Photo by Jeff Yoder / Click to view photo gallery

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Last season a strong showing at the Forwald/Coleman Relays served as a breakthrough for Caroline Schaeckenbach.

The latest impressive performance by Schaeckenbach was just another day at the office for the emerging City High star.

Schaeckenbach won the 400 hurdles and helped City High claim titles in the shuttle hurdle and 4×400 relay as the Little Hawks finished third as a team at the 47th annual Forwald/Coleman Relays Thursday on an overcast evening at Raffensperger Track at City High.  

“I worked a lot during the summer to make sure I’d be where I was at the end of last year at the beginning of this year,” Schaeckenbach said. “I definitely started the season in a better spot and have continued to get better.”

Schaeckenbach was a part of all three of City High’s first-place finishes on Thursday and the Little Hawks added three runner-up finishes while rolling up 123 points.

Defending Class 4A champion Waukee won the team title with 173 points while Pleasant Valley was runner-up with 135.

“It’s still in the middle of the season but the kids have been working so hard,” City High coach Terry Coleman said. “I couldn’t think of a better group to finish my career with here. They are just super high-quality kids, they work hard, they do the right things and I am just really proud of them for performing how they did today.”

Last season Schaeckenbach was a pleasant surprise for the Little Hawks.

This spring the junior has emerged as one of the top performers in a surging City High program.

Schaeckenbach cruised to the title in the 400 hurdles on Thursday in a career-best time of 1:04.91.

“She has been dedicated in two areas, one the weight room, she had a great fall and winter and the second thing is we trained her for 800s to start the season,” Coleman said. “In the 400 its liker her second 200 is faster. She does takes off and is gone.

The time of 1:04.91 for Schaeckenbach on Thursday was .08 faster than her time at the state meet last season and is the second fastest time in the state this spring.

“I’m still working on it but my form I think is getting better,” Schaeckenbach said. “That has helped a lot and my 400s are getting faster and that has helped as well.”

The 400 hurdles have become the signature event for Schaeckenbach but the sophomore did a little bit of everything on Thursday.

Schaeckenbach teamed with Te’Nia Ansley, Jordan Sekafetz and Kate Swenning to win the shuttle hurdle relay in a season-best time of 1:05.73.

Schaeckenbach held off a late surge from Waukee anchor Addie Drees to secure the shuttle hurdle title.

“I know Waukee is super fast so I knew she was going to be right there but I just kept going,” Schaeckenbach said. “Having someone that is that fast right next to you makes you move your legs faster.”

Schaeckenbach finished third in the long jump with a mark of 16-11 ¾ and capped her day with a title in the 4×400.

City High was third at the midway point of the 4×400 after legs by sophomore Ayana Lindsey and freshman Mia DePrenger.

Schaeckenbach took the baton from DePrenger and wasted little time surging to the front of the pack.

She gave a lead to anchor CeCe Kelly-Harvey that was never challenged as City High won by more than three seconds in a time of 4:05.99.

The 4×400 win was extra special for Coleman who will retire after this season.

“That was pretty emotional for me,” Coleman said. “That is going to be the last one for me at this event and I really wanted to give that plaque to a team in red and white.”

Forwald-Coleman Relays

Team scores – 1. Waukee 173; 2. Pleasant Valley 135; 3. City High 123; 4. West High 107; 5. West Des Moines Valley 70; 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 63; 7. Linn-Mar 47; 8. Muscatine 20

Individual results (Event winners; area placewinners)

100 – 1. Peyton Steva (ICW) 12.63; 4. Emma Cooper (ICH) 12.88

200 – 1. Peyton Steva (ICW) 25.99; 4. Emma Clark (ICH) 27.35; 5. Emma Cooper (ICH) 27.52

400 – 1. Jessica Caraway (WAU) 1:00.34; 5. Peyton Naeve (ICH) 1:04.04; 7. Jordan DuBrava (ICH) 1:08.41

800 – 1. Lauren Schulze (WDV) 2:22.99; 2. CeCe Kelly-Harvey (ICH) 2:26.06; 7. Kiara Malloy-Salgado (ICW) 2:28.71

1,500 – 1. Micah Poellet (L-M) 4:48.61; 6. Kiara Malloy-Salgado (ICW) 5:05.35; 7. Erica Buettner (ICW) 5:09.54

3,000 – 1. Sydney Schaffer (WAU) 10:30.04; 5. Rowan Boulter (ICH) 10:43.09

100 hurdles – 1. Peyton Steva (ICW) 14.67; 5. Te’Nia Ansley (ICH) 16.08; 6. Jordan Sekafetz (ICH) 16.28

400 hurdles – 1. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 1:04.91; 2. Amy Liao (ICW) 1:08.97; 3. Lilly Reynolds (ICH) 1:10.33

4×100 – 1. Pleasant Valley 49.6; 3. City High (Te’Nia Ansley, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Emma Clark, Emma Cooper) 51.32; 5. West High (Celestina Nuro-Gyina, Matayia Tellis, Amy Liao, Peyton Steva) 52.22

4×200 – 1. Waukee 1:45.77; 2. City High (Emma Cooper, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Ayana Lindsey, Mia DePrenger) 1:46.47; 7. West High (Celestina Nuro-Gyina, Favour Alarape, Tremeice Carter, Doroteya Kiza) 1:55.98

4×400 – 1. City High (Ayana Lindsey, Mia DePrenger, Caroline Schaeckenbach, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 4:05.99; 6. West High (Kaisa Whittaker, Emma Kearney, Soomin Koh, Tionna Slater) 4:33.82

4×800 – 1. West Des Valley 9:51.44; 2. West High (Erica Buettner, Sara Alaya, Emma Kearney, Kiara Malloy-Salgado) 10:06.21; 3. City High (Lillian Reynolds, Tatum Frazier, Lucy Corbin, Janie Perril) 10:07.91

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. City High (Te’Nia Ansley, Jordan Sekafetz, Kate Swenning, Caroline Schaeckenbach) 1:05.73; 6. West High (Amy Liao, Matayia Tellis, Florence Assumani, Celestina Nuro-Gyina) 1:13.78

Sprint medley relay – 1. Waukee 1:51.21; 2. City High (Te’Nia Ansley, Emma Clark, Ayana Lindsey, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 1:53.48; 3. West High (Tremeice Carter, Celestina Nuro-Gyina, Matayia Tellis, Amy Liao) 1:58.5

Distance medley relay – 1. Waukee 4:26.97; 3. West High (Doroteya Kiza, Favour Alarape, Kaisa Whittaker, Emma Kearney) 4:38.2; 5. City High (Pamela Wawaka, Ella Cook, Isabel Jones, Jae Dancer) 4:39.69

Discus – 1. Madison Green (WDV) 130-9 ½; 2. Alexie Little (ICW) 123-2; 3. Phoebe Burt (ICW) 115-4

Shot put – 1. Salima Omari (ICW) 40-6; 3. Arionnah Sonii (ICW) 37-5

Long jump – 1. Carli Spelhaug (PV) 17-5 ½; 3. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 16-11 ¾; 6. Ella Cook (ICH) 15-5 ½

High jump – 1. Sara Hoskins (PV) 5-2; 5. Alia Vanderhoef (ICH) 5-0; 6. Kate Swenning (ICH) 4-10

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.