Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Deniz Ince has grown accustomed to following the lead of teammate Bailey Nock.

Over the past several weeks Ince has made a habit of finishing runner-up to Nock who is regarded as one of the top distance runners in the state.

The results on meet day only represent a small part of how Ince has followed her senior teammate.

“It has helped Deniz so much that Bailey is there,” West High coach Mike Parker said. “Every single day in practice she knows what the number one person is doing, she has that gauge that if I want to win this is what I have to run with and she practices with her side by side every day and that helps.”

At Thursday’s Class 4A state qualifying meet Ince went from understudy to start.

Ince won an individual title in the 3,000 and anchored the West High distance medley relay team to a win while securing automatic qualifying marks in four events.

The junior added a runner-up finishes in both the 800 and 1,500 while helping West High roll to the district team title by 66 points over cross-town rival City High.  

“I was really happy with all my races and getting qualifiers in each one,” Ince said. “The 3,000 was kind of a crazy finish but it felt great to win that. I was so happy with how today went.”

The success for Ince didn’t come as early in her career as it did for Nock but she has followed a similar path none the less.

After a strong sophomore season Nock made the step to elite status a year ago winning Class 4A state titles in the 1,500 and 3,000.

Parker is starting to see the same type of growth from Ince during her junior season.

“We often see in our distance runners that sophomore to junior year it’s like they gain 10 years of training,” Parker said. “That was the case for Bailey, she was o.k. her sophomore but her junior year she really took a big stride and we are seeing that in Deniz.”

Ince was runner-up to Nock in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet last week.

She took another step on Thursday, finishing in front of Nock for the first time.

Ince won a wild 3,000 in 10:39.49 holding off Dubuque Senior sophomore Claire Edmondson who was second in 10:39.52. Nock was third in 10:39.55.

“Especially these last two meets she has improved and Deniz even though her teammate is the defending state champ, Deniz comes to win events,” Parker said. “I guarantee you as we move into next week she is going to win events.”  

Ince was second to Ottumwa sophomore Allison Bookin-Nosbisch in the 800 in a time of 2:17.65 while Nock was fourth in 2:20.39.

Nock came back to win the 1,500 in 4:55.37 while Ince was second in 4:57.98.

“I’m glad that I have Bailey there with me,” Ince said. “It helps so much to have her with me in every race.”

Both Nock and Ince anchored a relay team to an automatic qualifying performance.

Ince ran the 800-meter leg on the West High distance medley relay team that won in 4:10.18 while Nock anchored the Women of Troy to a runner-up finish in the 4×800 in 9:40.99.

“Today you have to do what you have to do,” Ince said. “That is what you have strive to do is get better each race.”

Behind the performance of its distance duo West High had an impressive 15 automatic state qualifiers that included seven district champions.

West High finished first and second in three field events as senior Chandler Haight swept the throwing events and Kitra Bell won the long jump.

Haight won the shot put with a mark of 44-0 ½ and added a title in the discus with a toss of 117-10.

Bell won the long jump with a leap of 17-5 ½ and anchored the West High shuttle hurdle relay to a win in 1:06.25.

“Everything we need to be point productive we advanced in, everything we needed to be in the fast heat we did,” Parker said. “We have some decisions to make on where we will go with things but as we told the girls we are pretty strong in the distance event and this three-hour meet gets stretched into a three-day meet and I can’t wait to see what we can do.”

Class 4A State Qualifier

At City High

Team scores – 1. West High 171; 2. City High 105; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie 95; 4. Dubuque Senior 93; 5. Dubuque Hempstead 84; 6. Western Dubuque 68; 7. Ottumwa 67; 8. Burlington 56

Individual Results

(Automatic State Qualifiers; Area Placewinners)

100 – 1. Janyla Hoskins (DH) 12.36; 2. Stevie Lambe (DS) 12.38; 5. Emma Clark (ICH) 12.87

200 – 1. Stevie Lambe (DS) 25.75; 2. Kirstin Skriver (CRP) 26.33; 4. Isyss Shaw (ICW) 26.88; 8. Matayia Tellis (ICW) 27.42

400 – 1. Stevie Lambe (DS) 58.51; 2. Grace Bookin-Nosbisch (OTT) 59.62; 7. Erica Buettner (ICW) 1:05.27; 8. Jordan DuBrava (ICH) 1:06.06

800 – 1. Allison Bookin-Nosbisch (OTT) 2:16.28; 2. Deniz Ince (ICW) 2:17.65; 4. Bailey Nock (ICW) 2:20.39; 8. Aly Hecker (ICH) 2:33.61

1,500 – 1. Bailey Nock (ICW) 4:55.37; 2. Deniz Ince (ICW) 4:57.98; 7. Anna Lindower (ICH) 5:18.6

3,000 – 1. Deniz Ince (ICW) 10:39.49; 2. Claire Edmondson (DS) 10:39.52; 3. Bailey Nock (ICW) 10:39.55; 6. Amelia Morrow (ICH) 11:07.41; 8. Esti Brady (ICH) 11:22.27

100 hurdles – 1. Elayna Bahl (WD) 15.18; 2. Kitra Bell (ICW) 15.37; 3. Peyton Steva (ICW) 15.48; 4. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 15.78; 5. Jordan Sekafetz (ICH) 16.44

400 hurdles – 1. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 1:05.64; 2. Kiara Malloy-Salgado (ICW) 1:08.43; 3. Lillian Reynolds (ICH) 1:09.79

Sprint medley relay – 1. Burlington 1:47.98; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:49.75; 3. City High (Emma Clark, Emma Cooper, Tiara Green, Ayana Lindsey) 1:50.13; 6. West High (Matayia Tellis, Katie Severt, Isyss Shaw, Claire Ronnebaum) 1:59.63

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Katie Severt, Isyss Shaw, Kitra Bell, Deniz Ince) 4:10.18; 2. City High (Emma Cooper, Ella Cook, Tiara Green, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 4:16.59

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. West High (Peyton Steva, Amy Liao, Matayia Tellis, Kitra Bell) 1:06.25; 2. City High (Jordan Sekafetz, Kate Swenning, Jae Dancer, Caroline Schaeckenbach) 1:07.04

4×100 – 1. City High (Emma Clark, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Ayana Lindsey, Emma Cooper) 49.75; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 49.76; 6. West High (Katie Severt, Matayia Tellis, Peyton Steva, Isyss Shaw) 50.76

4×200 – 1. Western Dubuque 1:46.66; 2. City High (Emma Clark, Ayana Lindsey, Emma Cooper, Sydney DePrenger) 1:46.66; 6. West High (Mia Dillingham, Amy Liao, Leah Elliott, Doroteya Kiza) 1:55.97

4×400 – 1. Ottumwa 4:03.45; 2. Western Dubuque 4:06.01; 3. City High (Kinsee Brands, Sydney DePrenger, Tiara Green, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 4:06.56; 6. West High (Katie Hoefer, Amy Liao, Erica Buettner, Kiara Malloy-Salgado) 4:20.17

4×800 – 1. Ottumwa 9:32.6; 2. West High (Kiara Malloy-Salgado, Erica Buettner, Katie Hoefer, Bailey Nock) 9:40.99; 3. City High (Kinsee Brands, Anna Lindower, Lillian Reynolds, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 9:46.34

Long jump – 1. Kitra Bell (ICW) 17-5 ½; 2. Katie Severt (ICW) 17-2 ½; 4. Ayana Lindsey (ICH) 16-11; 6. Ella Cook (ICH) 16-1 3/4

High jump – 1. Jenna Wagemester (CRP) 5-1; 2. Erin McGrath (DH) 5-0; 5. Alia Vanderhoef (ICH) 4-10; 7. Kate Swenning (ICH) 4-8

Shot put – 1. Chandler Haight (ICW) 44-0 ½; 2. Salima Omari (ICW) 38-7  

Discus – 1. Chandler Haight (ICW) 117-10; 2. Alexie Little (ICW) 116-6; 7. Marie Jones (ICH) 99-2