Marion isn’t in the fastest heat of the 3A girls’ 4x200 ... but runs fastest anyway

DES MOINES — They huddled around the water cooler on the Drake Stadium infield. Each member of the Marion girls’ 800-meter relay had one eye on the track, one eye on the clock.

“I could hardly watch,” Kenzie Lovell said.

When the clock stepped and the news was good, there was no way the water was going to stay in their plastic cups.

“Surreal,” Abby Cave said after a massive embrace.

Running in the middle of three heats, the Wolves’ foursome of Lovell, Hayden Dietz, Kendyl Aarhus and Cave were crowned as Class 3A girls’ 4x200 champions at the state track and field meet Friday morning.

Their time of 1:41.40 held up after the so-called “fast heat” couldn’t eclipse it.

“When we saw the clock get to 1:40 and nobody was close enough to get to the finish line, I started cheering early,” Lovell said. “I was so excited.”

Marion’s effort ranks No. 13 statewide, all-time.

“We had faith in our handoffs,” said Dietz, who — like Aarhus — is a freshman.

The Wolves’ title was the area highlight in the 3A girls’ competition Friday.

Boosted by a third-place finish in the distance medley relay, Mount Vernon takes the team lead into the final day.

Through 10 events, Mount Vernon has 32 points. Clear Lake is second with 30 points, followed by Adel ADM (29) and Decorah (28).

The final nine events are Saturday.

Williamsburg’s Ava Hocker and West Delaware’s Norah Peyton ran 2-3 behind Clear Lake’s Reese Brownlee in the 400-meter hurdles.

Brownlee was clocked in 59.98 seconds, followed by Hocker (1:03.34) and Peyton (1:03.82).

It was only Hocker’s fifth time running the event.

“My mom (a former Williamsburg track athlete) really wanted me to try it, and it looked like it was up for grabs behind (Brownlee),” Hocker said. “It didn’t look pretty at first. I had to put in the practice, then I started to really believe.”

Hocker is a sophomore, Peyton a junior.

“It was a matter of having faith in myself,” Peyton said. “As long as you give 100 percent and believe 100 percent, you’re going to have good results. I didn’t focus on anybody but myself.”

Evelyn Moeller moved Mount Vernon’s distance medley from seventh to third. The Mustangs were clocked in 4:06.92; Gilbert won it in 4:04.86.

“I was kind of doubting my ability,” Moeller said. “It was a matter of getting the baton and seeing what happens.”

Decorah’s Lauren Luzum and Grace Tangen were third and fifth in the shot put.

STATE TRACK & FIELD

Class 3A Girls

Top 10 teams (through 10 events) — 1. Mount Vernon 32, 2. Clear Lake 30, 3. Adel ADM 29, 4. Decorah 28, 5. Gilbert 25, 6. Marion 22, 7. Pella 19, 8. (tie) Hampton-Dumont/CAL, Sioux Center and Williamsburg 16.

Shot put — 1. Charlee Morton (Hampton-Dumont/CAL), 47-6 1/4; 2. Brylie Lorence (Fort Madison), 44-8 1/4; 3. Lauren Luzum (Decorah), 40-7 3/4; 5. Grace Tangen (Decorah), 39-10 3/4.

Long jump — 1. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake), 19-0 1/2; 2. Aiden Gosselink (Grinnell), 18-6 1/4; 3. Frankie Huether (North Polk), 17-9 1/4; 7. Lucy Wischmeyer (Mount Vernon), 16-11 1/2.

Distance medley relay — 1. Gilbert (Rash, Mizarek, Andersen, Feddersen), 4:04.86; 2. Sioux Center, 4:06.53; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:06.92; 5. Marion, 4:09.48; 8. Center Point-Urbana, 4:12.18.

800 relay — 1. Marion (Lovell, Dietz, Aarhus, Cave), 1:41.03; 2. Decorah, 1:41.40; 3. Adel ADM, 1:42.66; 5. West Delaware, 1:43.19.

400 hurdles — 1. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake), 59.98; 2. Ava Hocker (Williamsburg), 1:03.34; 3. Norah Peyton (West Delaware), 1:03.82; 6. Leighton Messinger (Washington), 1:06.58; 8. Eastin Whisner (Mount Vernon), 1:06.67.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com