Despite chilly temperatures, a little rain and some wind, nearly two-thirds of the events at the Steve Ehret Relays fell by the wayside Thursday. In four of those events even the runnerup would have broken the record. North Mahaska girls accounted for three of the records.
Pella Christian took titles in both boys’ and girls’ competition. The girls scored 143 to beat out host North Mahaska with 111 and HLV was third with 99. PC scored 143 in the boys meet with Iowa Valley in second with 119.5 and Colfax-Mingo in second with 115. North Mahaska placed seventh with 45.5 points.
“It was a great night for us,” said an elated NM girls coach Amy Griffin. “We had a lot of PRs (personal records) and set some records. Emmerson (Jedlicka) and Nat (Linder) each won twice, and Ava (Huffman) got a win.”
Linder was the first to post a win with a leap of 16-feet, 11-inches in the long jump. Her distance was about a half inch off the school record and beat the meet record by an inch and a half. Shortly after Linder’s win Jedlicka won the 3,000 meters in 11 minutes, 23.12 seconds. Jedlicka then doubled later when she took the 1,500-meter title.
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Montezuma’s Ellen Cook, left, and North Mahaska’s Ava Huffman prepare to run the 800 meters. Huffman led wire-to-wire to win the race at the Steve Ehret Relays.
For the second meet in a row, Jedlicka broke a meet record held by former North Mahaska distance runner Cheyenne Shaw. She broke Shaw’s 1,500 record at Lynnville-Sully Tuesday and then won Thursday in 5:22.73 snapping the old mark of 5:25.49 set in 2017.
In the 3,000 Jedlicka led wire-to-wire and won by 15 seconds over Ellie Yates of Sigourney. She said the 1,500 win was tougher.
“This was pretty mental race,” said Jedlicka. “I had to stay focused. This is a great place to start my season. I’m hitting my PRs from last year already.”
Emmerson Jedlicka leads the pack in the 3,000 meters. Jedlicka won over Sigourney’s Ellie Yates and Addison Yates. Jedlicka also won the 1,500 meters.
Huffman’s victory in the 800 meters was a surprise to her. She led from the beginning but that was not the strategy entering the race.
“I wanted to battle in the top three and didn’t think about leading all the way,” said Huffman. “That last 300 I knew Ellen Cook was there and I wanted stay in front. I’ve never won anything.”
Huffman won in 2:39.62 two seconds ahead of Cook and two seconds off the meet record.
“Ava can do it,” said Griffin. “That was a big win for us.”
NM girls captured six first place finishes, a second, two thirds a fourth and two fifths. The girls double placed in the long jump when Kieren Perez placed fifth behind Linder with a jump of 14-8.5.
Linder grabbed the top spot in the 400 hurdles in 1:10.91 breaking Summer Barthelman’s mark of 1:11.19 in 2017. It topped off her big day after winning the long jump.
“Speed is very important in the long jump,” said Linder. “On my 16-11, I actually fell backwards. I have been working on my speed. I didn’t hit 16-4 until the end of the season last year. I feel good right now where I’m at right now.”
Perez battled BGM’s Ryanne VanDee in the 100 hurdles with Perez edging out VanDee by 40 seconds. Perez covered the distance in 17.64.
The girls picked up a second place in the distance medley finishing in 4:54.58. The team of Olivia Ridgeway, Macie Little, Allie Veiseth and Huffman finished behind Montezuma and ahead of Belle Plaine.
Amber Knockel, Alivia Schock, Huffman and Veiseth ran third in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:42.05. Perez was third in the 100 meters in 13.43. Perez was fourth in the 200 in 29.07.
Tyson Ferguson had the best finish for the Warhawk boys with a third place run in the 400 hurdles. Ferguson covered the course in 1:02.04. The shuttle hurdle team of Charlie Goemaat, Max Reed, Jackson Doak and Ferguson placed fourth in 1:10.98.
The teams return to action Monday when the girls travel to Iowa Valley and on Tuesday when the boys go to Iowa Valley. On Thursday, the girls will compete at Eddyville while the boys go to Pekin.
Team scores: Boys – 1. Pella Christian 143; 2. Iowa Valley 119.5; 3. Colfax-Mingo 115; 4. Sigourney 106; 5. BGM 76; 6. Montezuma 65; 7. North Mahaska 45.5; HLV 43.
Girls – 1. Pella Christian 143; 2. North Mahaska 111; 3. HLV 99; 4. Iowa Valley 72; 5. Sigourney 69; 6. Colfax-Mingo 66; 7. Montezuma 63; 8. Belle Plaine 57;9. BGM 19.