In a year the girls’ 800-meter run became a stacked event in Iowa, an all-time state best was set.
Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East finished third at the Nike Outdoor National track meet last week with a time of 2:07.35.
That eclipses the old mark of 2:07.39, set in 2006 by Blaire Dinsdale of North Tama.
Iowa City West's Jessica Gehrke finishes second to Waukee's Whitney Westrum at the end of the girls' 400-meter relay at the Drake Relays Saturday (Gazette photo by Jim Slosiarek)
DES MOINES — They’d spent their high school careers chasing “a special moment.”
An all-time Iowa best — in their final race of their final Drake Relays. Yeah, that’s special.
Waukee ran the 1,600-meter relay like no girls team in Iowa has run it before. Whitney Westrum outdueled Sioux City East’s Ellen Dougherty in the final stretch to give the Warriors the gold in 3:50.21. East’s 3:50.58 also beat the former standard (3:51.70), set by Starmont 28 years ago.
North Tama's Sara Stoakes (left) and Sioux City East's Shelby Houlihan drive for the finish at the Drake Relays girls' 800-meter run. Houlihan won the race in 2:10.17. Stoakes finished in 2:10.22. (Photo by Jim Slosiarek)
DES MOINES — Photo finishes were the theme of the girls’ races at the Drake Relays Friday.
Gabriel Williams of Sioux City West edged Iowa City West’s Jessica Gehrke by 6-hundredths of a second in the 100-meter dash. Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East trimmed North Tama’s Sara Stoakes by 5-hundredths of a second in the 800-meter run.
“I didn’t know I’d won until they handed me the (championship) flag,” Houlihan said.
And in the 100-meter hurdles, Susan Rodriguez of Pleasant Valley upset Logan-Magnolia’s Alex Gochenour. The difference: 2-thousandths of a second, 15.168 to 15.170.
