Sunday, May 25, 2003

City runs away with title

Little Hawk girls leave opponents, history in the dust

Full girls state track results

By Pat Harty
Iowa City Press-Citizen

History was no match for the deep and talented Little Hawks on Saturday.

City exploded out of the starting block and never looked back while dominating the Class 3A team race with a state-record 82 points. West Des Moines Valley finished a distant second with 42 points, followed by Mount Pleasant with 40 points and Cedar Rapids Washington with 31.

West High grabbed fifth place with 24 points.

Besides winning five events, including three relay titles, City High also finished second in four other races at Drake Stadium.

City has won five state titles in girls track, but this was by far the most impressive performance from start to finish.

"I think it's safe to call it the best team in state history," said Terry Coleman, who has led City to back-to-back titles as coach. "They proved in everything from the sprints to the throws to the hurdles to the distance and mid-distance. They had it all today."

City capped a spectacular two-day performance by winning the meet's final event, the 4x400 relay, in 3 minutes, 56.94 seconds. The team consisted of Monica Mims, Katie Krei, Virginia Dreier and Meggan Reed.

West's team of Steph Mount, Claire Hall, Lindsey Windauer and Lynn Dobyns finished second in the 4x400 in 3:57.98.

City High also won the 4x800 relay Saturday in 9:14.85. It was the fourth-fastest time in state history.

"We had our hopes set high, but I never dreamed of this ... 82 points," said Reed, who ran the anchor leg on the 4x400 and the third leg on the 4x800 team. "I didn't think we'd ever come that close."

Coleman also was pleasantly surprised by his team's point total.

"I thought we could beat 70, but to have 80 is just a dream," Coleman said. "Eighty-two points is a lot of points to put up at a state meet."

Sioux Center held the previous record for points in a state meet with 74 in 1980. Indianola had the previous high for points in Class 3A with 69, also in 1980.

City's 40-point margin of victory also set a Class 3A record. The Little Hawks set the previous mark of 26 points at last year's state meet.

"This weekend has just been incredible," said junior Nelle Trefz, who followed up her victory in the 3,000 on Friday with a win in the 1,500 on Saturday. "I just wanted to make sure that I kept my focus to run my own races and do whatever I could to contribute to this great team."

Trefz said every member of the team contributed to City's dominance in some form.

"We have all the girls from the very slowest to the very fastest do the same workouts," she said. "Even those girls that are not going to be running at the state meet, they still in their own (junior varsity) races and in practice every day, lay it on the line and give it their all.

"So when the last girl pushes the girl in front of her, it works all the way up to the very first girl."

Dobyns, meanwhile, added to her success at the state meet by winning the 800 in 2:15.84.

Dobyns was a member of West's 4x800 relay squad that finished first at the previous three state meets. She also anchored West's 4x400 squad that was victorious at last year's state meet.

"I've visualized this probably 100 times in my mind," said Dobyns, who will run track at Illinois. "But no matter how many times you visualize it, you won't know what it feels like until you do it.

"I wanted to do it, and I did, so I feel great."

West coach Mike Parker said he rolled the dice and hoped Dobyns would have some individual success after focusing on relays in the past. He praised Dobyns for running the perfect race.

"We kind of denied her that exclusive club of running for four straight 4x800s," Parker said. "We had a race tactic that when she got to 200 (meters), we wanted to make a decisive move to just explode and try to hold it for as long as she could."

This marks the seventh consecutive year the Class 3A title was won by either City or West. City won in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002 and this year, while West won in 2000 and 2001.