It’s field first and foremost in Linn-Mar girls’ path to an MVC title repeat

IOWA CITY — Track and field?

For the Linn-Mar girls these days, it’s field and track.

The Lions compiled 62 points in the four field events — including 1-2 finishes in both jumping events — and that propelled them to the MVC Valley Division girls’ title Friday afternoon at Trojan Stadium.

“We really prioritize our jumps and throws,” long jump champion Abby Mecklenburg said. “We work on it so much in practice, we’d better do well at meets.”

Mecklenburg (18 feet, 0 1/4 inches) and Petra Sherman swept the top two spots in the long jump. Maia Denge-Hagen (a school-record-tying 5 feet, 6 inches) and Claire Lorenz went 1-2 in the high jump.

That’s 36 points right there.

Gwen Gaffney and Erica Kinn were 2-3 in the discus. Josianna Toingar and Gaffney placed 2-5 in the shot put. That 26 more points.

So if you were only paying attention to the track action, you were missing Linn-Mar’s path to a title. The Lions compiled 150 points total; Dubuque Hempstead was second with 132.

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“It’s nice to go back-to-back,” Mecklenburg said of the Lions’ championship repeat. “Everybody played a part. All of the girls were in three or four events.”

Denge-Hagen is a senior, a high-jump rookie and an Iowa State commit. She continues to ascend quickly.

“I’m really happy,” she said. “I need to hold my head back a little better. I’m still new at this, I need to put it all together — the technique of it all, the timing of it all.

“Feet up, head back. It’s easy until you see the bar.”

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Iowa City West got major contributions from its “big three” — Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen and Moustafa Tiea — and earned the boys’ title with 172.5 points.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy (158) was the runner-up.

“It’s something special,” said Loveless, the Valley Divisional boys’ athlete of the year, as voted upon by the coaches. “When you have three studs on one team, it’s hard to beat.”

Loveless won the 100 meters. Tiea claimed the 400. Jacobsen triumphed in the 400 hurdles. Colin Whitters and Winner Ndjibu went 1-2 in the discus. And the Trojans were golden in four relays.

Friday marked the beginning of what the Trojans hope are a bountiful stretch run. State-qualifying meets are next Thursday; the state championships are the weekend after that.

“Some things are going to be changed around between now and then,” Loveless said. “We want to score as many points as possible at state, and we have a lot of options.”

Dubuque Hempstead’s Julia Gehl was a triple-winner (4x800, distance medley, 1,500) and the girls’ divisional athlete of the year.

MVC Valley Division Championships

At Marion Stadium

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 150, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 132, 3. Iowa City High 111.5, 4. Iowa City West 100.5, 5. Western Dubuque 90, 6. C.R. Kennedy 75, 7. Waterloo West 52, 8. C.R. Washington 27.

Shot put — 1. Rachel Haack (ICH), 39-5 1/4; 2. Josianna Toingar (LM), 38-5 1/2; 3. Michaela Silich (WDbq), 38-4 1/2.

Discus — 1. Rachel Haack (ICH), 132-11; 2. Gwen Gaffney (LM), 123-8; 3. Erica Kinn (LM), 109-10.

High jump — 1. Maia Denge-Hagen (LM), 5-6; 2. Claire Lorenz (LM), 5-2; 3. (tie) Sophia Austen (ICW) and Latianna Green (WW), 5-0.

Long jump — 1. Abby Mecklenburg (LM), 18-0 1/4; 2. Petra Sherman (LM), 16-11; 3. Ellie Fraga (ICH), 15-11 1/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Hospodarsky, Gieseman, Blocker, Swartzendruber), 1:48.67; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 1:53.22; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:53.24.

3,000 — 1. Nakia Ollivierre (WW), 10:29.80; 2. Abigail Burns (ICH), 10:50.89; 3. Nicole Peterson (ICH), 10:55.10.

3,200 relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Gehl, Pitz, Stevenson, Leitzen), 9:57.43; 2. Iowa City High, 10:10.91; 3. Linn-Mar, 10:16.10.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Iowa City West (Varga, Herring, Carter, Olivo), 1:06.26; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:10.88; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 1:11.23.

100 — 1. Brynn Walters (WDbq), 12.37; 2. Morgan Hospodarsky (CRK), 12.57; 3. Claire Stuntz (WDbq), 12.63.

Distance medley relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Carley, Leeser, Birkenholz, Gehl), 4:20.72; 2. Waterloo West, 4:23.44; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 4:24.88.

400 — 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 56.58; 2. Keelee Leitzen (DH), 57.78; 3. Ayla Osterkamp (DH), 1:00.24.

800 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Stuntz, Ramler, Goins, Walters), 1:45.36; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:46.52; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:46.89.

100 hurdles — 1. Sophia Olivo (ICW), 15.07; 2. Eriniah Carter (ICW), 15.57; 3. Sierra Pruessner (ICH), 15.83.

800 — 1. Keelee Leitzen (DH), 2:18.99; 2. Julia Gehl (DH), 2:20.83; 3. Chloe Egbert (LM), 2:24.34.

200 — 1. Brynn Walters (WDbq), 25.34; 2. Duprasia Beets (CRW), 25.60; 3. Ava Ramler (WDbq), 25.84.

400 hurdles — 1. Erinn Varga (ICW), 1:06.65; 2. Mya Curry (DH), 1:07.64; 3. Christina Gorsich (LM), 1:08.82.

1,500 — 1. Julia Gehl (DH), 4:53.91; 2. Nakia Ollivierre (WW), 5:01.50; 3. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 5:04.16.

400 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Goins, Ramler, Stuntz, Ehlers), 49.33; 2. Linn-Mar, 49.44; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 51.20.

1,600 relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Tomkins, Osterkamp, Birkenholz, Leitzen), 4:00.51; 2. Iowa City High, 4:06.22.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Iowa City West 172.5, 2. C.R. Kennedy 158, 3. Linn-Mar 100, 4. Iowa City High 88, 5. Western Dubuque 75.5, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 71, 7. C.R. Washington 37, 8. Waterloo West 31.

Shot put — 1. Sam Watts (LM), 58-0 1/4; 2. Garret Kluesner (WDbq), 53-4 1/2; 3. Colin Whitters (ICW), 51-2 3/4.

Discus — 1. Colin Whitters (ICW), 155-7; 2. Winner Ndjibu (ICW), 152-9; 3. Tyler Rindels (ICH), 150-3.

High jump — 1. Jacob Smetzer (CRK), 6-1; 2. Tyrell Adams (WW), 6-1; 3. Daniel Robinson (ICW), 5-10.

Long jump — 1. Talan Sivertsen (LM), 22-10; 2. Aidan Jacobsen (ICW), 22-3 1/4; 3. Jacob Smetzer (CRK), 21-11.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Rent, Woods, Manson, Loveless, 1:32.55; 2. Iowa City High, 1:33.26; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:35.80.

3,200 — 1. John Maloney (DH), 9:25.93; 2. Slader Buckheister (CRK), 9:27.27; 3. Adam Gray (CRK), 9:30.16.

3,200 relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Fern, Hanselman, Driscoll, Leitzen), 7:59.34; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 7:59.62; 3. Linn-Mar, 8:06.57.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Decker, Then, Horstman, Hogrefe), 59.40; 2. Iowa City West, 59.61; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:00.26.

100 — 1. Izaiah Loveless (ICW), 10.84; 2. A.J. Wright (ICH), 10.86; 3. Dawson Dougherty (CRK), 10.88.

Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Robinson, Woods, Showers, Wahe), 3:35.87; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 3:37.18; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:38.56.

400 — 1. Moustafa Tiea (ICW), 49.70; 2. Beau Sonenstahl (LM), 50.55; Jacob Smetzer (CRK), 51.31.

800 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Rent, Woods, Manson, Loveless), 1:27.42; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:28.34; 3. Iowa City High, 1:28.70.

110 hurdles — 1. Ashton Hogrefe (WDbq), 14.30; 2. Isaiah Skvor (CRW), 14.51; 3. Ryan Bartels (CRK), 15.00.

800 — 1. Quentin Nauman (WDbq), 1:55.35; 2. Moustafa Tiea (ICW), 1:59.05; 3. Charlie Driscoll (DH), 1:59.05.

200 — 1. Jacob Doyle (CRK), 22.16; 2. Julian Manson (ICW), 22.19; 3. Crew Geater (CRK), 22.75.

400 hurdles — 1. Aidan Jacobsen (ICW), 52.91; 2. Waleed Ibrahim (ICW), 56.22; 3. Phillip Kaplan (ICH), 56.85.

1,600 — 1. John Maloney (DH), 4:27.22; 2. Micah Fern (DH), 4:27.97; 3. Slader Buckheister (CRK), 4:34.38.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Dougherty, Doyle, Woods, Bartels), 41.53; 2. Iowa City West, 41.71; 3. Western Dubuque, 43.02.

1,600 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Jacobsen, Showers, Wahe, Tiea), 3:27.75; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:28.39; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:28.65.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com