Prairie’s Gabby Cortez climbs to No. 12 all-time in Iowa in the 400

CEDAR RAPIDS — Surprised by Gabby Cortez’s early-April track rampage?

So is she.

“My goals keep changing,” she said. “I keep surprising myself.”

A senior at Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cortez was the undisputed star at Saturday’s Draxton-Stiers/Wilkinson Relays at Kingston Stadium. Highlighted by a jaw-dropping 400-meter effort that put her high on the state’s all-time list, the University of Iowa recruit won four events.

“My coaches wanted me to go out really hard today,” Cortez said after her 55.52-second 400 moved her to No. 12 in Iowa history. “This one felt hard.

“This was the first time this season I could feel my legs. When you can feel your legs, it means you’re running hard.”

Cortez’s impressive show led Prairie to the girls’ team title. The Hawks won eight events and finished with 183 points. Linn-Mar was second with 136 3/4.

Cortez also claimed titles in the 100 (12.52 seconds) and the 200 (25.85), then closed the afternoon by anchoring the winning 1,600-meter relay. Catie Reittinger, Alexis Moses, Lily Johannes and Cortez clocked in at 4:01.28.

If you’re a Bound connoisseur, you’ll find Cortez all over the 2022 state leader boards. By the time she had completed her run of brilliance Saturday, she stood in the top four statewide in four individual events and was a part of four top-four relays.

She is No. 1 in the 400, and the Hawks’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays also stand at the top.

Now, the mystery is what Cortez will run at the Drake Relays and the state meet.

“They don’t have the distance medley (relay) at Drake, so that’s out,” she said. “Sprint medley, hopefully. Open 400, for sure. I’d like to run the open 800, but I want to help in whatever relay I can.

“The open 400 has become my favorite. I hope to keep digging.”

Johannes (2:19.76) and Moses (2:20.64) ran 1-2 in the 800.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy was the boys’ champion despite winning just two events — Colton Kronfeld in the long jump and Miles Wilson in a tightly contested 1,600. The Cougars’ depth carried the day in a 143 1/2-point effort. Prairie was second with 117 points.

Prairie’s Geramie Hardaway Jr. was a triple-champion, anchoring the Hawks to titles in the shuttle hurdle relay and 400-meter relay, and winning the 110-meter hurdles in 14.49. His previous personal best was 15.04.

“My coaches think I can get under 14 seconds,” Hardaway said. “I’ve gotten a lot faster. Track has helped me mature a lot.”

Quinton Alexander, Brayden Kolosick, Eli Ebel and Hardaway ran the shuttle in a state-leading 1:00.65.

“We’re just getting started,” Hardaway said of the Hawks’ shuttle. “We hadn’t put our pieces together until today. We’re getting there.”

Linn-Mar thrower Kennedy Evans was making her first outdoor appearance of the spring and won the girls’ shot put. Her final effort (38 feet, 1 1/2 inches) was her best of the day by more than 3 feet.

“I was a little slow out of the ring in my first three throws. I just needed to go with my best and punch it out there,” said Evans, a junior.

“Getting outdoors after two weeks in a downpour, throwing the outdoor shot instead of the indoor shot ... it takes a little getting used to.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Emma Arnold blasted through the girls’ 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.74, which placed her at No. 1 in the state thus far.

Girls Results (Wilkinson Relays)

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 183, 2. Linn-Mar 136 3/4, 3. C.R. Kennedy 110, 4. Cedar Falls 81, 5. C.R. Xavier 30, 6. Iowa City High 28 1/2, 7. Burlington 6 3/4, 8. C.R. Jefferson 5.

Shot put — 1. Kennedy Evans (LM), 38-1 1/2; 2. Trinity Mitchell (CRP), 35-7; 3. Josianna Toingar (LM), 32-4 1/2.

Discus — 1. Emma Joens (CRP), 114-10; 2. Maria Alcayde (LM), 93-3 1/2; 3. Amara Tilley (ICH), 88-6 3/4.

High jump — 1. Ava Van Berkem (CRX), 5-1; 2. (tie) Allison Harris (CRK) and Kate Hand (LM), 4-8.

Long jump — 1. Sarah Albaugh (CF), 17-7; 2. Kaylee Bunn (LM), 17-1; 3. Petra Sherman (LM), 16-11.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Bunn, Carsello, Gustason, Schmidt), 1:51.28; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:51.30; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:54.12.

3,000 — 1. Bethany Smeed (CRK), 10:46.30; 2. Maddie Gallagher (CF), 11:10.35; 3. Keirra Hess (CRP), 11:24.98.

3,200 relay — 1. Cedar Falls (Zylstra, Francis, Mandt, Simonson), 10:15.35; 2. Linn-Mar, 10:39.92; 3. C.R. Prairie, 10:48.09.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Harris, Presley, Joyner, Braden), 1:09.27; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:17.16; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:21.63.

100 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 12.52; 2. Mary Gustason (LM), 12.84; 3. Sarah Albaugh (CF), 13.28.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Grissel, McClure, Roe, Koppes), 4:28.60; 2. Cedar Falls, 4:45.02; 3. Linn-Mar, 4:47.27.

400 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 55.52; 2. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 59.41; 3. Emily Schmidt (LM), 1:00.40.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Lee, Tedrow, Reittinger), 1:50.73; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:53.08; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:53.87.

100 hurdles — 1. Grace Braden (CRK), 15.31; 2. Maddy McFarland (CF), 15.63; 3. Ryann Decker (CRP), 15.78.

800 — 1. Lily Johannes (CRP), 2:19.76; 2. Alexis Moses (CRP), 2:20.64; 3. Sidney Swartzendruber (CRK), 2:28.07.

200 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 25.85; 2. Asia Russell (CRP), 28.11; 3. Kaylee Bunn (LM), 28.55.

400 hurdles — 1. Emma Arnold (CRX), 1:06.74; 2. Maci Harder (CRP), 1:10.90; 3. Molly Joyner (CRK), 1:14.42.

1,500 — 1. Bethany Smeed (CRK), 5:10.52; 2. Keirra Hess (CRP), 5:14.25; 3. Zoe Zylstra (CF), 5:15.20.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Lee, Decker, Russell), 50.60; 2. Linn-Mar, 50.92; 3. Iowa City High, 54.65.

1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Reittinger, Moses, Johannes, Cortez), 4:01.28; 2. Cedar Falls, 4:18.11; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 4:22.63.

Boys Results (Draxton-Stiers Relays)

Teams — 1. C.R. Kennedy 143 1/2, 2. C.R. Prairie 117, 3. Dubuque Hempstead 88, 4. Center Point-Urbana 66, 5. Mason City 64, 6. C.R. Xavier 51, 7. Burlington 30, 8. C.R. Jefferson 29 1/2.

Shot put — 1. Van Wasicek (MC), 45-9; 2. T.J. Robertson (CRK), 44-10 3/4; 3. Andrew Sholes (CPU), 42-8.

Discus — 1. Tate Joens (CRP), 147-3; 2. Dylan Davis (CRK), 130-4; 3. C.J. Coker (CRK), 129-11.

High jump — 1. Kanyae Baker (Burl), 6-0; 2. Mitchell Schares (CRK), 5-10; 3. Reid Johnson (MC), 5-8.

Long jump — 1. Colton Kronfeld (CRK), 21-3; 2. Justyn Rivera (MC), 20-1 3/4; 3. Darian Davis (MC), 19-9.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Zheng, Tsacudakis, Odefey, Leicht), 1:38.22; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:39.08; 3. C.R. Xavier, 1:39.38.

3,200 — 1. John Maloney (DH), 9:46.64; 2. Caleb Kass (DH), 9:59.56; 3. Jacob Bruns (CRK), 10:42.34.

3,200 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Larson, Witte, Andersen, Havel), 8:33.95; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:43.38; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 9:08.40.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Alexander, Kolosick, Ebel, Hardaway), 1:00.65; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:02.99; 3. C.R. Xavier, 1:05.63.

100 — 1. Aidan McDermott (CRX), 11.00; 2. Aaron Kramer (CPU), 11.18; 3. Geramie Hardaway Jr. (CRP), 11.22.

Distance medley relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Pettinger, Mootz, Odefey, Leicht), 3:42.71; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 3:44.93; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 3:50.61.

400 — 1. Kaden Tyler (MC), 51.13; 2. Cole Werner (CPU), 52.19; 3. Tristan Steichen (CRK), 53.46.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Jefferson (Wilcox, Robinson, Duffie, Johnson), 1:33.49; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:33.78; 3. Burlington, 1:33.79.

110 hurdles — 1. Geramie Hardaway Jr. (CRP), 14.49; 2. Grayson Hartman (CRX), 15.09; 3. Kale Hobart (MC), 15.47.

800 — 1. Brady Cortez (CRP), 2:01.85; 2. Anthony Lee (CRP), 2:06.73; 3. Brendan Rader (CRK), 2:09.17.

200 — 1. Aaron Kramer (CPU), 22.84; 2. Jackson Baedke (CRP), 23.44; 3. Brandon Calmese (CRP), 23.52.

400 hurdles — 1. George Holesinger (DH), 58.80; 2. Tyler Bartels (CRK), 1:00.72; 3. Quinn Oleson (CRX), 1:00.98.

1,600 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 4:29.62; 2. John Maloney (DH), 4:29.85; 3. Eli Larson (CPU), 4:30.37.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Asiedu-Okyere, Calmese, Alexander, Hardaway), 43.80; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 44.49; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 44.50.

1,600 relay — 1. Mason City (Hobart, Fingalsen, Wynter, Tyler), 3:27.37; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:29.27; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:31.82.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com