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Sunday,
May 19, 2002
City
takes over
Little
Hawks fulfill destiny in winning state title
By
Andy Hamilton
Iowa
City Press-Citizen
DES MOINES - Perhaps it's fitting City High finished with
the third-most points in state meet history Saturday, instead
of breaking the all-time record.
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City
High’s Monica Mims, center, celebrates winning the
sprint medley relay with teammates Heaven Tutson,
left, and Virginia Dreier on Saturday at Drake Stadium
in Des Moines. Elizabeth Matzen also ran on the
relay for the Little Hawks. Press-Citizen/Matthew
Holst
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After
all, these Little Hawks won't be remembered for the number
of events they won, but rather how they piled up points
with a slug of place-winners that demonstrated their incredible
depth.
City
won its fourth state title, and first since 1999, by scoring
65 points. The Little Hawks set a new Class 3A record
in margin of victory with their 26-point spread over second-place
West High.
The
Women of Troy, winners of the past two state titles, matched
City's two event victories. West, though, couldn't equal
City's constant point accumulation Saturday.
"We're
like the tide coming in," Little Hawk coach Terry Coleman
said. "You can't stop it, but it comes in incrementally.
We didn't win a ton of stuff, but we pointed in 12 of
19 events. And this particular team, that was their strength,
being able to point everywhere."
City
didn't even need to win a race this weekend. For that
matter, the Little Hawks didn't need the points they scored
on Friday, either.
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West
High’s Lynn Dobyns, left, is greeted by teammates
Jeni Frudden and Julia Frudden after winning the
Class 3A 4x800 on Saturday.
Press-Citizen/Matthew
Holst
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City
scored 41 points Saturday just with second through sixth-place
finishes.
"Although
you'd like to be state champions," West junior Lynn Dobyns
said, "a really great team won it and they have a lot
of talent."
The
Women of Troy reluctantly let their state crown go back
across town. City won three consecutive state titles before
West took the gold trophy back to Iowa City in 2000 and
2001.
But
second place didn't seem all bad to the Women of Troy,
who scored 39 points to take second after finishing third
at the MVC Super Meet and their district meet.
"Seriously
and in all honesty, I prayed all week for a miracle because
I knew what we had to overcome," West coach Mike Parker
said. "The achievement of this second-place trophy, it
was more difficult, it took more from us, than the two
wins that we had.
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The
City High girls track team brings home the hardware.
Press-Citizen/Matthew
Holst
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"I
could be happier, but no way could I be more proud."
Coleman
was both happy and proud after winning his first state
title as City's head coach.
"I
drove 'em here, took the right exit to get off and there
was all that construction," Coleman joked. "What they
do during the year and in the off-season, I'm just happy
to be along for the ride."
City's
sprint medley relay squad of Virginia Dreier, Heaven Tutson,
Elizabeth Matzen and Monica Mims gave the Little Hawks
their only winner of the day, nipping Mount Pleasant by
one-hundredth of a second.
City
got second-place points from Meggan Reed (800), Jennie
Funk (1,500) and the 4x800 squad. The Little Hawks got
thirds from Mims (400), Katy Fraga (400 hurdles) and the
shuttle hurdle relay team. Nelle Trefz (1,500) placed
fourth and the 4x100 team took fifth. Maya Monitto-Webber
(100 hurdles) and the 4x400 team placed sixth.
"We
scraped up sixth-place finishes and we got a point there
and a third here, and really, the reason our team is so
great is because we're so deep," Funk said. "We don't
have a lot of superstars, but we have a lot of really,
really strong, good athletes."
West
scored its points in much different fashion. Aside from
Janet Dobyns' sixth-place finish in the 1,500, the Women
of Troy scored all of their points Saturday with victories.
West
got a brilliant anchor leg from Lynn Dobyns to win the
4x400. The junior held off an elite group of anchor runners,
securing a victory for Nicole Novak, Kristin Jacobs and
Lindsey Windauer.
A
half-Dobyns, half-Frudden team provided West with its
fifth consecutive 4x800 state title. Sisters Janet and
Lynn Dobyns teamed up with Julia and Jeni Frudden to win
in 9:18.68, the sixth-fastest time in state history.
"The
4x8 is definitely a tradition at West High, and when we
win a state title the school puts our pictures on the
wall," said Jeni Frudden, who ran on the past four state-title
4x800 teams. "We wanted a sister picture, so that was
a big motivation."
One
of the biggest motivational factors for City this season
was how last year ended. West beat the Little Hawks by
one point for the state title, which wasn't decided until
the final meters of the final race.
The
only points that mattered to City in its final race Saturday
was to determine its place in history. Only the 69 points
scored by Indianola in 1980 and the 66 scored by Ames
in 1996 rank ahead of the Little Hawks.
"It's
the best (team) this year," Coleman said. "And that's
all we've been focusing on this week."
City
most likely will make another run at the record books
next year. It returns almost all of its firepower. Fraga,
Matzen and Katie Funk are the only seniors who scored
points for the Little Hawks at the state meet.
"We're
going to be great next year," Mims said. "We're going
to go after 'em next year and it'll be another chance
to go after the point total thing and go for individual
records and relay records."
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