Photo by Jeff Yoder / Click here to view Women of Troy Relays photo gallery

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Peyton Steva spent the first two years of her prep career trying to keep up with Valerie Welch on the track and soak up everything Welch did off of it.

In the first meet of her final prep season Steva showed off everything she learned from her former teammate.

Steva broke Welch’s meet record in the 100 hurdles on her way to winning four events at the Women of Troy Relays on Tuesday at sunny Trojan Field.

“She is definitely one of the most inspirational and strongest people I know, she has pushed me to better in every aspect and I learned so much from her,” Steva said of Welch. “I have always strived to be likeVal so to beat her time that I have been working for since my freshman year feels great.”

Steva won a title in 100 hurdles, added a win in the 100 and helped West High win relay gold in the 4×100 and shuttle hurdle relays as the host Women of Troy won nine events.

Alexie Little swept the throwing events, senior Katie Severt won the long jump and Deniz Ince added a title in the 800 but Steva stole the show.

“I definitely want to be better this year,” Steva said. “I want to show with my results that I am better than people expect me to be because last year and the years before I have been o.k. but I haven’t excelled and this year I am excelling.”

Steva cruised to the 100 hurdle crown in a time of 15.15, breaking the previous meet record of 15.26 set by Welch in 2016.

Welch went on to win the Class 4A state title in the 100 hurdles that season setting a school record along the way.

Steva, who broke the school records held by Welch in the 60 and 55 hurdles during the indoor season, is on pace early to match her mentor in those accomplishments

“She is not just running well she is running some all-time great stuff,” West High coach Mike Parker said of Steva. “I can’t wait until we get some warm days and get outside I think people are going to be shocked because the 55 and 60 meter times she has ran, I have been doing this for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anyone run them that fast.”

Steva edged Linn-Mar senior Jill Bennett to win the 100 in 12.81 and came from behind to nip Linn-Mar’s Anna Huggins at the finish line as West High won the 4×100 in 51.32.

“I take just as much pride in the short sprints as I do in the hurdles,” Steva said. “I want to be as good as a sprinter as I am a hurdler. I have definitely worked more on my speed and that helps me in the hurdles as well.”

Steva anchored the West High shuttle hurdle team to a first-place finish in 1:06.8.

“I definitely propelled myself a little bit farther this year,” Steva said. “I have taken on more of a leadership role on my team I feel like I need to set a good example for my teammates so I am working harder in every single aspect of practice.”

Severt won the long jump with a mark of 17-10, which eclipsed the Drake Relays standard and ties for second best in the state this season.

“I was super excited,” Severt said. “I was not expecting to get the blue oval standard this early on so I am super pumped.”

Little won the shot put with a mark of 39-2 and won the discus with a toss of 121-6 while teammate Salima Omari as runner-up in the shot put and third in the discus.

“They haven’t done anything but throw into a net at a few places and up until today we weren’t sure if our throwing facility would even be ready for today so it was great to see out throwers perform like that,” Parker said.

Ince won the 800 title in 2:22.64 and anchored the West High 4×800 relay team to a win in 9:52.96.

“A balanced team is what we are always looking for,” Parker said. “Early in the season we are trying to find things that will allow us to be a balanced team and so far so good.”

City High won a pair of titles and had five runner-up finishes in the meet that did not feature team scores.

Sophomore Caroline Schaeckenbach won the 400 hurdles in 1:07.72 and the City High 4×200 relay team of Emma Cooper, Mia DePrenger, Azzura Sartini-Rideout and Emma Clark added a title in 1:51.02.

Alia Vanderhoef was runner-up in the high jump, Schaeckenbach was second in the 100 hurdles and CeCe Kelly-Harvey was second in the 400 for City High.

The Little Hawks also had runner-up relay finishes in the 4×400 and shuttle hurdle.

Women of Troy Relays

Individual Results (Event winner; Area placewinners)

100 – 1. Peyton Steva (ICW) 12.81; 4. Katie Severt (ICW) 13.19; 7. Emma Cooper (ICH) 13.47;

200 – 1. Jill Bennett (LM) 26.53; 4. Katie Severt (ICW) 27.46; 6. Emma Cooper (ICH) 28.18; 7. Mia Dillingham (ICW) 28.29

400 – 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP) 1:00.61; 2. CeCe Kelly-Harvey (ICH) 1:01.19; 4. Ayana Lindsey (ICH) 1:02.56

800 – 1. Deniz Ince (ICW) 2:22.64; 5. Kiara Malloy-Salgado (ICW) 2:29.01; 6. Tatum Frazier (ICH) 2:35.1; 7. Aubryn Kaine (ICH) 2:38.01

1,500 – 1. Ella Popenhagen (CRK) 4:55; 2. Erica Buettner (ICW) 5:00; 7. Katie Hoefer (ICW) 5:51.

3,000 – 1. Micah Poellet (LM) 10:37.58; 3. Rowan Boulter (ICH) 10:57.31; 6. Katie Hoefer (ICW) 11:45.19

100 hurdles – 1. Peyton Steva (ICW) 15.15; 2. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 16.48; 4. Ella Woods (ICW) 17.26; 8. Te’Nia Ansley (ICH) 18.13

400 hurdles – 1. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 1:07.72; 3. Lillian Reynolds (ICH) 1:12.88

4×100 – 1. West High (Katie Severt, Mia Dillingham, Matayia Tellis, Peyton Steva) 51.32; 4. City High (Emma Clark, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Te’Nia Ansley, Emma Cooper) 52.04

4×200 – 1. City High (Emma Cooper, Mia DePrenger, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Emma Clark) 1:51.02; 8. West High (Favour Alarape, Emma Caster, Alexis Njoroge, Doroteya Kiza) 2:02.5

4×400 – 1. Linn-Mar 4:10.74; 2. City High (Ayana Lindsey, Mia DePrenger, Peyton Naeve, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 4:10.77; 4. West High (Kiara Malloy-Salgado, Ella Woods, Amy Liao, Deniz Ince) 4:21.71

4×800 – 1. West High (Erica Buettner, Emma Kearney, Kiara Malloy-Salgado, Deniz Ince) 9:52.96; 3. City High (Tatum Frazier, Lillian Reynolds, Lucy Corbin, CeCe Kelly-Harvey) 10:17.49

Sprint medley relay – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:52.4; 3. City High (Emma Clark, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Mia DePrenger, Ayana Lindsey) 1:54.31; 5. West High (Favour Alarpe, Mia Dillingham, Soomin Koh, Tionna Slater) 2:03.81

Distance medley relay – 1. Linn-Mar 4:31.11; 3. City High (Pamela Wawaka, Gabriella Cook, Peyton Naeve, Jae Dancer) 4:43.23; 4. West High (Maria Kazembe, Clare Loussaert, Celestine Nuro-Gyina, Sara Alaya) 4:50.73

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. West High (Ella Woods, Amy Liao, Matayia Tellis, Peyton Steva) 1:06.8; 2. City High (Kate Swenning, Te’Nia Ansley, Jordan Sekafetz, Caroline Schaeckenbach) 1:08.78

Long jump – 1. Katie Severt (ICW) 17-10; 3. Te’Nia Ansley (ICH) 16-2; 4. Ella Woods (ICW) 16-0; 5. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH) 15-10

High jump – 1. Taylor Peterson (CRP) 5-2; 2. Alia Vanderhoef (ICH) 5-1; 4. Kate Swenning (ICH) 4-8; 6. Favour Alarape (ICW) 4-6; 6. Raina Pfeifer (ICW) 4-6

Shot put – 1. Alexie Little (ICW) 39-2; 2. Salima Omari (ICW) 38-8 ½; 6. Sara Cassady (ICH) 30-7 ½;

Discus – 1. Alexie Little (ICW) 121-6; 3. Salima Omari (ICW) 103-6; 6. Sara Cassady (ICH) 85-9

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