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Kendra Cooper takes discus crown, Kee vaults to 1A state track lead
By Ben Visser, correspondent
May. 18, 2018 3:30 pm
DES MOINES - Lansing Kee's Kendra Cooper led from start to finish in the Class 1A girls' discus throw Friday at the state track and field meet.
Cooper led off with a 123 foot, 5 inch throw, which put her squarely in the lead. On her fifth throw, she had a mark of 129-0, and on her final throw, she put the nail in the coffin with a throw of 132-10.
Kaitlyn Wilder of Dunkerton finished second with a throw of 125-07.
Cooper's first-place finish, along with a third-place girls' distance medley relay team, helped put Lansing Kee in first in the team race with 25 points.
Macie Boots of HLV set a new personal record in the girls' 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.08, but it wasn't quite enough. She lost to Janette Schraft of East Mills who ran 1:03.13.
'I feel really good, I PR'd and that's always the most important to me,” said Boots, a junior. 'Runner-up, it's really exciting, but next year, I want to work for that state title.”
Highland's 800-meter relay ended up in a similar spot as Boots. Highland finished third with a time of 1:48.08 behind Danville, which ran 1:46.71 and Alburnett, which ran 147.60.
Highland's relay team consisted of Sarah Schneider, Aly Stokes, Kristy Thomann and Emily Yahnke. They are all juniors except Yahnke, who is a sophomore.
The 1:48.08 is the best time they've run, but Yahnke believes they have more in them.
'Next year, we'll be working together more,” Yahnke said. 'After this year, I think it's enough experience that everything will come together and we can win.”
Montezuma's team of Brianna Massengale, Riley Gatton, Cassidy Watts and Shateah Wetering finished fifth with a time of 1:48.49.
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Lansing Kee's Kendra Cooper throws the discus on her way to winning the class 1A discus at the 2018 Iowa High School Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, May 18, 2018. Cooper won with a throw of 40.48 meters. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)