1-2 finish in the 3,000 puts Iowa City West atop 4A girls' state track race

DES MOINES — Bailey Nock's race strategy? Gain a gap.

'If I didn't, somebody might come up from behind to catch me,' said the senior from Iowa City West. 'Even if I pushed myself too hard, I knew I had to gap myself so somebody would have to come up and take it from me.'

Nock and teammate Deniz Ince ran 1-2 in the Class 4A girls' 3,000-meter run at the state track and field meet Thursday morning at Drake Stadium. A University of Colorado signee, Nock held off the hard-charging Ince and won in 10 minutes, 12.60 seconds.

Ince, a junior, finished in 10:13.66.

'Eighteen points was what we wanted to do,' Nock said.

That vaulted West into the lead of the 4A girls' team race at the end of Day 1. With five events recorded, West has 33 points. Waukee is second with 23 points, followed by Southeast Polk with 16.

Nock was running with the McKee sisters of Johnston for the first half of the race, then broke away with about 1,600 meters to go and successfully defended her title.

Ince passed the Johnston duo later in what was only the fourth 3,000-meter race of her life.

'I knew I could close quickly at the end,' Ince said. 'I knew I had to go hard because I didn't know how far behind (the McKees) were.'

Ince and Nock were the last two runners of West's second-place 3,200-meter relay team. The Women of Troy finished in 9:20.20, behind Waukee's 9:09.34.

Linn-Mar's Payton Wensel was denied in her bid for a fourth 400-meter title, running second to Southeast Polk's Sydney Milani's all-time Iowa best of 52.90 seconds. Wensel was clocked in 54.73.

'I would have liked to have run faster,' Wensel said. 'I knew what (Milani) was going to do. She was going to blaze by me in the first 100. She helped pull me around, and I never let up.'

An Iowa State signee, Milani reset her all-time state best in the 200, running 23.93 in the prelims. 

STATE TRACK & FIELD: 4A GIRLS

Teams (top 10) — 1. Iowa City West 33, 2. Waukee 23, 3. Southeast Polk 16, 4. Johnston 14, 5. Linn-Mar 12, 6. Cedar Falls 11, 7. Davenport Central 10, 8. (tie) Bettendorf and Muscatine 8, 10. Ankeny Centennial 7.5.

Discus — 1. Lea Grady (Davenport Central), 150-11; 2. Grace Elperding (Bettendorf), 129-9; 3. Kat Moody (Waukee), 129-6; 4. Josey Starner (Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson), 128-1; 5. Chandler Haight (Iowa City West), 125-10; 6. Alexie Little (Iowa City West), 125-6; 7. Lauren Payne (Lewis Central), 123-3; 8. Madison Green (West Des Moines Valley), 123-3.

High jump — 1. Auriona Kimbrough (Cedar Falls), 5-5; 2. Maddy Belk (Muscatine), 5-3; 3. (tie) Sara Hoskins (Pleasant Valley) and Calea Jones (Ankeny Centennial), 5-3; 5. Skyler Presler (Linn-Mar), 5-3; 6. Carly Boss (Waukee), 5-3; 7. (tie) Megan Witte (Lewis Central), Alexis Hayes (North Scott) and Meghan Prohaska (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), 5-1.

3,000 — 1. Bailey Nock (Iowa City West), 10:12.60; 2. Deniz Ince (Iowa City West), 10:13.86; 3. Jessica McKee (Johnston), 10:20.53; 4. Brooklyn McKee (Johnston), 10:23.65; 5. Reagan Gorman (Cedar Rapids Washington), 10:28.17; 6. Sydney Schaffer (Waukee), 10:33.43; 7. Helen Gould (West Des Moines Valley), 10:36.30; 8. Peyton Kelderman (Waukee), 10:41.59.

3,200 relay — 1. Waukee (Campbell, Caraway, Groathouse, Akason), 9:09.34; 2. Iowa City West, 9:20.20; 3. Southeast Polk, 9:21.60; 4. West Des Moines Dowling, 9:26.58; 5. Ottumwa, 9:28.77; 6. Johnston, 9:34.77; 7. Ankeny Centennial, 9:38.64; 8. Cedar Falls, 9:42.99.

400 — 1. Sydney Milani (Southeast Polk), 52.90 (all-time Iowa best); 2. Payton Wensel (Linn-Mar), 54.73; 3. Lauren Van Dyke (Sioux City East), 58.05; 4. Angel Baylark (Burlington), 58.35; 5. Stevie Lambe (Dubuque Senior), 58.39; 6. Kaitlyn Mulder (Sioux City North), 58.69; 7. Riawna Hunter (Des Moines North), 58.98; 8. Grace Bookin-Nosbisch (Ottumwa), 59.33.

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