DES MOINES — Sigourney hurdler Autum Barthelman never ran in the 14-second range in the 100-meter hurdles.
On Saturday at Drake Stadium, Barthelman crossed the line in 14.83 seconds, finishing first in Class 1A at the state track and field meet.
“Running in the 14s was my goal my senior year,” Barthelman said. “To run it in my last race ever — I was really surprised.”
She was surprised because she actually clipped two hurdles. Barthelman is also used to getting out to fast starts, but in this race, Baxter’s Sailor Hiengardner beat her to the first hurdle.
That lit a fire under Barthelman.
“Automatically, in my head, I thought, ‘You have to push it,’” Barthelman said. “I had to get out in front of her and keep my pace.”
The win was Barthelman’s second of the day in a hurdle event.
Sigourney also defended its 1A girls’ shuttle hurdle relay title earlier in the day. Barthelman ran the first leg, and her sister, Summer, ran the anchor.
“It’s incredible,” Summer said. “It’s really exciting that we came back and did this well.”
The two wins helped Sigourney to a seventh-place finish with 29 points — Danville won the 1A girls’ team title with 56.
South Winneshiek had the highest area finish in 1A with 37 points.
The Warriors were bolstered on the final day by Ellie Loesch, who finished second in her two races by a combined 0.48 seconds.
Loesch finished the 100-meter dash in 12.65 and Madrid’s Rylan Santi finished in 12.48.
In the 200-meter race, Loesch finished 25.52 and, again, Santi finished just ahead of her with a time of 25.21.
“To say I’m not disappointed would be a lie, obviously you want to come here and win, but that wasn’t the case today,” Loesch said. “It just adds fuel to my fire for next year.”
Lansing Kee finished in fifth with 33 points.
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