OGDEN — The girls half of Friday’s WCAC track meet served as little more than a showcase for the Panorama thinclads, who posted results that have lifted the Panthers to the top spot in the Class 2A power rankings.
The 3Iowa Track Coaches Association has Panorama at 1,420 power points, tops in 2A and the ninth-best result among all four classes, testifying to both individual prowess but also considerable team depth.
Panorama compiled what is believed to be a conference record 191 team points, with AC/GC a far distant second at 114. Van Meter (90.5), Madrid (88), Earlham (87.5), WCV (45), W-G (44), Ogden (42), DMC (32) and the newly-started Woodward Academy girls (3) completed the field.
Along the way the Panthers set two combination school and conference meet records, with one other school record and one additional WCAC meet mark also reset, all part of an overall effort that nearly left head coach Greg Thompson speechless.
“Wow! What a tremendous performance!” he effused. “There were so many amazing moments and performances that I can’t highlight just a few because I would leave something out. All I can think to say is wow!”
Eight Panthers set 15 new personal best results, with 11 season best performances recorded. A total of 14 results were improvements over the same event at the 2017 conference meet.
Lydia Knapp won the discus with a new personal and WCAC record spin on 133 feet, 2 inches, with Morgan Johnk claiming the high jump at 5’2 while Bailey Beckman (16;7) and Kassidy Bremer (15’5-3/4) placed 1-4 in the long jump. Knapp was eighth, at 32’3-3/4, in the shot put.
Johnk reset her own school and produced a new WCAC mark in the 100 hurdles with a blistering 15.17 dash — best in 2A this season.
Freshman Ella Waddle was twice involved in record book runs. She set a new school and WCAC meet mark in the 3000 while speeding to the conference title in 11 minutes, 7.52 seconds. Teammate Olivia Steffen was fifth in the race in 12:28.38.
Waddle erased Leslie Stanley’s 1991 school record of 5:10.36 in the 1500 by placing second in 5:06.17, with Gwen Steffen crossing fifth in 5:37.48.
Devyn Kemble and Gwen Steffen were 1-2, in 1:00.81 and 1:03.54, in the 400, with Kemble and Gwen Steffen 2-3 in the 800 in 2:30.92 and 2:32.34, respectively.
Johnk was second (27.59) and Bremer third (28.14) in the 200, with Carson Fisher fourth (13.41) and Shey Storesund seventh (13.84) in the 100 while Lydia Lindstrom placed third in the 400 hurdles (1:13.1).
Beckman, Fisher, Bremer, and Maggie Woodvine won the 4×200 (1:52.51), Beckman, Kemble, Lindstrom, and Brianna Hoffman the 4×900 (4:14.43) and Fisher, Kemble, Payton Douglass and Maddie Knapp the sprint medley (1:55.67) while Woodvine, Storesund, Douglass and Johnk combined to win the shuttle hurdle (1:09.08).
The foursome of Fisher, Bremer, Storesund and Beckman were second in the 4×100, in 53.31, with Hoffman, Lindstrom, Gwen Steffen and Brooklyn Behrends second in the 4×800 in 10:28.5. The distance medley also scored, placing fifth when Woodvine, Hoffman, Waddle and Maddie Knapp united to finish in 4:31.91.
