Kennedy’s Drew Bartels, Regina’s Annie Gahan storm through the hurdles

CEDAR RAPIDS — The left leg is the right leg. The right leg is the wrong leg.

It’s all a lot to keep track of.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Drew Bartels led with the right leg nine times, which, for him, is the wrong leg.

“My left leg is supposed to be my lead leg. And I got my steps off,” he said.

Who could possibly tell? Fast is fast.

Left or right, right or wrong, Bartels continued a brilliant track and field season at the Xavier Invitational on Tuesday at Saints Field.

The senior from Cedar Rapids Kennedy established a new school record in the 110-meter highs, in 14.23 seconds. Then he came back and wrong-footed his way through the 400 lows in 54.14.

“I’ve been chasing the school record in the highs since the beginning of the year,” said Bartels, a University of Northern Iowa recruit. “To finally get it, it makes me feel really good.

“We’re only at midseason, so that means I can still get faster.”

There was no post-Drake Relays letdown for the Kennedy ace. Toss in a 21-foot, 9 3/4-inch long jump and a shuttle hurdle relay anchor, and he was a four-event champion.

“The weather helped a lot. It finally warmed up,” Bartels said. “You don’t have to wear as much clothes, and it doesn’t take a lot to get your body warmed up.”

Cedar Rapids Prairie swept the team titles, with the girls winning nine events and the boys eight.

Led by four-event champion Gabby Cortez (sprint medley, 100, 200, 400 relay), the Prairie girls scored 183 points, with Linn-Mar second with 167.

Cortez’s 25.58-second effort in the 200 is a school record.

The Prairie boys set a school record of their own, in the sprint medley relay (1:34.92). Ceondae Adams was part of that, as well as a winning 1,600 relay, and blazed through the 200 in 22.07 seconds, which ranks No. 4 in the state.

Iowa City Regina’s Annie Gahan won the girls’ 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best of 15.74 seconds, and anchored the Regals’ winning shuttle hurdle relay.

“I’ve really been working on getting my arm to snap more when I’m going over the hurdles,” she said. “A lot of times, I have a tendency just to float over them.”

Gahan is a dual-sport athlete in the spring, splitting time between track and soccer.

“Track is my priority. If there’s a conflict, I go to track,” said Gahan, who will play softball at Kirkwood Community College. “I just want to keep improving my times.”

XAVIER INVITATIONAL TRACK & FIELD MEET

At Saints Field

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 183, 2. Linn-Mar 167, 3. C.R. Kennedy 112, 4. Iowa City High 84, 5. Iowa City Regina 62, 6. C.R. Xavier 55, 7. Waterloo West 52, 8. North Scott 10.

Shot put — 1. Briona Charipar (CRX), 36-1; 2. Kennedy Evans (LM), 35-2 1/2; 3. Trinity Mitchell (CRP), 32-4; Discus — 1. Emma Joens (CRP), 111-2 1/2; 2. Gwen Gaffney (LM), 102-6; 3. Leah Gorsich (LM), 96-8; High jump — 1. Alia Vanderhoef (ICH), 5-0; 2. Allison Harris (CRK), 5-0; 3. Allison Kriegel (LM), 4-10; Long jump — 1. Ava Andrews (CRP), 17-0 1/2; 2. Taylor Lee (CRP), 16-2 1/4; 3. Jordan Sekafetz (ICH), 16-0 3/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Cortez, Lee, Jordan, Johannes), 1:55.40; 2. C.R. Xavier, 1:57.92; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 2:02.19; 3,000 — 1. Keirra Hess (CRP), 11:31.49; 2. Laurdyn Meyer (CRP), 11:33.91; 3. Annalee Bartels (ICR), 11:38.68; 3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Barnes, Moses, Koppes, Christensen), 10:09.11; 2. Iowa City High, 10:18.30; 3. Iowa City Regina, 10:47.90; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Iowa City Regina (Naeve, Clark, Clark, Gahan), 1:08.09; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:09.23; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:14.39; 100 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 12.68; 2. Mary Gustason (LM), 12.96; 3. Kaylee Bunn (LM), 13.27; Distance medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Gaffney, Gorsich, Gorsich, Geelan), 4:22.23; 2. Iowa City High, 4:31.99; 3. C.R. Prairie, 4:45.27; 400 — 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 1:00.08; 2. Catie Reittinger (CRP), 1:01.00; 3. Ameriz Nielsen (LM), 1:04.47; 800 relay — 1. Waterloo West (Caughron, Martin, Domatob, Zanders), 1:48.82; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:49.91; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:50.60; 100 hurdles — 1. Annie Gahan (ICR), 15.74; 2. Grace Braden (CRK), 16.47; 3. Molly Joyner (CRK), 16.81; 800 — 1. Lily Johannes (CRP), 2:21.42; 2. Alexis Moses (CRP), 2:21.92; 3. Lilly Reynolds (ICH), 2:24.74; 200 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 25.58; 2. Mary Gustason (LM), 26.91; 3. Emily Schmidt (LM), 27.38; 400 hurdles — 1. Emma Arnold (CRX), 1:09.22; 2. Laura Hepworth (WW), 1:12.18; 3. Molly Joyner (CRK), 1:12.63; 1,500 — 1. Lilly Geelan (LM), 4:58.71; 2. Bethany Smeed (CRK), 5:16.30; 3. Rowan Boulter (ICH), 5:17.43; 400 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Decker, Reittinger, Cortez), 49.96; 2. Linn-Mar, 51.43 3. C.R. Kennedy, 52.36; 1,600 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Nielsen, Haars, Poellet, Schmidt), 4:07.47; 2. C.R. Prairie, 4:08.41; 3. Waterloo West, 4:12.87.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 172, 2. C.R. Kennedy 159, 3. Iowa City High 140, 4. Ottumwa 112, 5. C.R. Xavier 73, 6. Center Point-Urbana 44, 7. Iowa City Regina 18.

Shot put — 1. Jesus Jaime (Ott), 54-2; 2. Raphael Hamilton (ICH), 52-1; 3. Sam Braksiek (CRP), 48-6 1/2; Discus — 1. Jesus Jaime (Ott), 155-6 1/2; 2. Sam Braksiek (CRP), 141-11; 3. Raphael Hamilton (ICH), 138-7; High jump — 1. Brody Lovell (CRK), 6-2; 2. Quin Fandel (CRX), 6-2; 3. Brendan Linde (CRK), 6-0; Long jump — 1. Drew Bartels (CRK), 21-9 3/4; 2. Reid Pakkebier (CRK), 21-1 1/2; 3. Colton Kronfeld (CRK), 20-8 1/2.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Adams, Moeller, Lewis, Keiper), 1:34.92; 2. Iowa City High, 1:37.41; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:38.53; 3,200 — 1. Eli Larson (CPU), 9:39.92; 2. Andrew Bickford (CRP), 9:45.23; 3. Mason Bach (CPU), 9:54.76; 3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Cortez, Costigan, Kalous, Canton), 8:20.15; 2. C.R. Xavier, 8:33.65; 3. Iowa City High, 8:41.96; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Pakkebier, Bartels, White, Lovell), 58.63; 2. C.R. Prairie, 59.32. 3. Iowa City High, 1:01.70; 100 — 1. Isaac Rohret (ICH), 11.06; 2. Charlie Welch (Ott), 11.13; 3. Ronnie Major (ICH), 11.31; Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Moeller, Rickertsen, Stanley, Opitz), 3:48.69; 2. C.R. Xavier, 3:52.19; 3. Iowa City High, 3:53.11; 400 — 1. Jovan Harris (ICH), 50.65; 2. Kenzie Reed (CRK), 51.71; 3. Charlie Welch (Ott), 51.76; 800 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Fetters, Taylor, Keiper, Lewis), 1:31.03; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:31.37; 3. Iowa City High, 1:34.39; 110 hurdles — 1. Drew Bartels (CRK), 14.23; 2. Reid Pakkebier (CRK), 15.03; 3. John Aschenbrenner (ICH), 15.18; 800 — 1. Ty Costigan (CRP), 2:02.61; 2. Eli Larson (CPU), 2:03.33; 3. Sean Steffen (CRX), 2:05.27; 200 — 1. Ceondae Adams (CRP), 22.07; 2. Brody Lovell (CRK), 22.23; 3. Charlie Welch (Ott), 22.50; 400 hurdles — 1. Drew Bartels (CRK), 54.14; 2. Isaac Eaton (Ott), 54.94; 3. Austin Fountain (Ott), 55.00; 1,600 — 1. Jake Opitz (CRP), 4:40.76; 2. Bryson Canton (CRP), 4:41.40; 3. Brady Cortez (CRP), 4:41.52; 400 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Rew, Harris, Major, Kueter), 43.28; 2. C.R. Prairie, 43.76; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 44.61; 1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Guckenberger, Adams, Keiper, Pearson), 3:27.06; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 3:28.35; 3. Ottumwa, 3:33.47.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com