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Kennedy provides the highlights at its home track and field invitational
Boys win 13 events and run away with the team championship, and the Swartzendruber twins tear it up, combining for four girls’ titles

Apr. 8, 2023 5:47 pm, Updated: Apr. 10, 2023 11:45 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — How does one achieve high-school immortality?
Get your name on a record board.
That’s what Donovan Slick-Driscoll is after.
“I want to be up there, and I want these guys up there with me,” he said.
It’s early, but Slick-Driscoll and his fast buddies are trending in that direction. For now, they can settle for being one of the top sprint relays in the state.
Slick-Driscoll, Tre Duffie, Dawson Dougherty and Anthony Franklin churned out the state’s second-fastest boys’ 400-meter relay thus far this season, circling the Kingston Stadium oval in 43.05 seconds Saturday at the Draxton-Stiers/Wilkinson Invitational track and field meet.
“It’s a good start,” Franklin said. “We have a pretty solid team.”
Kennedy ran away with the boys’ team race, winning 13 of 19 events and accumulating 230 points. Center Point-Urbana was second with 141.
Not a bad outdoor-season debut for the Cougars, who had been sidelined from outdoor competition because of storms on multiple occasions.
Kennedy’s 4x100 school record is 42.06. Carving a second and reaching that standard might not sound like much, but it will take some work.
“That’s the goal,” Slick-Driscoll said. “We’re going to work hard. In practice some days, we’ll run two 500s. We complain about it, but it will be worth it.”
Slick-Driscoll and Duffie ran 1-2 in the 100. Franklin won the high jump and anchored the Cougars’ winning sprint medley.
Add Dougherty — a freshman — to the mix, and Slick-Driscoll said, “I hope it’s the four of us in the 4-by-1, 4-by-2 and sprint medley by the end of the year.”
The girls’ competition was much more competitive. Linn-Mar led the eight-team field with 172 points, followed by Cedar Falls (149) and Kennedy (131).
Kennedy junior twins Addison and Sidney Swartzendruber provided the highlights.
Sidney took over the state’s No. 1 spot in the 800 meters, surging to the front immediately and completing the task in 2:15.03. She is recovering from a quadriceps strain, suffered about three weeks ago.
“This was my first time back,” she said. “I’ve been resting, biking, swimming. I wasn’t expecting anything big today. I just wanted to see what I could do.”
Swartzendruber ran the first lap in 65 seconds before closing in 70.
“I was thinking 63 and 72, but this works, too,” she said.
Addison anchored the Cougars’ winning sprint medley relay, claimed the title in the 400 (58.73) and led off a 1,600-meter relay unit that jumped to No. 3 statewide this spring, running 4:05.51.
“People always ask us who’s the faster (twin),” Addison said, declining to answer that question. “I really want to run 55 or 56 seconds by the end of the season.”
As for the 800 ...
“I haven’t run an 800 in my life,” Addison said. “Sidney takes care of that for me.”
Draxton-Stiers/Wilkinson Invitational
(At Kingston Stadium)
Girls Results
Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 172, 2. Cedar Falls 149, 3. C.R. Kennedy 131, 4. Mount Vernon 107, 5. Burlington 51, 6. C.R. Prairie 46, 7. (tie) C.R. Jefferson and Iowa City High 32.
High jump – 1. Lyla Canny (CRP), 5-2; 2. Katy Hand (LM), 5-1; 3. Allison Kriegel (LM), 5-1.
Long jump – 1. Abby Mecklenburg (LM), 16-3 3/4; 2. Petra Sherman (LM), 16-1; 3. Shea Ray (CF), 15-2 1/2.
Shot put – 1. Kennedy Evans (LM), 38-2; 2. Josianna Toingar (LM), 32-4; 3. Trinity Mitchell (CRP), 32-4.
Discus – 1. Libby Dix (MV), 118-7; 2. Erica Kinn (LM), 109-2; 3. Gwen Gaffney (LM), 106-6.
Sprint medley relay – 1. C.R. Kennedy (Hullon, Hospodarsky, Veach, A. Swartzendruber), 1:51.46; 2. Cedar Falls, 1:54.63; 3. Mount Vernon, 1:56.03.
3,000 — 1. Anna Becker (CF), 11:12.91; 2. Anabel Bradley (CRK), 11:35.30; 3. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 11:39.95.
3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Trapp, Egbert, Adamson, Northrup), 9:59.80; 2. Mount Vernon, 10:11.35; 3. Cedar Falls, 10:26.03.
Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Cedar Falls (J. Dieken, M. Dieken, Tognetti, Paup), 1:09.62; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:10.84; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:14.02.
100 — 1. Christella Boyer (Burl), 13.46; 2. Quren Hullon (CRK), 13.63; 3. Avalon Burns (CF), 13.72.
Distance medley relay — 1. Cedar Falls (Tognetti, Wessels, Zylstra, Schillinger), 4:32.07; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:46.49; 3. Linn-Mar, 4:52.53.
400 — 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 58.73; 2. Kara Swantz (MV), 1:03.26; 3. Brooklyn Guild (LM), 1:04.66.
800 relay — 1. Burlington (Wiseman, Boyer, Brown, Stiefel), 1:46.78; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:48.39; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:49.30.
100 hurdles — 1. Grace Braden (CRK), 15.73; 2. Paige Paup (CF), 16.85; 3. Petra Sherman (LM), 17.31.
800 — 1. Sidney Swartzendruber (CRK), 2:15.03; 2. Josee Simonson (CF), 2:18.00; 3. Laura Swart (MV), 2:23.92.
200 — 1. Kierah Wiseman (Burl), 26.95; 2. Samantha Fowler (CRJ), 28.28; 3. Sarah White (LM), 28.50.
400 hurdles — 1. Johnna Dieken (CF), 1:11.92; 2. Kiersten Swart (MV), 1:11.94; 3. Jordyn Beck (LM), 1:13.93.
1,500 — 1. Ruby Schillinger (CF), 5:12.04; 2. Maddie Gallagher (CF), 5:15.20; 3. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 5:21.41.
400 relay — 1. Burlington (Wiseman, Boyer, Brown, Hart), 51.24; 2. Linn-Mar, 51.81; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 52.68.
1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (A. Swartzendruber, Hospodarsky, Swearinger, Veach), 4:05.51; 2. Cedar Falls, 4:10.07; 3. Linn-Mar, 4:13.37.
Boys Results
Teams – 1. C.R. Kennedy 230, 2. Center Point-Urbana 141, 3. Burlington 96, 4. C.R. Jefferson 83, 5. Iowa City High 68, 6. C.R. Prairie 58.
High jump – 1. Anthony Franklin (CRK), 5-10; 2. Pierce McCrary (CRK), 5-8; 3. Cooper Grimm (CPU), 5-8.
Long jump – 1. T'Andre Jones (Burl), 20-6 1/2; 2. Carter Andrews (CPU), 19-7 3/4; 3. Jackson Brincks (CPU), 19-3 1/2.
Shot put – 1. Logan Johnson (CRK), 46-11 1/4; 2. Seth Werner (CPU), 46-0; 3. Calvin White (CRK), 45-4 1/2.
Discus – 1. Andrew Sholes (CPU), 124-1; 2. Phil Phillips (Burl), 123-9; 3. Moise Cordero (Burl), 123-5.
Sprint medley relay – 1. C.R. Kennedy (Jackson-Collins, Doyle, Woods, Franklin), 1:39.32; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 1:40.69; 3, C.R. Prairie, 1:45.77.
3,200 — 1. Adam Gray (CRK), 10:11.92; 2. Owyn Noble (ICH), 10:17.30; 3. Slader Buckheister (CRK), 10:19.77.
3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Volden, McMahan, Bruns, Wilson), 8:20.77; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 8:49.40; 3. Iowa City High, 9:40.94.
Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (T. Bartels, Dougherty, R. Bartels, McCrary), 1:03.38; 2. Burlington, 1:09.29; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:15.01.
100 — 1. Donovan Slick-Driscoll (CRK), 11.71; 2. Tre Duffie (CRK), 11.84; 3. Ben Hansen (CPU), 12.02.
Distance medley relay — 1. Burlington (Watson, Shealey, Wyldon, Morehead), 3:43.55; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 3:47.95; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 3:50.10.
400 — 1. Curtis Sanders (CRJ), 51.58; 2. Brecken Andersen (CPU), 52.40; 3. Christian Gasper (CRK), 54.43.
800 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Slick-Driscoll, Duffie, Dougherty, Woods), 1:31.99; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 1:37.84; 3. Burlington, 1:38.89.
110 hurdles — 1. Landen Dougherty (CRK), 16.44; 2. Salomon Cordero (Burl), 16.52; 3. Dominic Roe (ICH), 17.22.
800 — 1. Henry McMahan (CRK), 2:04.33; 2. Sam Morehead (Burl), 2:06.99; 3. Blayze Havel (CPU), 2:07.45.
200 — 1. Raquis Robinson (CRJ), 23.68; 2. Anthony Franklin (CRK), 23.79; 3. Zack Robinson (CRJ), 23.83.
400 hurdles — 1. Tyler Bartels (CRK), 58.05; 2. Nathan Miller (CPU), 58.17; 3. Ryan Bartels (CRK), 58.82.
1,600 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 4:40.21; 2. Jacob Bruns (CRK), 4:44.95; 3. Owyn Noble (ICH), 4:50.17.
400 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Slick-Driscoll, Duffie, Dougherty, Franklin), 43.05; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 43.68; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 46.03.
1,600 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Andersen, Grimm, Witte, Stowers), 3:35.35; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 3:37.43; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 3:41.69.
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com