconds)."On more than one occasion, Staebler seemed to be ready to fade, to let Saggau go. Each time, she mustered the energy to surge and stay in contention.She led at the 400 mark, then when Saggau pulled up on her shoulder with 300 to go, Staebler sprinted to build a cushion.Saggau took the lead with 150 meters left, creating a sprint to the finish. Staebler's closing lunge came up just short, and forced her to tumble to the track.Cedar Rapids Jefferson's 800-meter relay also was a runner-up, the victim of a Friday whirlwind in the form of Des Moines Roosevelt."Roosevelt is Roosevelt. They have a lot of good sprinters," said Jefferson anchor Rachel Broghammer. "We were right there with them, and we'll be better in May."The Roughriders were timed in 1:42.24, the J-Hawks in 1:42.39. Maliya Rattliffe, Lucy Schneekloth and Taylor Jacobson ran the first three legs for Jefferson."I don't know how to put it into words," Broghammer said. "It was very, very exciting. I could feel (Roosevelt anchor Jalynn Roberts-Lewis) pull alongside me. They got it in the end, but I'm so proud of my teammates."Roosevelt won three girls' events Friday. Agnes Sayeh ruled the 100, and the Roughriders took the sprint medley relay.Other winners were Urbandale's Mary Young (100), MOC-Floyd Valley's Alexis Conaway (high jump) and Dasiana Larson of Garner-Hayfield/Ventura (shot put).Among top area competitors: Leslie Hoffmann of West Delaware was third in the high jump, Iowa City High was third in the sprint medley and McKennan Cronbaugh of Iowa City West was fourth in the 100.