Karr’s state title headlines PCM girls at state meet – Newton Daily News

DES MOINES — The PCM women’s track and field team qualified seven events for the state track and field meet. And the Mustangs brought home state medals in three of them.

The common denominator? All three are obstacle events.

Sophomore Morgan Karr reached the top of the mountain in the 100-meter hurdles, senior Tiffani Koonce won her first and only state medal in an event she has only attempted three times and the shuttle hurdle relay team took advantage of a disqualification in the preliminaries and moved up the ranks in the final.

Karr entered the Iowa high school state track and field championships as the favorite to win the Class 2A title in the 100 hurdles. She ran a best time of 15.22 seconds in Friday’s preliminaries, then went even faster in the finals and won her first state championship with a career-best time of 15.01.

“I’m really proud of myself knowing that all my hard work has paid off. I can’t explain how I feel right now,” Karr said. “It’s so much better than I could have imagined.”

Karr also anchored the Shuttle hurdle relay team to sixth place. The Mustangs had a rollercoaster weekend after placing ninth in the preliminary round before advancing to the final after a disqualification to another team.

The shuttle hurdle relay team included four sophomores, Tori Lindsay, Jorja Teeter, Lillian Humpal and Karr, and they ran a time of 1 minute, 9.46 seconds in the preliminary round.

Iowa City Regina was originally in the top eight, but PCM took its place in the final after a disqualification. In the final, the PCM group went even faster and moved up to sixth place with a season’s best time of 1:08.8. Aplington-Parkersburg won the 2A state title in 1:05.39.

“It feels good. This is what we wanted all year and we finally got our chance,” Lindsay said. “No matter where we placed, I’m just glad we were able to do it together .”

Senior Tiffani Koonce capped her career with a state medal in the 400 hurdles. The only three times she has competed in this event were in May and her final time was a career-best 1:07.13. It was enough to secure the final eighth-place medal in 2A.

Koonce would have placed fourth in 1A and fifth in 3A. The 2A state champion was Eden Moore of Van Meter, who won the race in 1:03.13.

“It still feels new. I strive to try to crush them and not just jump over them,” Koonce said. “I’m really excited. First time at state. Third time running 400 hurdles. First state medal senior year. You can’t beat that.

Koonce’s other state event was the 4×800 relay. She teamed with sophomore Abi Teeter and freshmen Bailey Wheeler and Lila Milani to place 19th with a season-best time of 10:10.87.

Van Meter also won this event in 9:30.22. The Bulldogs were 2A team champions with 63 points. That was three ahead of runner-up Pella Christian (60) and six ahead of Tipton (57). PCM scored 14 points in 19th position.

The Mustangs competed in the state competition on two of the hottest days of the year thus far.

“It was hard and hot but it was fun,” Milani said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to do your best. It was a good experience. There are a lot of people here.

All four Mustangs had a purple stripe in their hair as they celebrated Cystic Fibrosis Month. This is something Abi Teeter owns and competes with every day.

“We always painted a nail purple for Abi,” Koonce said. “She suggested this to us, but we think it’s a great idea because it’s great that she’s able to do this, because most people with CF can’t. »

Abi Teeter also had a second event. She competed in the 1500 on Saturday and finished 24th with a time of 5:21.78. Tipton’s Noelle Steines, who won the 1A state title last season, won another state championship in 4:38.46. Steines also won the 800 and 3000m earlier this weekend.

“I didn’t run well. It was hot. I was trying to run with the girl who had a 5:08 because I was at 5:11,” Abi Teeter said. “I stayed with her after the first round but faded in the second round.

“I wanted to get out fast and then find a rhythm, but I never found that rhythm.”

As temperatures continued to rise on Saturday, Teeter struggled on the track and cystic fibrosis finally got the better of her this time.

“The experience was good but stressful,” Abi Teeter said. “Having my team here with me made things so much better. Having them here to warm up with me and get great advice from other girls who know I run with CF. The girls Des Moines Christian, Pella Christian, Albia and Pella were all great. They already texted me to tell me they were proud of me and that they were here if I needed anything.

Ayla Barrett joined Koonce as the only PCM senior to compete in a state event this weekend. Barrett qualified for state in the high jump and finished tied for 19th with a jump of 4 feet, 10 inches. She cleared this height on her second attempt.

Emmetsburg’s Rachel Schany won the state title with a 5-4 jump and the final state medalist had to clear 5-2.

Karr missed last year’s state meet due to injury. She qualified for the Drake Relays in the 100 hurdles the past two seasons and everything came together for her this spring at the state meet.

After anchoring the Mustangs to sixth place in the shuttle hurdle relay, she returned to the blue oval for the 100 hurdles final. Six runners finished the race in under 16 seconds, but Karr’s career-best time of 15.01 also would have won the state title in 1A and 3A.

“I feel really confident. I’ve been working hard in and out of practice and it’s all leading up to this moment,” Karr said after setting the fastest qualifying time. “I wanted to prove to myself, my team and everyone else that last year was just a setback.”

Karr also competed in the 100m on Thursday and placed 10th in the preliminaries with a time of 12.9 seconds. He needed a 12.82 to reach the final and ninth place went to him in 12.85. Rachel Kacmarynski of Pella Christian won the state title in 12.61.

The shuttle hurdle relay team left the blue oval Thursday in ninth position. Or at least they thought they were ninth.

However, the Mustangs were given a second chance after it was determined that Iowa City Regina was disqualified.

These were also the first state medals for all four sophomore runners.

“We were seeded 11th, so making the final seemed like a big deal,” Jorja Teeter said. “We didn’t think we’d made the final and the season has been kind of a roller coaster, but it feels good. It was incredible. I can’t believe we made it to the final after finishing ninth in the preliminary round in terms of time, but you never know.

Karr said she was informed of the team’s progress after a phone call from Lindsay. Humpal believed the team moved up in the standings in the final because the second chance may have shaken them all up.

“It feels really good. We were disappointed yesterday with ninth place,” Humpal said. “Having another chance to race was great and we took advantage of it. We’re here so we might as well do our best and see what happens. We love each other and we make a good team, so we might as well try to progress.

Both Lindsay and Jorja Teeter said it was difficult to stand and wait for other moments to present themselves during preliminaries. There are six playoff series and the Mustangs were in one of the first.

“We really wanted this,” Lindsay said. “We were all pretty upset to have finished ninth and to be so close. But once we found out we had succeeded, it turned into tears of joy. Everyone hugged each other. It was an incredible feeling.

Koonce said she has been trying to convince her coaches to let her run the 400 hurdles for a few years. But that never came to fruition until the end of that season.

She had a chance to prove she could run a time worthy of qualifying for the state meet and she took advantage. She then continued to gain time on the blue oval and the end result was her only state medal.

“Running cross country helped me build the endurance needed for this event. It takes a lot of work out of you,” Koonce said. “I told the new coaches I wanted to try. I practiced it once and then didn’t run it for about two weeks. They signed me up for the competition before the state qualifiers. It was my last chance. My time was 11th so we decided to try it. Everything happens for a reason.”

Remarks: While Milani and Abi Teeter battled rising temperatures this weekend, Wheeler said she prefers the heat to the cold. “I prefer to have heat because I don’t like to be cold,” Wheeler said. “There was also a good breeze. We thought it was going to rain so it was better than we thought. It was fun. We were nervous, but that’s normal I think. … The two state-qualified PCM relays can potentially return seven of the eight participants next season. “It was a good experience. There are a lot of people here,” Milani said. “It’s good to have three back for next year and we also have a whole great group of talented students eighth graders. Were excited.”