Warrior girls keep amassing personal records with each meet
At Central City, Taylor Moser won the 400 hurdles in a personal record time of 1:14.08. She also put in a solid effort in the 100-meter hurdles, running a season best and personal record time of 17.24, for second place. (Photos by Bev Hamann)
Isabella Schmidt prepares to throw the shot put at the Central City meet.
Zoey Hyde swept the 100-, 400- and 800-meter wheelchair events at Central City.
Reese Berns takes flight in the long jump competition at Central City. She placed fourth.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central girls track and field team attended two meets last week, starting in Central City, were the Warriors compiled an impressive 12 personal records and seven season bests. They finished with 20 top 10s and five wins across 18 events, ending the meet with 77 points and placing sixth overall.
Leading the highlights was Taylor Moser’s performance in the 400-meter hurdles, in what coach Martha Bauder described as “one of the most effortless 400-meter hurdle races I’ve seen in a long time.” Moser won the race in a personal record time of 1:14.08, almost a full second ahead of the second place finisher.
Moser also put in a solid effort in the 100-meter hurdles, running a season best and personal record time of 17.24, putting her in second place, less than half a second off the winner.
“In the world of the short distance hurdles, three stepping in between is one of the most sought after goals, and often takes years of practice to achieve. Taylor had an amazing race, came out blazing and three stepped eight of the 10 hurdles en route to her PR finish,” Bauder added.
Three other Warriors ran the 100-meter hurdles, including Reese Berns who finished seventh in 18.67, which was also a personal record. Madylen Gregerson finished 14th and Alivia Wiley 16th.
The other big win was achieved by the 4x100 shuttle hurdle group consisting of Berns, Gregerson, Wiley and Moser. The foursome ran a season best 1:18.51 to defeat North Linn by nearly a second.
Central also took down the three wheelchair races, with Zoey Hyde sweeping the 100-, 400- and 800-meter events, while achieving a season best time in the 100 with a 41:85.
The 4x400 relay offered more excitement for the Warriors, with Berns, Wiley, Alexis Thiese and Moser putting together a season best run of 4:44.26, to finish third.
“With each leg of the race, we were battling with three other teams for the third place medal. In the end, we did what we had to do to secure that third place finish and our season best time,” Bauder said.
The Warriors sent Isabella Schmidt and Lillian Becwar to the track for the 100-meter dash, where they finished 17th and 18th, respectively. Becwar also raced in the 200, crossing the line in 33.54, which was good for 15th.
In the 1500, Coral Rork ran a 6:30.70 for fourth place, and Hannah Friedlein finished seventh in 7:50.77. The two were also a respective fifth and seventh in the 300.
The distance medley featured Staci Herman, Gregerson, Wiley and Thiese, who ran a season best 5:09.12 for a fourth place finish, while Audrey Palas, Layla Embretson, Schmidt and Becwar finished seventh in the 4x200 in a time of 2:11.87.
The 800 sprint medley team was comprised of Becwar, Tori Sylvester, Herman and Thiese, who ran a 2:10.77 for sixth place.
Palas, Sylvester, Gregerson and Herman competed in the 4x100, a time of 58.72 placing them seventh.
In the field events, the Warriors put up several personal records, including two in the long jump where Berns jumped a distance of 14-01 for fourth place and Palas finished sixth with a distance of 12-01.
Embretson achieved a personal record in the discus with a throw of 86-09, finishing third, while teammate Herman came in with a mark of 71-00, placing eighth, and Marissa Rew was 17th.
Rew also took part in the shot put, where she finished ninth with a throw of 25-03, followed by Embretson in 21st and Schmidt in 23rd.
On April 11, the Warriors were met with rainy, cold weather in Decorah, but Bauder always tells the team “on the worst weather days, someone on our team is going to have a PR. Who will it be today?”
The Warriors actually achieved seven personal records during the meet, and finished with 15 top 10s and one win in the 12 events in which they competed at the varsity level.
Among the personal bests were Rork and Friedlein in the 3000, with Rork running a 13:36.26 to finish third and Friedlein finishing fourth in a time of 15:37.88. In other distance races, Thiese turned in a time of 6:07.27 to place fifth in the 1500.
Berns and Moser competed in the 100-meter hurdles, with Moser placing fifth in 18.30 and Berns seventh in 19.29. Moser followed that up with third- place in the 400 hurdles, running a 1:15.95.
Herman competed in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line eight in a personal record 30.68 seconds. Hyde also continued sitting atop the podium, with a first place finish in the 100-meter wheelchair race.
The Warriors had more success in the relays, starting with the 4x100 throwers relay, where they placed fourth with Savannah Orr, Allison Herr, Embretson and Schmidt. The 4x100 relay was a fifth-place effort for Wiley, Becwar, Gregerson, and Herman, who ran a 59.46.
In the shuttle hurdle relay, Berns, Gregerson, Wiley and Moser crossed the line in 1:19.46 to finish in fourth, and the distance medley team of Herman, Wiley, Berns and Thiese also finished fourth with a time of 5:06.27, which was a season best.
The Warriors competed in just two varsity field events, with Berns leaping to sixth in the long jump with a distance of 13-06. In the discus, Embretson hit a personal record 87-05 to finish fifth. Herman was 10th in the event.
Overall, Central placed sixth in the meet with 33 points.
“I would say the biggest highlight for me would be the way our girls battled the weather and prepared for each event. It’s hard to stay motivated for three hours when you’re pretty much unable to stay dry and warm. But I was happy with how our team was ready to go for each event,” Bauder said.
The Warriors have two meets this week, starting at New Hampton on April 15. They will head to West Delaware on April 18.
