These Cougars have wheels

CASCADE -- It isn't too early to tinker.

"We have a lot of depth, and that's both a blessing and a curse," Cascade girls' track coach Tim Frake said. "We're already starting to look at what we're going to do at (regionals), how we can score the most points at the state meet."

He has three weeks to figure it out, because the Cougars have a myriad of ways to score big.

Of all the area track teams -- boys and girls -- the Cougars might be the highest of hopefuls to snag a title; they'll try to move up from a fifth-place finish last year in Class 2A.

"We think we can beat anybody," said sophomore Abbey Meyer, one of three cornerstones in the program -- senior Abby Green and junior Mariah Kauder are the others. "We've got a great group of girls, but we've got to keep working hard."

That shouldn't be an issue.

"We've got a lot of talent, but we've got some really dedicated kids right now that care about track and field," Frake said. "It makes my job easy."

Cascade has 2A top-five efforts in 12 events, and ranks No. 1 in its class in four.

Tessa Helmle, Allison Gibbs, Green and Meyer lead the way, convincingly, in the 800-meter relay (their time of 1:45.70 leads 2A by more than a second) and the 1,600-meter relay (4:02.71, nearly 4 seconds ahead of the field).

Kauder, born into one of the most recognizable running families in Eastern Iowa, anchors the top-rated distance medley relay (Sydney Rickels, Bailey Holmes and Holly Hunt are the first three runners) and leads 2A in the 1,500 meters at 4:46.25.

"Mariah has always had talent," Frake said. "Now she has the confidence to go with it."

Frake built the Maquoketa Valley girls' program into a perennial Tri-Rivers Conference power before leaving for Cascade, where he also coaches football. He coached boys' track at Cascade for a year before assuming the girls' job.

"I like the difference, coaching girls' track after coaching football in the fall," Frake said. "It's a different personality and attitude coaching girls, and it's a good change for me.

"We started getting some success, and the girls have really bought in."

Next month, they'll try to cash in. Frake figures Western Christian, Hudson, West Fork and West Branch will challenge, but that his team is capable of scoring in the mid-60s at the state level once the pieces are put in place.

"If everything goes well, I think we can compete well in five or six relays and still have some flexbility to put kids in some individual events," he said. 

They're No. 1

Gazette-area competitors lead the state in six boys events, according to quikstatsiowa.org.

Brandon Ophoff of Linn-Mar has moved into the top slot in both hurdles events -- he ran 13.90 in the 110 highs and 53.49 in the 400 lows at Cedar Rapids Prairie on Tuesday.

Prairie is No. 1 in the 1,600-meter relay (3:23.62), Cedar Rapids Washington leads the way in the medley relay (3:32.61) and Iowa City High is tops in the shuttle hurdle relay (57.74).

Jared Ganschow of Clear Creek Amana is the state's fastest boy in the 400 (49.06).