Just short again

 DES MOINES - Ashley Miller didn't use the word “disappointed” once.

Instead, the former Tipton and current Nebraska star latched onto a happy and hopeful term - again and again.

“Drake's always just a fun meet because it's team-oriented,” said Miller, who anchored the Huskers to a third-place finish in the late 3,200-meter relay that also featured former North Tama standouts Blaire and Brooke Dinsdale. “It's a fun meet for us. It's kind of more serious for the Iowa girls because we were born and raised (here). It's kind of a big deal, but in the whole scheme of training, it's just another fun meet.”

The fun word count: Three.

And it proved infectious, even though the all-Iowa Nebraska quartet came up short.

Miller and the Dinsdale twins are seniors.

The other Iowan in the fast foursome - former Sioux City East star Ellen Dougherty, is a sophomore.

“It's not the end of running,” said Dougherty, who like her running mates won three Drake Relays medals as a prep. “It's sad that they're all leaving and we're going to have to start fresh next year, but I don't know. I think we all left it out there on the track today. So no regrets. It was fun.”

Miller took the baton from Dougherty running third.

She tried to advance on leaders North Dakota State and Notre Dame, but couldn't cut deeply into their lead.

The Fighting Irish won in 8:35.89. The Bison clocked 8:36.31.

Miller crossed the stripe at 8:39.33 - several hours of anchoring the Huskers' distance medley relay to a second-place finish.

“It was just hard to make up ground on a night like tonight,” the 15-time state champion said. “That's just how it goes. I felt strong.”

No runner wants to peak in April.

And Miller has one more shot at Relays gold with the Big Red.

She'll compete in the women's 1,500-meter run Saturday - she took second in that event two years ago.

“Just another chance to get out there and get a good race in,” Miller said. “Whatever happens happens. It's not that big of a race in the whole scheme of things. It will be a good field so it will be fun to run fast.”

While Miller and her teammates wrapped up their third-place performance, Iowa high jumper Jeffery Herron achieved the top result Friday for an in-state university athlete.

Herron arched over the bar at 7-0 1/2.

Brede Ellingson of Arkansas won with a best leap of 7-1 3/4.

Two other Hawkeye high jumpers - Graham Valdes and Brandon Oest - notched sixth and seventh, respectively.

“The main thing you focus on is beating your in-conference competition, which we did today,” Herron said.