DES MOINES — For the first time in school history the trophy case at Panorama High School will now include team hardware from the state track meet, as the Panther girls placed third overall after a solid Saturday in Class 2A action.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
“We knew going into state that we had a shot at a trophy, but you never know how 15-18 year olds will respond to that pressure,” Panorama head coach Greg Thompson said. “We had some surprises, both positive and negative, along the way, but the girls performed well.”
“I told them all week that they didn’t have to do anything super extraordinary, just give the same effort they had given all year,” he added. “In fact, through all of those races and events, we probably only had three or four personal bests.”
The combination of a promising state meet in 2017 and a second-place finish in the state cross country meet in October had started chatter about the potential of the squad, and a dominating regular season proved the team could score across the board. Qualifying in 15 of 19 events (only the 200, 4×200, sprint medley and shot put failed to reach state) revealed the potential for amassing points, which is what the team slowly did over the course of three days.
Mid-Prairie, riding the stellar talents of sisters Anna (a senior) and Marie (a sophomore), claimed the state title with 60 points. Sumner-Fredericksburg was second at 44, with 30 points coming largely due to senior Karyton Allen, who won the 100 and anchored the winning 4×100 and 4×200 teams.
Panorama was securely third, with 40 points, with Dyersville Beckman and MVAO-COU tying for fourth place at 31 points apiece.
Saturday began for the Panthers with freshman Gwen Steffen improving from the 19th seed to 11th overall in the 800 by dropping over seven seconds off her qualifying time to cross in 2 minutes, 24.18 seconds. Senior Devyn Kemble, 10th last year in 2:25.01, finished 12th in 2:24.32.
Mid-Prairie’s Anna Hochstetler won, in 2:15.53, with sister Marie third in 2:18.55.
Thompson made a switch for the shuttle hurdle finals, sending Shey Storesund first and sophomore Maggie Woodvine third while keeping senior Maddie Knapp second. The anchor leg went to junior Morgan Johnk, who passed two times in a blistering run but could not quite nail down Beckman’s Heather Boeckenstadt.
Beckman won the crown in 1:07.1, with Panorama the runner-up in 1:07.53.
Johnk and fellow junior Boeckenstadt met again, just over an hour later, in the 100 hurdles final. Boeckenstadt proved a half-stride swifter, finishing first to Johnk’s second in 15.33 to 15.46, respectively. Johnk was fourth, in 16.17, in 2017.
The National Weather Service’s severe weather warning at 1:30 p.m. created a 2 hour, 15 minute delay, pushing the start of the 1500 back from 2:45 p.m. until after 5 p.m.
Panorama’s Ella Waddle, second at state cross country, was the only freshman among the 24 qualifiers and entered as seven-seed at 5:08.02. She lowered her time to a lifetime best 5:02.04 to place eighth and earn a medal.
The Hochstetler sisters were at it again, Anna winning in 4:42.56 and Marie crossing second in 4:42.88.
Waddle’s one team point put Panorama in second, at 37 points, with S-F at 34, MVAO-COU (done scoring) at 31 and Beckman at 26 with the 4×100 and 4×400 remaining.
S-F won the 4×100 and 10 points to jump to second place at 44, with Beckman’s final event placing fourth and scoring five point to move into the fourth-place tie with MVAO-COU.
The Panthers would have needed a win or runner-up in the 4×400 to seize second place, an unlikely outcome. They ran well, finishing sixth in 4:08.76, much swifter than their qualifying time of 4:13.84 and an improvement over the 15th place finish (in 4:11.84) from 2017.
Steffen led off for Panorama, handing to junior Bailey Beckman, who passed to sophomore Lydia Lindstrom, with Kemble anchoring the relay.
Underwood won the race in 4:02.97, with Treynor second in 4:03.98.
Thompson is assisted by Caden Duncan, who works on sprints, the long jump and individual strength, and by Chris Webner, who instructs throwers and high jumpers. Lindsey Duncan assists with middle distance events, with Sandy Leiferman working with distance runners.
The head coach praised the efforts of his assistants and saluted the contributions of the younger athletes, but focused on his seniors thinclads.
“We have four seniors on the girls team, and each of them got run at least one event at state,” Thompson noted. “Brianna Hoffman ran on the 4×800, Maddie Knapp ran on the shuttle hurdle, Carson Fisher in the 100 dash and 4×100, and Devyn Kemble in the 400, 800, distance medley and 4×400. Their leadership is what we will miss the most — they are very hard workers.”
“Maddie was often the last one to leave practice,” he continued. “Devyn is a multi-talented competitor, but is very humble and would do anything we asked her (often we had to pull her back). Brianna also works very hard and has battled some nagging injuries all year (both cross country and track). Carson is also a very determined, but very sweet girl. You wouldn’t know any of these girls are so competitive when talking to them. They are all kind and polite and supportive of everyone on the team.”
All will have the gratitude of knowing they played key roles in bringing the first state track team trophy to Panorama. With the talent returning, the first trophy may not be the last.
