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Mid-Prairie wins fourth straight Class 2A girls’ state track and field championship
Mitzi Evans wins 800, adding to 400 and distance medley titles for triumphant Golden Hawks
Mid-Prairie's Mitzi Evans (right) runs for the finish as she holds off Van Meter's Clare Kelly on her way to winning the 2A 800-meter run at the 2022 Iowa High School Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Evans won in 2:12.56. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
DES MOINES — Mid-Prairie’s Mitzi Evans said the word “nervous” multiple times Saturday — and that’s when she wasn’t struggling to catch her breath. But any anxiety the star senior endured in the Class 2A girls’ state track and field meet at Drake Stadium melted into relief and contentment eventually as the Golden Hawks wrapped up their fourth straight team title.
“Every point counts,” said Evans, who won the 400 meters and the 800 meters and ran a leg in the triumphant distance medley relay team this weekend.
Mid-Prairie scored 65 points while becoming the first 2A girls’ team to win four state track titles in a row since Tipton did it from 2004-07. Van Meter placed second with 55 points. Evans used a late kick in the 800 to hold off Van Meter’s Clare Kelly.
She finished in a personal-best time of 2:12.56. So however “nervous” she may have been, it didn’t show.
“I still can’t believe I won,” said Evans, who also earned second in the 200-meter dash. “I was so scared. Clare Kelly, she’s a fighter. I was so scared that she was going to come (on).”
Television reporters crouch as they interview Mid-Prairie's Mitzi Evans after she won the 2A 800-meter run at the 2022 Iowa High School Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Evans won in 2:12.56. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Danielle Hostetler bolstered the Golden Hawks’ four-peat hopes with a third-place finish in the 1,500-meter run. Evans said Mid-Prairie’s versatility and skill across multiple events is what makes it so hard to beat.
“I’m so proud of our team as a whole,” Evans said. “They stepped up to it. They’re so supportive. They’re really kind girls. Really sweet. They give up a lot. They’ve very dedicated.”
Cascade’s shuttle hurdle relay team dedicated this season to improving on a second-place outcome in 2021. The Cougars did just that, winning the title in 1:07.37.
“It’s unreal,” junior anchor Devin Simon said. “Getting second last year really made us want to win so bad (Saturday), so it’s an unreal feeling.”
The Cougars had never won a shuttle hurdle relay, but have now won 15 relay championships in total.
Cascade's Brianna Koppes (second from right), Elizabeth Gibbs (second from left) as Devin Simon (left) and Kate Green stand close as they celebrate their win in the 2A shuttle hurdle relay at the 2022 Iowa High School Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Cascade won in 1:07.37. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
“We were not satisfied,” senior Elizabeth Gibbs said about last year’s runner-up effort. “We wanted more.”
Williamsburg’s 400-meter relay team celebrated a satisfying championship late Saturday. The Raiders finished in a season-best time of 49.73 seconds.
“Amazing,” senior anchor Rylee Vercande said. “It couldn’t have been any better.”
