DES MOINES — Elkader Central has had a stint of dominance in the girls’ 3,200-meter relay at the state track and field meet,
It has won the event the last two years and on Thursday, it went for three straight.
When Elkader Central anchor Jasmine Mueller crossed the finish line, she collapsed, exhausted, into the waiting arms of her three teammates. They wrapped her in a big hug as she tried to catch her breath.
Elkader Central won its third straight title and led nearly from start to finish.
“We just wanted to keep a level mind because this is the state meet, anything can happen, you just have to run your race,” said Deserai Weber, who ran the second leg.
Elkader Central didn’t have one special class that led them to the titles. It’s been spread across several classes. This relay team consisted of two sophomores (Riley Schroeder and Mueller), a junior (Ciera Deitchler) and a senior (Weber).
“It’s just something we’ve been wanting since the first time we won it three years ago,” Weber said. “We just keep filling in and working to keep getting back to where we want to be.”
The win put Elkader Central in a six-way tie for second with 10 points.
Highland is one of six schools tied for second. Highland got its points on the back of Emily Yahnke, who won the long jump by 3 1/2 inches over Cherisse Ward of Iowa Valley. Yahnke’s winning jump was 17-8 1/2, Ward jumped 17-5.
Ackley AGWSR is leading the 1A team race with 12 points.
In the shot put, No. 1 seed Venessa Hamlett of Starmont couldn’t quite get over the hump. The junior finished second with a throw of 39 feet, 1 inch. Abby Marr of Riceville won with a throw of 40-8 1/2. Lansing Kee’s Chloe Severson finished third at 38-8 1/2.
In the 3,000-meter run, it was a three-person race the whole way. The trio of Emma Lucas of Bedford, Janette Schraft of East Mills and Emily Staal of Central City jostled back and forth throughout the race. As the race came to a close, Lucas separated herself, winning with a time of 10:04.31.
Staal finished in third in 10:13.25.
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