Dowling Takes 2nd at DCG

By Coach Vanderah | April 1, 2024

The Maroons spent Holy Saturday in Grimes, where those who were in town got to compete at the DCG Invite.  It started out a littel chilly and windy, but as it warmed up so did the performances. Here's a look at how we performed. 

Dowling Catholic finished 2nd overall with 109 team points. With only 7 teams, all relays scored and there were some events where a third athlete from a team finished in the top 8 and was skipped in assigning points. Alex Gaskell came away scoring the most points for the Maroons, winning both the high jump and the 100 hurdles for 20 team points!

Here are our top 8 finishers and point scorers:

• 100 meters: Emily Heitzman finishes 4th in her first 100 meter dash for the season with a time of 12.61, earning 5 points.

• 200 meters: Shea Johnson finished 7th in her first 200 meter dash of the year to earn 2 points.

• 400 meters: Lauren McCoy finished 3rd to earn 6 points.

• 3000 meters: Liv Hall finished 7th overall in her first 3000 meter run of the year for 2 team points.

• 100 hurdles: In the team's first 100 hurdles race of the year, Alex Gaskell ran away with the victory in 15.50 earning 10 points. Franny Brooks ran a huge PR dropping a second off of her time finishing in 4th for 5 points.

• 400 hurdles: Katherine Banker finished 2nd overall only behind last year's 5th place finisher at state, earning the team 8 points.

• High jump: Alex Gaskell came close to breaking the tie for the school record but still came away with the victory and another 10 team points. Ava Groeteke finished 8th overall in her first meet of the year, earning 2 team points. Veronica Eure has a huge PR to finish 9th overall.

• Long jump: Adalyn Jones earned another PR by 6 inches and came away as the champion to earn 10 points. Kate Nelson had a minor injury on her first and only jump, but it was good enough to finish 4th and earn 5 points. Olivia Meredith PR'd by over 2 feet and finished 7th overall.

• Discus: Kenzie Dean started off the outdoor season with a 4th place finish and 5 points for the team.

• Shot put: Alma Drazi continued her strong start to the season with another PR and a 3rd place finish, earning 6 team points. Kenzie Dean improved her season's best by 2 feet and finished 7th earning 3 more points.

• 4x100: The team of Franny Brooks, Emily Heitzman, Shea Johnson, and Ellie Mead finished 2nd and earned 8 team points.

• 4x200: The all-freshman team of Ellie Mead, Olivia Meredith, Adalyn Jones, and Jersey Messerschmidt finished 5th and earned 4 team points.

• 4x400: The team of Olivia Meredith, Katherine Banker, Ashley Gonyo, and Matilda Vizcarra finished 7th to earn 2 team points.

• 4x800: The team of Molly O'Halloran, Sadie Reinhardt, Cora Volp, and Elise Huegerich dropped 26 seconds off our our best time from the indoor season to finish 3rd and earn 6 team points.

• Sprint Medley: The team of Ruby Leman, Shea Johnson, Emily Heitzman, and Lauren McCoy bettered our time from ISU by 4.5 seconds, finishing 3rd and earning 6 team points.

• Distance Medley: The team of Lilah Murphy, Sinead O'Neill, Anna Pandullo, and Ava Van Ee finished 5th overall in our first DMed of the year to earn 4 points.

Here are the individuals who earned points for the team:

• Alex Gaskell - 20 points

• Adalyn Jones - 11 points

• Katherine Banker - 8.5 points

• Emily Heitzman - 8.5 points

• Kenzie Dean - 8 points

• Lauren McCoy - 7.5 points

• Franny Brooks - 7 points

• Alma Drazi - 6 points

• Shea Johnson - 5.5 points

• Kate Nelson - 5 points

• Ellie Mead - 3 points

• Liv Hall - 2 points

• Ava Groeteke - 2 points

• Ruby Leman - 1.5 points

• Molly O'Halloran - 1.5 points

• Elise Huegerich - 1.5 points

• Sadie Reinhardt - 1.5 points

• Olivia Meredith - 1.5 points

• Cora Volp - 1.5 points

• Ava Van Ee - 1 points

• Jersey Messerschmidt - 1 point

• Lilah Murphy - 1 point

• Sinead O'Neill - 1 point

• Anna Pandullo - 1 point

• Ashley Gonyo - 0.5 points

• Matilda Vizcarra - 0.5 points

• Kenzie Dean - Discus: 10th all-time for seniors (97'10)

• Katherine Bankers - 400 Hurdles: 5th all-time for juniors (1:09.46)

• Alma Drazi - Shot Put: 6th all-time for juniors (33'11.5)

• Alex Gaskell - 100 Hurdles: 7th all-time for juniors (15.50)

• Emily Heitzman - 100 Meters: 3rd all-time for juniors (12.61)

• Franny Brooks - 100 Hurdles: 7th all-time for sophomores (16.43)

• Ava Groeteke - High Jump: Tied 5th all-time for sophomores (4'10)

• Veronica Eure - High Jump: Tied 6th all-time for freshmen (4'10)

• Veronica Eure - 400 Hurdles: 10th all-time for freshmen (1:17.24)

• Adalyn Jones - Long Jump: 3rd all-time for freshmen (16'1)

• Olivia Meredith - Long Jump: 9th all-time for freshmen (15'1.5)

• Brooklyn Anderson: Shot put (27'6)

• Franny Brooks: 100 hurdles (16.43)

• Alma Drazi: Shot put (33'11.5)

• Veronica Eure: High jump (4'10)

• Adalyn Jones: Long jump (16'1)

• Georgia Leman: Long jump (13'3.25)

• Olivia Meredith: Long jump (15'1.5)

• Sofiya Pollard: 1500 meters (5:46.14)

• Bailey Schreiner: Discus (69'4)

• Grace Schuler: Shot put (22'11.25)

Here is a running list of the Blue Oval Standards the team has met to automatically qualify for the Drake Relays:

• 4x100: 50.36 - Franny Brooks, Emily Heitzman, Shea Johnson, and Lauren McCoy

April 2nd - Northwest Girls Invitational at Waukee Northwest High School

April 4th - Ankeny Hawkette Invitational at Ankeny Stadium (Northview Middle School)

April 6th - Dr. Brooks Relays at Valley High School