Distance medley team sets new school record at DMC Invite

By TYLER ANDERSON tanderson@iowainformation.com

Over the course of the spring season, the Greene County High School girls’ track and field team has been trimming down on their times and putting together some impressive performances – particularly from their young nucleus of student-athletes.

At the Des Moines Christian Invitational, which took place this past Monday at Lions Field in Urbandale, a school record fell by the wayside. The Rams’ distance medley team of sophomore Addison Gannon, senior Kaylee Stalder, sophomore Savannah Lansman and sophomore Kaycee Pittman reset the record book with a time of 4:28.24 – which won the event and is good for sixth overall within Class 2A.

The Rams collectively claimed second with 128 points, right behind host Des Moines Christian’s 195 points. Baxter (123 points), West Central Valley (117 points), Ankeny Christian (93) and Twin Cedars (18) also competed in Urbandale.

Along with the d-med squad, the Rams boasted three more champions, three second place finishes and one third place showing. 

On April 15, Greene County ran into an ultra-competitive Tiger Relays at Carroll Athletic Field, taking eighth with 37 points. Gilbert won the girls’ side of the meet with 137 points, followed by Atlantic (109), Boone (79), Carroll (71) and Clarinda (54), who rounded out the top five.

In Carroll, the Rams had one winner in junior Emma Ewalt (discus throw - 113 feet, nine inches), two runner-up finishes and one third place performance.

This past Tuesday, the girls in red and black were given their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet assignment. On May 9, the Rams will pay the Keith Hart Athletic Complex in Manson a visit – where they will face Cherokee Washington, East Sac County, Forest City, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, Hinton, Kingsley-Pierson-Woodbury Central-River Valley, Lawton-Bronson, host Manson-Northwest Webster, Ogden, Ridge View and South Central Calhoun.

The Rams will return to action at 4:30 p.m. next Monday, when they will compete at the North Polk Co-Ed Invitational at Comet Field in Alleman. There, Greene County will face Bondurant-Farrar, Nevada, host North Polk, PCM, Roland-Story and South Hamilton.

A recap from the meet will be posted in an upcoming edition of the Jefferson Herald.

While Ewalt won the discus throw with a personal best in Carroll, junior Payton Kokenge took second in the high jump with a clearance of four feet, 10 inches. The distance medley team acquired second place with a time of 4:40.62, while freshman Evelyn Snyder took third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 13:51.50 – a personal record.

The 4x400-meter relay team of Lansman, junior Sadie Shannon, Gannon and Pittman finished fifth (4:34.45), while Kokenge took sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:10.42. Junior Hailey Carman placed seventh with a time of 1:11.42.

Lansman, Gannon, sophomore Lila Osterson and Pittman landed sixth in the 4x200-meter relay (1:57.86), while the sprint medley group of Stalder, freshman Sara Morlan, Kokenge and Osterson took sixth (2:09.07). Lansman, Osterson, Gannon and Pittman teamed up for the 4x100-meter relay and finished seventh (55.74 seconds), as Shannong finished eighth in the 800-meter run (2:59.06).

Carman (9th - 6:10.33) and Snyder (11th - 6:29.20) competed in the 1,500-meter run, while Stalder (10th - 31.08 seconds) and sophomore Calleigh Fitzpatrick (15th - 32.53 seconds) took part in the 200-meter dash.

Ewalt was 10th overall in the shot put (29 feet, four and a half inches), followed by freshman Alaina Heard (12th - 29 feet, one and a half inches). Heard also participated in the discus (13th - 85 feet, five inches).

Morlan (14.66 seconds) and junior Ava Binkley (16.06 seconds) ran in the 100-meter dash.

Along with the d-med, the sprint medley thrived at the Des Moines Christian Invitational, which took place this past Monday at Lions Field in Urbandale. The team of Gannon, Osterson, Lansman and Pittman acquired a season best time of 2:00.87 and a first place finish.

The second group of freshman Bellah Johnson, Kokenge, sophomore Jennifer Robbins and Morlan finished with a time of 2:19.54.

The 4x200-meter relay team of Lansman, Gannon, Osterson and Kokenge won their event with a season best time of 1:54.62. Junior Dani Madsen won the shot put (32 feet, nine inches), followed by Ewalt’s third place performance and personal best (31 feet, four inches) and Heard’s sixth place showing (27 feet). 

Ewalt claimed second in the discus (99 feet, four inches), followed by Heard (third - 86 feet, three inches) and Stalder (fourth - 80 feet, three inches).

Carman clocked second in the 400-meter dash with a personal best (1:09.08), while Pittman took second in the 400-meter hurdles (1:14.04). 

Johnson picked up a PR in the same event, placing fourth with a time of 1:19.51, and acquired a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles (fourth - 18.61 seconds). Robbins also took part in the latter, taking eighth with a PR of 19.98 seconds.

Kokenge, Pittman, Shannon and Carman teamed up for the 4x400-meter relay, taking second with a time of 4:35.66, alongside the squad of Johnson, Stalder, Morlan and Osterson, who claimed third in the 4x100-meter relay (56.09 seconds).

The second group of Ewalt, Robbins, Binkley and freshman Makenna Dzuris finished the same event with a time of 1:01.93. Kokenge was fourth in the high jump (four feet, eight inches), followed by Osterson’s sixth place showing (four feet, six inches).

Gannon (fifth, 28.85 seconds), Stalder (sixth, 29.53) and Binkley (ninth, 33.19 seconds) also gained PRs in the 200-meter dash, while Lansman was sixth in the long jump (14 feet, five inches). Carman had a season best in the 800-meter run (sixth, 2:47.03), as Shannon attained a PR in the same event (eighth, 2:54.31).  

Morlan (seventh, 14.57 seconds) picked up a personal best in the 100-meter dash, while Binkley (14th, 16-18 seconds) competed in the same event. Dzuris (15th, 16.13 seconds) gained a PR in the same event.

Snyder landed ninth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 6:29.89.