Sidney Swartzendruber leans into 4A girls’ state track sprint medley championship for Cedar Rapids Kennedy

Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Sidney Swartzendruber edges Wake Northwest anchor Avery Winter at the line to win the Class 4A girls’ state track and field sprint medley relay Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — Sidney Swartzendruber threw herself at the mercy of the finish-line gods.

Prayer answered.

Swartzendruber’s last-ditch lean at the wire sent Cedar Rapids Kennedy to victory in the Class 4A girls’ sprint medley relay at the state track and field meet Saturday at Drake Stadium.

“I tried so hard to catch up,” Swartzendruber said. “I threw myself at the finish line. I didn’t think we got it.”

They got it. Kennedy’s quartet of Quren Hullon, Morgan Hospadarsky, Addison Swartzendruber and Sidney Swartzendruber ran in 1:46.12, Waukee Northwest in 1:46.13.

It couldn’t have been closer.

“I’ve got goosebumps,” Hullon said. “That was crazy.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy anchor Sidney Swartzendruber (right) waves the championship flag as she celebrates winning the Class 4A girls’ state track and field sprint medley relay with teammates from left: Morgan Hospodarsky, Quren Hullon and Addison Swartzendruber at Drake Stadium in Des Moines on Saturday. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Kennedy won the sprint medley at the Drake Relays three weeks ago. This was more dramatic.

When Sidney Swartzendruber hit the cut line on the backstretch, she was running fifth.

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By the time she reached the front of the final straightaway, she was in second and gaining.

As Swartzendruber weaved through traffic, “we were just holding on to each other,” Hospodarsky said.

“We knew she could do it,” Addison Swartzendruber said. “I’m so proud of her.”

The Cougars followed with a third-place finish in the 1,600 relay (3:52.47), finishing behind Ames and Waukee Northwest.

A second-year school, Northwest is 2-for-2 in winning 4A girls’ titles. The Wolves scored 74 points; Ames (69) and West Des Moines Dowling (62) rounded out the top three.

Kennedy was seventh with 38 points.

Iowa City High’s Ani Wedemeyer was third in the 800 meters.

Saturday results: Class 4A girls

Top 10 teams — 1. Waukee Northwest 74, 2. Ames 69, 3. West Des Moines Dowling 62, 4. Pleasant Valley 52, 5. Ankeny 50, 6. Johnston 46, 7. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 38, 8. West Des Moines Valley 33, 9. Des Moines Roosevelt 31, 10. (tie) Dubuque Hempstead and Southeast Polk 28.

RESULTS (Top 3 and area placewinners)

Sprint medley relay — 1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Hullon, Hospodarsky, A. Swartzendruber, S. Swartzendruber), 1:46.12; 2. Waukee Northwest, 1:46.13; 3. Johnston, 1:47.05; 8. Linn-Mar, 1:49.48.

800 — 1. Keelee Leitzen (Dubuque Hempstead), 2:11.46; 2. Grace Boleyn (Pleasant Valley), 2:12.73; 3. Ani Wedemeyer (Iowa City High), 2:13.08; 6. Sidney Swartzendruber (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 2:15.96; 7. Bethany Northrup (Linn-Mar), 2:16.21.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. West Des Moines Dowling (Kramer, Gaskell, Ervin, Leman), 1:01.34; 2. Ames, 1:02.98; 3. Waukee Northwest, 1:03.24; 4. Iowa City West, 1:04.91.

100 — 1. Olivia Kramer (West Des Moines Dowling), 12.12; 2. Elliana Harris (Sioux City East), 12.30; 3. Kanijah Angel (Clinton), 12.44.

100 hurdles — 1. Ali Frandsen (Ames), 14.10; 2. Esaba Okwaramoi (Urbandale), 14.54; 3. Emma Havighurst (West Des Moines Valley), 14.71; 4. Grace Braden (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 14.89; 8. Erinah Carter (Iowa City West), 16.28.

200 — 1. Elliana Harris (Sioux City East), 24.60; 2. Alexis Boord (Southeast Polk), 24.96; 3. Cameron Moon (Ames), 25.00.

1,500 — 1. Addison Dorenkamp (West Des Moines Valley), 4:31.57; 2. Adrienne Buettner-Cable (Des Moines Roosevelt), 4:34.09; 3. Lydia Sommer (Pleasant Valley), 4:35.56.

400 relay — 1. West Des Moines Dowling (Hall, Heitzman, Johnson, Kramer), 48.01; 2. Waukee Northwest, 48.05; 3. Ames, 48.72; 8. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 49.42.

1,600 relay — 1. Ames (Moon, Horras, Lynch, Frandsen), 3:49.49; 2. Waukee Northwest, 3:52.16; 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 3:52.47.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com