DES MOINES — Four titles in four hours. Yeah, you can call that a gold rush.
Benton Community won a pair of Class 3A girls’ relays in the morning, then Ellie Masten and Grace Martensen grabbed glory in the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles as the Bobcats climbed the ladder in the team race at the girls’ state track and field meet Saturday at Drake Stadium.
“It’s been an amazing day,” said Masten, who edged Carly King of Davenport Assumption in the 100. “I can’t really believe any of it.”
Pella ended Assumption’s five-year title run, accumulating 70 points. Crestwood and Dubuque Wahlert shared second place with 64 points each, then it was Benton (57) and Decorah (50).
The Bobcats entered Saturday with a modest 11 points, then gained ground immediately.
Gabbi Garman, Elizabeth Masten, Ellie Masten and Shelby Hulsebus edged Decorah in the day’s first event, the sprint medley relay. Pella’s Annika Pingel passed Hulsebus with 300 meters to go, then Hulsebus had the final say on the final stretch and anchored in 57.5 seconds. Benton finished in 1:47.31
“I wasn’t going to let her (Pingel) too far ahead,” Hulsebus said. “If I stuck with her, I knew I could get her.”
“She didn’t go with me, I knew if I kept going faster, she wouldn’t catch up.”
Laura Maschino, Elizabeth Masten, Mallory Thys and Martensen defended the Bobcats’ title in the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:04.84. Mount Vernon was second.
“I knew if the first three of us could stay close, it would give Grace a shot,” Maschino said.
Then it was time for Ellie Masten and Martensen to star on the solo stage.
Masten and King both were clocked in 12.16 in the 100, with Masten earning the title.
“I could see Carly out of the corner of my eye, so I leaned with everything I had,” Masten said.
Martensen edged Taylor Cannon of Iowa City Liberty in the hurdles, 14.51 to 14.58.
“When Ellie won the 100, it gave me more confidence and more motivation to get up there and win another one,” Martensen said. “We knew a big day today was definitely possible, because we were top-seeded in a lot of events.”
Decorah capped the meet by winning the 1,600-meter relay. Sarah Mikkelson, Brooke Berns, Jenna Galligan and Katie Nimrod ran in 3:57.66, compared to 3:58.77 for Solon.
“I knew my teammates would get me up there when I got the baton, so I had to do it for them,” Nimrod said. “They push me every day.”
STATE TRACK & FIELD: 3A GIRLS
Teams (top 10) — 1. Pella 70, 2. (tie) Crestwood and Dubuque Wahlert 64, 4. Benton Community 57, 5. Decorah 50, 6. Sioux City Heelan 37, 7. Davenport Assumption 33, 8. Solon 27, 9. (tie) North Polk, Iowa Falls-Alden, Keokuk and Mount Vernon 25.
Sprint medley relay — 1. Benton Community (Garman, Eliz. Masten, Ellie Masten, Hulsebus), 1:47.31; 2. Decorah, 1:47.69; 3. Pella, 1:47.74; 4. Solon, 1:49.24; 5. Denison-Schleswig, 1:50.39; 6. Norwalk, 1:50.56; 7. Marion, 1:52.15; 8. Independence, 1:52.21.
800 — 1. Ellie Friesen (Crestwood), 2:13.63; 2. Sadie Juergens (Adel ADM), 2:16.91; 3. Madison Jochum (Sioux City Heelan), 2:17.26; 4. Corinne Gadient (Anamosa), 2:17.67; 5. Maddy Juhl (Iowa Falls-Alden), 2:18.04; 6. Grace Juhl (Iowa Falls-Alden), 2:18.26; 7. Brett Schneider (Fort Madison), 2:19.03; 8. Amber Aesoph (Sioux City Heelan), 2:19.07.
Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Benton Community (Maschino, Masten, Thys, Martensen), 1:04.84; 2. Mount Vernon, 1:05.03; 3. Cedar Rapids Xavier, 1:06.35; Solon, 1:06.88; 5. Decorah, 1:07.27; 6. Iowa City Liberty, 1:07.77; 7. Grinnell, 1:07.87; 8. Algona, 1:08.09.
100 — 1. Ellie Masten (Benton Community), 12.16; 2. Carly King (Davenport Assumption), 12.16; 3. Libby Wedewer (Dubuque Wahlert), 12.25; 4. Emily Vos (Pella), 12.28; 5. Ya’ Mia Ailes-Primes (Keokuk), 12.46; 6. Katie Saner (Crestwood), 12.58; 7. Tarynn Rodman (Norwalk), 12.69; 8. Bailey Hasken (Dubuque Wahlert), 12.75.
100 hurdles — 1. Grace Martensen (Benton Community), 14.51; 2. Taylor Cannon (Iowa City Liberty), 14.58; 3. Aricka Lambson (Carlisle), 15.02; 4. Emily Holterhaus (Pella), 15.40; 5. Theresa Lampe (Cedar Rapids Xavier), 15.46; 6. Sienna Durr (Grinnell), 15.52; 7. Catherine Yeoman (Mount Vernon), 15.64; 8. Annie Leopold (Mount Vernon), 15.66.
200 — 1. Emily Vos (Pella) 24.68; 2. Carly King (Davenport Assumption), 24.75; 3. Annika Pingel (Pella), 24.98; 4. Libby Wedewer (Dubuque Wahlert), 25.07; 5. Ya’ Mia Ailes-Primes (Keokuk), 25.15; 6. Katie Saner (Crestwood), 25.43; 7. Anna Sherman (Dubuque Wahlert), 25.70.
1,500 — 1. Ellie Friesen (Crestwood), 4:39.40; 2. Amelia Lesher (North Polk), 4:47.26; 3. Adrianna Katcher (Center Point-Urbana), 4:50.90; 4. Amber Aesoph (Sioux City Heelan), 4:50.10; 5. Lauren Juhl (Iowa Falls-Alden), 4:52.72; 6. Camille Mac (Iowa City Liberty), 4:53.57; 7. Cassidy Ihns (Crestwood), 4:53.80; 8. Bryce Gidel (Humboldt), 4:54.68.
400 relay — 1. Dubuque Wahlert (Wedewer, Sherman, Broderick, Hasken), 48.21; 2. Pella, 48.60; 3. Benton Community, 48.84; 4. Keokuk, 49.60; 5. Dallas Center-Grimes, 49.91; 6. Washington, 50.38; 7. Decorah, 50.45; 8. Norwalk, 50.59.
1,600 relay — 1. Decorah (Mikkelson, Berns, Galligan, Nimrod), 3:57.66; 2. Solon, 3:58.77; 3. Pella, 3:59.50; 4. Dubuque Wahlert, 4:04.14; 5. Davenport Assumption 4:04.59; 6. North Polk, 4:04.78; 7. Grinnell, 4:04.87; 8. Anamosa, 4:08.98.
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