Scar earns first career state track medal

DES MOINES — Nodaway Valley junior Destiny Scar, a veteran of the Co-ed State Track Meet, earned her first career state track medal here Thursday.

Scar finished fifth in the Class 1A 3,000 meters with her time of 11:12.85. Griswold senior Rebekah Topham won her third state title in the 3,000 meters with her time of 10:30.80.

“I have no clue what they look like yet, but I’m sure they look great!” Scar said about her first state track medal.

The Wolverine junior ran in fourth place for much of the race, sticking right on the shoulder of Woodbine’s Megan Maaske.

The two runners finished first and second at last week’s State Qualifying Meet in Audubon, so Scar knew what to expect from Maaske.

“It was the race plan, because I had just run against her in districts,” Scar said. “I knew what her strategy was and I was comfortable with it. I just think I didn’t pull away as soon as I should have. It wasn’t really smart thinking there.”

Scar attempted to make a move with two laps to go, but was unable to break away from Maaske. Both Maaske and Griswold’s Alyx Flippin overtook Scar in the final two laps.

“I tried to pass her on the backstretch and stay with her, but she has a better kick than I do,” Scar said about Maaske.

Scar said she didn’t run quite as well as she had hoped, but was happy to take home her first medal.

“I kind of wanted to get third and run in the 10s, but it didn’t happen,” she said. “I just run better in cold weather. Not what I wanted, but it’ll do. It got me a medal and I did better this year than last year.”

Shuttle finals

Mount Ayr capped off the night by qualifying in sixth place to Saturday’s finals of the Class 1A girls shuttle hurdle relay with its school-record time of 1:09.65.

Nodaway Valley’s relay team of Sadie Marnin, Sidney Hohertz, Kenna Lundy and Katy Ehrsam finished 11th, just .40 seconds out of the eighth and final qualifying spot, with its time of 1:11.02.

Megan Warin opened up for the Raiderettes and kept them in striking distance. Junior Laura Davison ran on the second leg and pulled Mount Ayr even with the leaders.

Freshman Alyssa Johnson, and individual qualifier for today’s 100 meter hurdles, blasted out of the blocks and gave the Raiderettes a big lead heading into Ashton Johnson’s anchor leg.

Ashton Johnson knew exactly what she had to do.

“Don’t fall!” she said. “Get over the hurdles and stay in front of everyone.”

No one threatened her on the final leg, as Mount Ayr cruised into Saturday’s finals for the first time in Johnson’s career.

“We just missed it last year by so little and then this year we finally make it,” she said. “We’ve just been working so hard this year and so it feels really good. It’s never happened for me. That was my one goal for this year, was to get to finals.”

Like Alyssa Johnson, Ashton is also an individual qualifier for today’s 100 meter hurdles prelims. Thursday’s race gave her confidence heading into the individual race.

“If I run like I can, I have a pretty good chance at making it to finals of that, too,” she said.

Lenox senior Aurora Arevalo competed in three events Thursday, throwing the shot put and running the 100 meter and 200 meter dash prelims.

Arevalo finished 11th in the 100 meter dash and 13th in the 200 meter dash.

2015 Co-ed State Track Meet

CLASS 1A

Girls

Thursday

Shot put — 1. Shelbie Williams, Pekin, 38-10.25; 17. Sara Winemiller, Mount Ayr, 33-0.25; 24. Aurora Arevalo, Lenox, 28-8.50.

Long jump — 1. Mallory Vawter, BCLUW, 17-6.50; 14. Mika Weaver, Lenox, 15-3.50.

3,000 meters — 1. Rebekah Topham, Griswold, 10:30.80; 5. Destiny Scar, Nodaway Valley, 11:12.85.

100 meter dash prelims — 1. Katie Maschmann, Montezuma, 12.25; 11. Aurora Arevalo, Lenox, 12.95.

200 meter dash prelims — 1. Maddie Bell, Hudson, 25.51; 13. Aurora Arevalo, Lenox, 27.13.

400 meter dash — 1. Maddie Bell, Hudson, 57.75; 20. Bailey Anderson, Mount Ayr, 1:03.94

Shuttle hurdle relay prelims — 1. North Linn, 1:07.20; 6. Mount Ayr (Megan Warin, Laura Davison, Alyssa Johnson, Ashton Johnson), 1:09.65; 11. Nodaway Valley (Sadie Marnin, Sidney Hohertz, Kenna Lundy, Katy Ehrsam), 1:11.02.