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by Coach Vanderah @MrVDowling | April 17, 2023
The Jim Duncan Invitational is usually a colder track and field meet, but this year's edition featured a storm shortened day. The Maroons competed against teams from the CIML, Iowa Alliance, Little Hawkeye, and Raccoon River Conferences and had some great showings in the events that happened. With fewer events, let's take a look at how Dowling Catholic did against the whole field and amongst the 4A teams in attendance.
800 Sprint Medley (28 teams)
Shea Johnson, Emily Heitzman, Ashley Hall, Lauren McCoy 1:49.09 (1st) 🏆
Dowling's go-to sprint medley crew started the day with a big win and Lauren McCoy held off a late surge by Waukee Northwest. The Maroons clock a time just 0.12 seconds behind their season's best.
3000 Meter Run (24 runners)
Liv Hall 11:00.45 (10th), Elizabeth Marsh 12:22.06 (23rd)
In a loaded field, Liv Hall was able to finish the back half of the race strong and move herself into 10th place and clock a season's best time along the way. There were only five 3A runners in the field with a lot of the best of 4A running, so amongst the 4A runners Liv finished 9th and Elizabeth 19th.
4x800 Meter Relay (19 teams)
Ella Anliker, Elise Huegerich, Molly O'Halloran, Sally Gaskell 9:55.06 (8th)
This is the second time this quartet has ran the 4x800 together this season, and they improved their time by over 8 seconds on their way to the second-fastest DCHS time this season. There were two 3A teams that finished in front of the Maroons, putting us 6th among the 4A teams there.
Discus (30 throwers)
Audrey Ott 117'9 (3rd), Yalayzah Lovan 103'2 (15th)
Both Maroon throwers had their second-best meets of the season. 21 of the 30 throwers were from class 4A, with Audrey placing 3rd and Yalayzah placing 11th among them.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay (21 teams)
Olivia Kramer, Alex Gaskell, Reese Ervin, Ruby Leman 1:06.05 (1st) 🏆
This group would be the first to say they didn't run their best possible shuttle, but it was good enough to win. This time would still be leading the state right now as Solon and Newton are tied for second-best having run 1:06.61 so far this season.
100 Meter Dash (44 runners)
Olivia Kramer 12.42 (1st) 🏆, Emily Heitzman 13.13 (10th)
Olivia drops 0.39 seconds off of her previous season's best time and ran a Blue Oval Standard. Taking out the 3A sprinters, Emily's time would be 7th among the 4A runners.
Long Jump (26 jumpers)
Ashley Hall 15'6.75 (12th)
After a short break from jumping, Ashley come's back with her second-best meet of the season. The 4A field struggled with the conditions for the most part as 7 of the top 11 were from class 3A, placing Ashley 5th amongst the 4A jumpers.
1600 Distance Medley (22 teams)
Kate Nelson, Franny Brooks, Ella Anliker, Avery Muller 4:32.97 (6th)
The Maroons switched up the DMed crew yet again with Ella and Avery running their first of the season. This group was able to run the second-fastest time this season for Dowling and was the 4th fastest among the 4A teams who ran it.
400 Meter Dash (32 runners)
Annie Smith 1:00.96 (6th), Maddie Nagel 1:02.56 (13th)
Both Annie and Maddie set new PRs in the less-than-favorable conditions, with Annie cutting 1.42 seconds and Maddie cutting 0.39 seconds off of their times. Taking out the 3A runners, the Maroons finished 4th and 11th amongst class 4A.
4x200 Meter Relay (25 teams)
Ashley Hall, Shea Johnson, Emily Heitzman, Lauren McCoy 1:44.93 (1st) 🏆
This is the second time this group has run the 4x200 together this year, being the first time since UNI and having switched up the order. They clocked the second fastest time this season for DCHS behind the group of Alex Gaskell, Shea, Emily, and Ashley.
High Jump (25 jumpers)
Alex Gaskell 5'0 (4th), Ava Groeteke 4'8 (14th)
The last event to happen in the meet was the High Jump, as they were able to compete in the Fieldhouse while the 4x200 wrapped up and the lightning delay began. Both jumpers were slightly below their normal this year, but finished 3rd and 11th within the 4A jumpers.
Where we stand for the Drake Relays
This week is the last week to set marks that can qualify for the 2023 Drake Relays. I'll list out who would be in the field as of 7:30am on 4/17, and who would be our next best mark. Reminder that a school can have up to 3 individuals make the Relays in each event.
Event (How many accepted | Blue Oval Standard)
100 meter dash (32 | 12.50):
Olivia Kramer is in after achieving the standard at Jim Duncan. Emily Heitzman's 12.93 is second on the team and is 45th in the state. Current cutoff time is 12.77
400 meter dash (16 | 57.80):
Lauren McCoy leads the team with a time of 58.15, which is currently 6th in the state. Annie Smith's 1:00.96 is 38th. Current cutoff time is 59.30.
800 meter run (16 | 2:18.00):
Ella Anliker currently leads the team with a time of 2:25.32, which is 47th in the state. Current cutoff time is 2:18.35.
1500 meter run (21 | 4:46.00):
Sally Gaskell is the top Maroon with a time of 5:07.67, good for 58th in the state. Current cutoff time is 4:56.11.
3000 meter run (21 | 10:20.00):
Liv Hall is the team leader at 11:00.45 which is 42nd in the state. Current cutoff time is 10:44.34.
100 meter hurdles (32 | 15.40):
Dowling currently has 3 hurdlers within the top 32 in the 100 hurdles - Ruby Leman's 15.49 is 8th, Alex Gaskell's 15.91 is 24th, and Olivia Kramer's 15.97 is 26th. Current cutoff time is 16.18.
400 meter hurdles (16 | 1:06.00):
Reese Ervin has the team best time of 1:09.02 this season that is currently 29th in the state. Current cutoff time is 1:07.76.
High Jump (24 | 5'5):
Alex Gaskell leads the Maroons with a clearance of 5'3 this year and is tied for 21st in the state. 5'3 is the current cutoff height with 6 jumpers tied at that mark for 21st. Ellie Muller is tied with 19 other jumpers at 5'2 for 28th in the state (there is one jumper at 5'2.25 at 27th).
Long Jump (24 | 17'6):
Kate Nelson has the longest jump this season of 16'5.5, which is sitting at 61st in the state. Current cutoff distance is 17'1.25.
Discus (24 | 128'0):
Audrey Ott is sitting at 14th in the state with a mark just short of the standard of 126'10. Next on the team are Amaiya Thompson (107'0) and Yalayzah Lovan (106'8) who are 80th and 81st in the state. Current cutoff mark is 118'9.
Shot Put (24 | 41'0):
Yalitza Lovan is the team leader this year at 35'8 which is 79th in the state. Current cutoff mark is 38'0.75.
4x100 (96 | 51.00):
We have already hit the standard and have a season's best of 48.90, run by Ashley Hall, Emily Heitzman, Shea Johnson, and Olivia Kramer. This mark is 1st in the state.
4x200 (24 | 1:45.50):
We have already hit the standard and have a season's best of 1:44.69, run by Alex Gaskell, Shea Johnson, Emily Heitzman, and Ashley Hall. This mark is 4th in the state.
4x400 (24 | 4:06.00):
We have already hit the standard and have a season's best of 4:05.44, run by Ashley Hall, Ella Anliker, Maddie Nagel, and Lauren McCoy. This mark is 10th in the state.
4x800 (16 | 9:40.00):
Our best mark this season is 9:47.69 run by Ella Anliker, Liv Hall, Elise Huegerich, and Sally Gaskell. This mark is 13th in the state, and the current cutoff is 9:52.82.
Sprint Medley (24 | 1:50.00):
We have already hit the standard and have a season's best of 1:48.97, run by Shea Johnson, Emily Heitzman, Ashley Hall, and Lauren McCoy. This mark is 3rd in the state.
Shuttle Hurdle (16 | 1:04.13):
We have already hit the standard and have a season's best of 1:04.13, run by Olivia Kramer, Alex Gaskell, Reese Ervin, and Ruby Leman. This mark is 1st in the state.
Where we stand in class 4A
This time, instead of listing all of the Maroons in the top 24, I am going to look at our top 2 individuals in each event and our top relay time rank.
100 meter dash: Olivia Kramer 2nd, Emily Heitzman 12th
200 meter dash: Olivia Kramer 8th, Lauren McCoy 10th
400 meter dash: Lauren McCoy 3rd, Annie Smith 19th
800 meter run: Ella Anliker 22nd, Elise Huegerich 37th
1500 meter run: Sally Gaskell 32nd, Liv Hall 41st
3000 meter run: Liv Hall 23rd, Avery Muller 41st
100 meter hurdles: Ruby Leman 2nd, Alex Gaskell 10th
400 meter hurdles: Reese Ervin 10th, Katherine Banker 26th
High Jump: Alex Gaskell 6th, Ellie Muller tied 7th
Long Jump: Kate Nelson tied 21st, Ruby Leman tied 24th
Discus: Audrey Ott 4th, Amaiya Thompson 25th
Shot Put: Yalitza Lovan 22nd, Kenzie Dean 24th
4x100 meter relay: 1st
4x200 meter relay: 4th
4x400 meter relay: 8th
4x800 meter relay: 12th
Sprint medley: 2nd
Distance medley: 12th
Shuttle hurdle: 1st
Upcoming Meets
Jim Duea Relays (Ames) - April 18
Jaguar Girls Relays (Ankeny Centennial) - April 20, last day to qualify for Drake Relays
Larry Weier Invitational (Dowling Catholic) - April 24
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