Mariah Jordan of Iowa City High won the Class 4A girls' 100-meter hurdles title at the state track meet Saturday. (Photo by Brian Ray)
DES MOINES — Iowa City High is back. Iowa City West’s reign is over.
And it took an outstanding team to beat them both.
Down 15 points with two events remaining, Waukee closed fast and won the Class 4A girls’ championship at the state track meet Saturday at the state track meet.
Micaela Haight winds up for a shot put attempt Friday at the state track meet. Haight won the Class 4A girls' title. (Photo by Brian Ray)
DES MOINES — Little Sis has a championship of her own.
Micaela Haight of Iowa City West dominated the girls’ Class 4A shot put at the state track meet Friday at Drake Stadium. She was regularly over 42 feet, highlighted by a best throw of 44-6 1/4.
Trophy celebrations, like this at the 2008 state track meet, are common for the Iowa City West girls. (Photo by Liz Martin)
DES MOINES — Mike Parker counts his team’s streak of brilliance not by meets, but by days.
“We’re at 1,455 days now,” said Parker, girls’ track coach at Iowa City West, on Monday. “I’m very proud of this streak and hope we get to keep it going.”
It will be a challenge this weekend.
West begins pursuit of its fourth consecutive Class 4A state championship Thursday at Drake Stadium, and probably does so as somewhat of an underdog.
A class by class glance at the girls’ state track meet:
Nicole Engelhardt of Iowa City West races to victory in the MVC Mississippi Division 3,000-meter run Friday. (Gazette photo by Jim Slosiarek)
CEDAR RAPIDS — A thundershower belted the northeast side of town Friday afternoon, causing a 95-minute stoppage at the MVC Mississippi Division girls’ track meet at Xavier High School.
It delayed the inevitable.
Iowa City West captured its seventh consecutive divisional crown, outscoring Iowa City High, 183-158. The Women of Troy have not been beaten in a scored meet since the 2005 state meet.
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.
Iowa City High's Majesty Tutson flings the discus during the Drake Relays Thursday. Tutson won the event with a toss of 138 feet, 9 inches. (Gazette photo by Jim Slosiarek)
DES MOINES — Majesty Tutson found her focal point. Jessica Gehrke was a drama queen.
Both are Drake Relays champions.
Tutson and Gehrke made the first day of the Drake Relays a field day for the girls from Iowa City, winning titles in the discus and long jump, respectively.
Volleyball? Track? Or both?
Jessica Gehrke hasn’t decided yet.
“It’s going to be a hard decision,” said Gehrke, an uncommonly athletic junior from Iowa City West. “I’d really like to go somewhere, a Division-I school hopefully, that I could do both.”
Gehrke was an Elite all-state volleyball player last fall as the Women of Troy reached the Class 4A state semifinals. She was the long jump champion at the state indoor track meet in March.
MARION — She has been asked by many. Her fans. Her family.
How does Jessica Gehrke make it look so easy?
“They say I make it look effortless,” said the star from Iowa City West. “They ask me if I’m running hard.
“Yes, I’m running hard.”
Such is the life of the gifted.
Jessice Gehrke
Gehrke competed in three events at the J-Hawk Relays girls’ track meet Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Field, winning all of them.
The junior captured the long jump (18 feet, 1/2 inch) and the 100-meter dash (12.77 seconds) before anchoring West’s sprint medley relay to gold with a sub-60 split.
West Coach Mike Parker said Gehrke makes it look easy because of her form.
“She doesn’t have the high knee drive. She’s very efficient,” Parker said. “The stopwatch proves she’s running as fast as anybody.”
