Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Every coach wants their team to peak at the end of the season.

With a roster filled with talented underclassmen veteran West High track and field coach Mike Parker knew that with a little bit of patience that peaking late in the season was a distinct possibility.

Parker was patient with his young team early in the season and the payoff came on Thursday.

West High won four events and had five events automatically qualify for the Class 4A state meet next week in a stellar performance at the Class 4A state qualifier at Trojan Field in Iowa City.

“With the talent in the young kids we said we want to see it early but we pray that it comes late,” Parker said. “Now today here it is.”

Freshman Amara MacLagan, sophomore Sophia Austen and senior Sophia Olivo all won individual titles as West High finished fifth in the team standings with 85 points.

MacLagan won the long jump, Austen won the high jump and Olivo won the 100 hurdles to go with a title from the Trojans in the distance medley relay.

“We did everything that we had hoped that we would do,” Parker said. “We punched a lot of things in and ran way, way faster than we have all season.”

The highlight of the night for West High was MacLagan in the long jump.

The freshman won with a career-best leap of 18-1 ¾, which was more than a foot further than her previous career best.

“I wanted to pr but that’s about it,” MacLagan said. “I thought it was about 17 (feet) because it felt pretty good but I didn’t know it was going to be over 18.”

The 18-1 ¾ jump by MacLagan was just enough to edge Liberty High senior and two-time state medalist Alexi Thigpen who was runner-up with a jump of 17-11 ¾.

City High senior Piper Sweeting was third with a jump of 17-5 ½.

“I was a little nervous today but mostly just excited,” MacLagan said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Austen cleared 5-3 to emerge from a crowded high jump field that featured four athletes that cleared 5-2.

“Our jumps were just amazing tonight,” Parker said. “We hoped that Sophia could pull that off, there were some good high jumpers in that group that Sofia hadn’t beat all year and she pulled it off.”

Olivo won the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.04 and junior Eva Willis secured a spot at the state meet with a runner-up finish in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:07.75.

The West High distance medley relay team of Savannah Mathias, Natalie Steva, Willis and Kate Van Waning won in a time of 4:22.53

“Sophia was great again today, Eva Willis has really come on in the 400 hurdles and Kate Van Waning on the 800-leg on the distance medley running in that wind was really tough,” Parker said. “I am really proud of what we did tonight.”

Class 4A State Qualifying Meet

At West High School

Team scores – 1. Southeast Polk 159; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 145.5; 3. City High 123; 4. Dubuque Senior 86; 5. West High 85; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 64; 7. Liberty High 49.5

Individual results (state qualifiers; area placewinners)

High jump – 1. Sophia Austen (ICW) 5-3; 2. Cambel Drapeau (DS) 5-2; 4. Alice Edelen (ICH) 5-2; 5. Asta Hildebrand (ICL) 5-0; 7. Greta Daniels (ICL) 4-10

Long jump – 1. Amara MacLagan (ICW) 18-1 ¾; 2. Alexi Thigpen (ICL) 17-11 ¾; 3. Piper Sweeting (ICH) 17-5 ½; 7. Adriana Vargas (ICW) 15-9

Shot put – 1. Rachel Haack (ICH) 42-1 ¼; 2. Kennedy Borud (SEP) 39-5 ¾; 6. Hannah Braun (ICH) 36-3 ½; 7. Sydney Van Heukelom (ICL) 35-2 ½

Discus – 1. Rachel Haack (ICH) 139-1; 2. Hannah Braun (ICH) 132-7; 6. Sydney Van Heukelom (ICL) 101-2

100 – 1. Alayna Goldsberry (SEP) 12.84; 2. Asia Russell (CRP) 12.87; 5. Mircale Stewart (ICW) 13.9; 6. Betsy Wolfe (ICH) 13.98; 7. Ava Sieren (ICW) 14.1

200 – 1. Teresa Tarplah (SEP) 26.34; 2. Ashlynn Hunter (CRP) 26.55; 3. Ellie Fraga (ICH) 26.79; 7. Savannah Graham (ICW) 27.89; 8. Adriana Vargas (ICW) 28.36

400 – 1. Reese Wiley (CRP) 58.61; 2. Brooklyn Ruddy (SEP) 59.18; 4. Chelsea VeDepo (ICL) 1:00.78; 6. Jena Frank (ICW) 1:02.63; 8. Amita Nelson (ICW) 1:05.53

800 – 1. Emma Chesterman (DS) 2:18.89; 2. Reese Wiley (CRP) 2:18.98; 3. Abigail Burns (ICH) 2:20.26; 8. Hannan Geng (ICW) 2:31.24

1,500 – 1. Emily Gorton (DS) 4:48.28; 2. Emma Chesterman (DS) 4:48.84; 4. Nina Peterson (ICH) 4:57.49; 6. Eliza Doster (ICH) 5:04.08

3,000 – 1. Emily Gorton (DS) 10:36.71; 2. Claire Hoyer (DS) 10:37.56; 3. Nina Peterson (ICH) 10:39.14; 4. Nicole Peterson (ICH) 10:43.11

100 hurdles – 1. Sophia Olivo (ICW) 15.04; 2. Brilynn Kiester (SEP) 15.8; 4. Ivy Nuro Gyina (ICL) 16.23; 7. Mary Hamilton (ICH) 16.82

400 hurdles – 1. Paisley Joens (CRP) 1:06.16; 2. Eva Willis (ICW) 1:07.75; 4. Josephine LeClair (ICH) 1:09.32; 6. Angelica Hamilton (ICH) 1:12.64

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. Southeast Polk 1:06.51; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:06.98; 3. West High (Graham, MacLagan, McConnell, Olivo) 1:07.58; 4. City High (Kenlin, Hamilton, Hamilton, Schultz) 1:11.48; 7. Liberty High (Nuro-Gyina, Eckhardt, Maassen, Daniels) 1:14.41

Sprint medley relay – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:48.47; 2. City High (Aboussa-Folly, Newell, Fraga, Bowen-Burt) 1:50.29; 6. Liberty High (Nuro-Gyina, Thigpen, VeDepo, Bilskemper) 1:54.06; 7. West High (Stewart, Steva, Shaw, Nepple) 1:56.7

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Mathias, Steva, Willis, Van Waning) 4:22.53; 2. Southeast Polk 4:22.82; 4. City High (Aboussa-Folly, LeClair, Schnoebelen, Fruin) 4:29.03; 6. Liberty High (Thigpen, McManus, Ramsey, Bilskemper) 4:33.25

4×100 – 1. Southeast Polk 48.21; 2. Cedar Rapids Washington 49.09; 5. Liberty High (Nuro-Gyina, Thigpen, Becker, McManus) 50.23; 6. West High (Stewart, MacLagan, Cornish, Steva) 50.65; 7. City High (Aboussa-Folly, Fraga, Newell, Bowen-Burt) 50.67

4×200 – 1. Southeast Polk 1:42.82; 2. Dubuque Hempstead 1:44.65; 4. City High (Fraga, Newell, Pho, Bowen-Burt) 1:46.38; 6. West High (MacLagan, Graham, Shaw, Mathias) 1:48.83; 7. Liberty High (McManus, Meyer, Becker, Kirchner) 1:49.96

4×400 – 1. Southeast Polk 4:04.78; 2. Dubuque Hempstead 4:05.06; 4. West High (Nepple, Mathias, Van Waning, Willis) 4:08.57; 5. City High (Burns, Pho, Schnoebelen, Bowen-Burt) 4:10.15; 6. Liberty High (VeDepo, Maassen, Bilskemper, Ramsey) 4:12.31

4×800 – 1. Dubuque Senior 9:46.09; 2. City High (Fruin, Doster, Downing-Sherer, Sherburne) 9:49.71; 6. Liberty High (Bisgard, Brown, Reyes, Cannon) 10:49.9; 7. West High (Ahn, Titus, Tranel, Geng) 11:12.67

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