Saturday, May 24, 2003

City High strikes early

Little Hawks win 2 events on opening day

By Pat Harty
Iowa City Press-Citizen

The Little Hawks began their quest for Class 3A supremacy by winning the distance medley relay and by having juniors Nelle Trefz and Jennie Funk finish first and second, respectively, in the 3,000 meters.

City accumulated 24 points on Friday to separate itself from the pack. Mount Pleasant is second in the Class 3A team standings with 11 points, followed by Cedar Rapids Prairie with 10 points and West High with eight.

"We really needed to get after all of our events today and build a nice lead and make everybody else play catch-up for (today)," said senior Monica Mims, who ran the third leg on City's victorious distance medley relay team. "It also gives us a little bit of room for error just in case somebody slips up in a relay, has an injury or a bad handoff or whatever.

"So it was really important today to get after it."

Funk said the Little Hawks made a statement with their performance Friday.

"Any team that thought they were coming in here as the favorite is sorely mistaken," Funk said. "Be-cause while there are some great teams in the state, I definitely think we're the team to beat.

"We proved that today. We came down here and we nailed it."

Trefz, who also won the 3,000 at the Drake Relays in late April, dominated her race and finished with a time 10 minutes, 10.21 seconds.

Her strategy was to run hard without trying to overdo it.

"Basically, I just wanted to feel controlled the whole way," Trefz said. "It's a long weekend.

"I definitely wanted to get a nice time. But I'm running in other stuff (today). So to be fair to my teammates, I wanted to make sure that I had some stuff for them."

Funk, meanwhile, had enough stuff to finish second, despite being less than 100 percent after coming back from a stress fracture in her left tibia. The injury prevented her from training during spring break.

"My stress fracture's better, but I'm still pretty out of shape," Funk said. "But that's OK, because anything to contribute."

Her lack of stamina caused Funk to change her strategy for the 3,000.

"I didn't run to win today because I knew realistically that wouldn't be a smart tactical move," Funk. "I wanted to do my best and see where it (got) me.

"Obviously, I was thinking about second, but I didn't know if that was realistic. Luckily, things turned out in my favor."

Especially since Trefz won the race.

"Finishing second to a teammate is the best way to finish second," Funk said.

City is in position to score a lot more points today after qualifying for the finals in the 4x200, 4x400 and the shuttle hurdle relay events. Teams earn 10 points for winning a relay race.

Junior Emily Triplett also qualified for today's final in the 100 hurdles.

The Little Hawks will try to match Ames, Indianaola and Belle Plaine by winning five state titles.

Manilla holds the record with six state titles.

City and West have combined to win the last six Class 3A state titles. City was victorious in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002, while West won back-to-back state titles in 2000 and 2001.

"As far as what makes City High successful is the combination of talent and incredible coaching and dedication," Funk said.

West earned six points by finishing third in the distance medley relay and getting two points for Robdu Adam's fifth-place finish in the 3,000.

West sophomore Alison Dirks finished seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 3 inches.

West's time of 4:06.56 in the distance medley relay set a school record. The team consisted of Lizz Huntley, Claire Hall, Steph Mount and Lynn Dobyns.

Joining Mims on City's victorious distance medley relay team were Virginia Dreier, Camille Jordan and Meggan Reed.

"I knew that they'd get me in a good position," said Reed, who ran the anchor leg. "And they did. So that helped me have a better kick."

Friday's results

Class 3A
Team scores
1, City High 24 points. 2, Mount Pleasant 11. 3, Cedar Rapids Prairie 10. 4 (tie), West High and Sioux City East 8. 6 (tie), Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Xavier 4. 8, Des Moines Roosevelt 3. 9 (tie), Burlington and Eldridge North Scott 2. 11 (tie), Ames, Sioux City North and Manchester West Delaware 1.

Finals
3,000-1, Nelle Trefz, City High, 10 minutes, 10.21 seconds. 2, Jennie Funk, City High, 10:16.36. 3, Shannon Oster, Cedar Rapids Washington, 10:21.97. 4, Hannah Roeder, Des Moines Roosevelt, 10:24.59. 5, Robdu Adam, West High, 10:24.77. 6, Traci Hawley, Ames, 10:25.36.

Distance medley relay-1, City High, Virginia Dreier, Camille Jordan, Monica Mims, Meggan Reed, 4:04.54. 2, Mount Pleasant, 4:06.20. 3, West High, 4:06.56. 4, Cedar Rapids Xavier, 4:10.04. 5, Eldridge North Scott, 4:13.49. 6, Sioux City North, 4:13.88.

High jump-1, Laura Tomes, Sioux City East, 5 feet, 6 inches. 2, Rachel Sippy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, 5-5. 3, Jessica Statler, Cedar Rapids Prairie, 5-3. 4, Lindsey Scott, Mount Pleasant, 5-3. 5, Jenna Caffrey, Burlington, 5-3. 6, Ashten Stelken, Manchester West Delaware, 5-3.

Prelims
Local events
100 hurdles-Jenna Caffrey, Burlington, 14.24; Kasey McDaniel, Spencer, 14.30; Nicole Carroll, Mason City, 14.65; Sara Boisen, West Des Moines Valley, 14.76; Kara Yahn, Clinton, 14.81; Emily Triplett, City High, 14.93; Kayla Sauter, Mason City, 14.94; Kelsey Steffens, DeWitt Central, 14.96.

4x200-City High, 1:43.96; Mount Pleasant, 1:44.36; Manchester West Delaware, 1:44.52; Ankeny, 1:44.55; West Des Moines Valley, 1:44.78; Denison-Schleswig, 1:45.52; Ottumwa, 1:45.95; Cedar Falls, 1:46.17.

4x400-West Des Moines Valley, 4:00.81; West High, 4:00.86; City High, 4:02.40; Ottumwa, 4:03.67; Sioux City North, 4:04.26; Denison-Schleswig, 4:04.61; West Des Moines Dowling, 4:04.84; Pleasant Valley, 4:05.42.

Shuttle hurdle relay-Mason City, 1:01.70; Runnells SE Polk, 1:02.89; City High, 1:02.96; DeWitt Central, 1:04.05; Burlington, 1:05.20; Mount Pleasant, 1:05.34; Manchester West Delaware, 1:05.44; Ottumwa, 1:06.03.