Tipton girls repeat as Class 2A distance medley relay champs

DES MOINES — The Tipton girls’ distance medley relay team suddenly shifted to spectator mode.

Anchor Noelle Steines clutched the baton, eyes darting nervously along the track. Teammates Ella Hein, Zoe Holstein and Tatum Nebergall tiptoed near a water cooler as the final heat wound down, with folded hands and hopeful hearts, wondering if their time Friday morning at the Class 2A girls’ state track and field meet would hold up.

Spoiler alert: It did.

“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Hein, who already had placed in the top five in three events before the Tigers cemented their distance med win with a time of 4:07.80 at Drake Stadium. “We won last year and winning again is just even more special that (after) losing two really good seniors, we can come back and do it again.”

Hein and Steines reprised their roles as winners in the event. Holstein and Nebergall set the stage for a Tipton repeat by running strong first and second legs. The Tigers’ winning time was a mere second and a half off of their 2A record mark of 4:06.37 set in last season’s victory.

“Getting to watch them last year was one thing, but then being with them and winning was really cool.”

Nebergall nodded.

“I really enjoyed bonding with these three and being such a special team,” she added.

Steines increased her total of state track wins to 10 — and she still has two events to go.

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“The whole season, we only raced this a few times,” she said. “And it’s hard to know what to expect when you’re in the second heat.”

The Tigers weren’t the only Gazette-area 2A girls’ winners on Friday, either.

Enter North Fayetteville Valley’s Hannah Schroeder. Soon, the multi-talented junior will be scooping up grounders and recording assists at first base.

But first-things-first came in the form of a first-place finish at state in the 2A girls’ discus. Schroeder — who will shift to softball mode next week — hurled the discus 132 feet and topped second-place Tristin Gorden of South Central Calhoun by a mere four inches to clutch gold.

“Honestly, it was just a blur,” said Schroeder, who earned silver in the event last season. “I was really shaking the whole time.”

But not at the end, as she smiled for post-win pictures as coaches, friends and family showered her with applause. Schroeder beamed — and dreamed of what next season may bring.

“It was so amazing,” Schroeder said. “Who knew, me of all people, could do this?”

Tipton ended day two atop the point standings with 34. Van Meter lurks in second with 32 points and Emmetsburg is third with 22 points.

Class 2A Girls

At Des Moines (Drake Stadium)

Top 10 teams (through 10 events) — 1. Tipton 34; 2., Van Meter 32; 3. Emmetsburg 22; 4. Pella Christian 20; 5. Ogden 17.5; 6. Spirit Lake 17; 7. Estherville LC 14; 8. Unity Christian 12; 9. Manson-NW Webster 11; 10. Tie, Albia, North Fayette Valley 10.

Discus— 1. Hannah Schroeder (North Fayette Valley), 132-00; 2. Tristin Gorden (South Central Calhoun), 131-08; 3. Addy Engel (Hudson), 131-02.

High jump — 1. Rachel Schany (Emmetsburg), 5-06; 2. Willow Ray (West Central Valley) 5-04; 3. Samantha Lass (Ogden) 5-04.

Distance medley relay — 1. Tipton (Holstein, Nebergell, Hein, Steines), 4:07.80; 2. Van Meter, 4:10.50; 3. Eddyville-EBF, 4:10.73; 4. Monticello, 4:12.73.

800 relay — 1. Pella Christian (Terpstra, Kacmarynski, Agre, Van Wyk), 1:40.61; 2. Spirit Lake, 1:42.37; 3. Lawton-Bronson. 1:44.44.

400 hurdles — 1. Madison Boese (Van Meter), 1:04.73; 2. MaKayla Beisel (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows), 1:05.00; 3. Payton Trapp (Kingsley-Pierson), 1:05.03; 4. Ella Hein (Tipton), 1:05.39.

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