Glenwood wins two gold medals, places eighth at state track

Nate Kennedy’s gold medal run in the 400-meters and a blistering anchor run in the sprint medley relay helped Glenwood to its second gold medal and a top 10 team finish in the Iowa State Track and Field Championship in Des Moines Saturday.

The Rams won five medals and finished with 38 team points.

Marion edged Atlantic 69 to 63 to win the Class 3A boys team title before a crowd of more than 10,000 at Drake Stadium.

Pella was the girls Class 3A team champion with 70 points. Crestwood was the runner up with 64 points.
Kennedy paced Glenwood with a gold medal on day one at state, winning the 400-meters after placing second in the event last year. His time of 48.28 edged Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Ty Boekelman for the gold.

On Saturday Kennedy saved his best 400-meter run of his career for last –as in the anchor carry – of the sprint medley relay. The Ram senior took the baton from Kohen Watson in fifth place and quickly erased that margin and ran away from the field over the final 300 meters for gold. His anchor time, according to Glenwood coaches: 47.07.

“Nate is one of those kids that makes us go,” said Glenwood coach Mark Starner of Kennedy. “He’s an elite athlete and he can do so many things for you. Coming in he had the three individual events but he could have helped us in any of the relays but I thought we had a real good chance in the sprint medley to defend our title and set a record and we did both those things.”

The sprint medley quartet of Joey Saddler, Jon Lee, Watson and Kennedy finished with a state meet record time of 1:33.11.
The Rams’ gold in the sprint medley is their second straight in just the second year of competition after the event was added last year.

Kennedy would add to the Rams haul with a third place finish in the 200 and a sixth place showing in the 100.
Watson was a second point scorer for Glenwood with a seventh place finish in the 400-meters. Watson added points in the 400 with a seventh place finish in a time of 49.97.

“That was huge,” Starner said. “He was kind of my dark horse this weekend. I told people he could be in the top eight. If he ran under a 50 (seconds) I knew he’d be in the top eight and he did. He ran extremely well.”

Watson, a senior, was also a part of the 4x200-meter relay – Saddler, Brady Weddum and Zach Vondra – that placed eighth with a time of 1:32.02. In all, Watson won three medals on the weekend.

The Rams’ eighth place team finish is its third straight in the top 10.

“Anytime you can end up in the top 10, with how tough our class is, with Atlantic scoring 63 points for second, its exciting. Scoring points is always tough. We saw a lot of the top competition this year and that motivates our kids.”

The Glenwood girls didn’t place in any event but gained valuable experience on the big blue oval in Des Moines.

“Overall, it was a good state meet,” said Glenwood girls coach Cory Faust. “All the girls gave great effort and I was happy with their preparation. Our underclassmen gained some valuable experience, and I hope it has made them hungry to take their preparation to the next level so they can come back next year and compete for hardware.  We definitely have the potential to do so.”  

Freshman Emma Hughes made a strong showing at state, placing 11th in the 3,000-meters and then broke her own school record in the 1,500-meters with a time of 5:00.59 to place 15th.

Lauren Becker placed 13th in the high jump while teammate Danielle Hardcastle was 14th. Becker added a 10th place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. Her time of 1:07.20 is a personal best and third fastest time in school history.

The sprint medley relay team of Abi Schultz, Devin Bomer, Jaeda Wilson and Elle Scarborough ran a 1:55.69 to place 16th. The time is the fifth fastest in school history.

Allgood was 16th in the 200-meter dash but her time of 26.71 is a new record for the state meet by a Glenwood runner.
The Rams lose a handful of seniors from this year’s squad but will return a large contingent of state qualifiers next season.

“While it’s exciting to think about what we can accomplish next year, it’s sad to say goodbye to these seniors,” Faust said. “Right down the line you have girl after girl who is tough, team oriented and unselfish as well as talented.  I am going to miss each of them.”

Glenwood Girls
Place Winners
3000m run – 11th place, Emma Hughes, 11:01.17.
200m dash – 16th place, Sadey Allgood, 26.71.
4x800m relay – ninth place, Glenwood (Danielle Hardcastle, Lauren Becker, Kate Kaufman and Abby McIntyre), 9:54.56.
Shuttle hurdle relay – 13th place, Glenwood (Taryn Bertini, Audrey Arnold, Sami Parr and Marissa Ausdemore), 1:09.48.
Discus – 23rd place, Elle Scarborough, 98’ 3”.
High jump – 13th place, Becker, 5’ 3”; 14th place, Hardcastle, 5’ 1”.
100m hurdles – 20th place, Arnold, 16.41.
4x200m relay – 13th place, Glenwood (Allgood, Scarborough, Jaeda Wilson and Baily Ostrander), 1:48.83.
400m hurdles – 10th place, Becker, 1:07.20.
4x100m relay – 19th place, Glenwood (Devon Bomer, Wilson, Scarborough and Ostrander), 51.84.
Shot put – 18th place, Sydney Biermann, 35’.
1500m run – 15th place, Hughes, 5:00.59.
Sprint medley relay – 16th place, Glenwood (Abi Schultz, Bomer, Wilson and Scarborough), 1:55.93.

Glenwood Boys
Place Winners
200m dash – third place, Nate Kennedy, 21.89; 23rd place, Brady Wheeler, 23.57.
100m dash – sixth place, Kennedy, 11.23.
400m dash – first place, Kennedy, 48.28; seventh place, Kohen Watson, 49.97.
4x200m relay – eighth place, Glenwood (Joey Saddler, Brady Weddum, Zach Vondra and Kohen Watson), 1:32.02.
4x100m relay – 21st place, Glenwood (Saddler, Jon Lee, Jack Hughes and Vondra), 45.17.
4x400m relay – 18th place, Glenwood (Christian Stanislav, Hughes, Parson Covington and Watson), 45.17.
Long jump – 15th place Vondra, 20’ 4”.
Sprint medley relay – first place, Glenwood (Saddler, Lee, Watson and Kennedy), 1:33.11.