ARLINGTON — Even as a little girl, Madeline Otdoerfer ran at the state track meet.
“I’d race on the (Drake Stadium) track every year after it was over,” she said.
“I was kind of jealous of my older sisters, because they got to run there for real.”
An era will end for the Starmont girls’ track program later this month. The Otdoerfer sisters — all nine of them — have been a constant since the eldest, Jessica, was a freshman in 1989.
That’s right. This is the 22nd straight season that Coach Roger Reed …

CEDAR RAPIDS — Some dreaded the wind. Courtney Fritz embraced it.
“I like it when it’s coming in from the right,” she said. “With the right wind, you can really catch it.”
Fritz caught it.
The Iowa City West thrower broke the Prairie Relays discus record Thursday at John Wall Field, flinging her final attempt 152 feet,  8 inches.
“When it’s windy, you just have to adjust, but you don’t want to change too much,” Fritz said. “If you do, then you’re dealing with a bigger issue.”
A strong wind from the south aided Fritz, but …

DES MOINES — Amanda Piche changed her technique.
“I’ve been trying to get lower in my throw,” she said.
Getting lower got Piche higher. All the way to the top.
A sophomore at Linn-Mar High School, Piche won the girls’ discus competition at the Drake Relays Friday morning.
Piche’s winning toss of 136 feet, 9 inches, came on her first throw of the day.
“That was probably the best grip I had all day,” she said. “I made sure I had a lot of chalk.”
The event was contested in a steady rain. Piche’s best throw …

Top-level talent and overall depth have collided within the Iowa City West girls’ track program.
The result is predictable: West appears to be a juggernaut again.
Armed with “the deepest team and the best freshman class I have ever coached,” Mike Parker’s Women of Troy are rated No. 1 statewide in six of 19 events, according to quikstatsiowa.com.
“We have stars, but we have girls, if the stars aren’t at their best, that can be stars for a day,” Parker said.
Last year, West was denied a third consecutive Class 4A state championship, settling …

Here are assignments for boys’ district and girls’ regional track meets.
Class 4A
Class 3A
Class 2A
Class 1A
The state-qualifying meets are Friday, May 14. The state meet is May 20-22 at Drake Stadium, Des Moines.

Benton Community High School girls track and field and boys and girls cross country head coach Marty Thomae has been named the Wartburg College athletic department’s 2009 Alumni Coach of the Year.
Thomae has guided the Bobcats to seven top three finishes at the girls state track and field meet including state championships in 1997, 2007 and 2008 and three state cross country championships in girls competition (1998, 1999 and 2000). His girls’ track teams have claimed seven WaMac conference titles, while his girls cross country teams’ have done so 12 …

Here is the first team:

DES MOINES — It was impossible to stay cool.
But when the typical early-race energy rush captivated many of her competitors, Moran Lonning did remain calm and collected.
Lonning worked her way through the field, then won the girls’ Class 3A 3,000-meter run convincingly at the state track meet Thursday at Drake Stadium.
The sophomore from Decorah was clocked in 10:40.93, nearly 12 seconds ahead of the pack.
“Everyone starts out sprinting, but you know, there were still seven laps left,” Lonning said.
It helped that a familiar face was toward the back of the …

DES MOINES — How did that feel? Euphoric? Not exactly.
“Painful,” said Jessica Yagla.
No pain, no gain.
Yagla anchored Iowa City High to a come-from-behind victory in the girls’ Class 4A 3,200-meter relay at the state track meet Thursday at Drake Stadium. It helped vault the Little Hawks into the 4A lead after Day 1.
“My legs turned numb, but I worked as hard as I could,” Yagla said. “I kept my eye on (Valley anchor Emily Klemme). I didn’t even hear the crowd. I just kept going.”
The Little Hawks, who were led …

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DES MOINES –
Here are today’s finals:
Shot put – 2 p.m.
3,000 – 3:20 p.m.
Long jump – 4:30 p.m.
3,200 relay – 4:50 p.m.
400 – 7 p.m.

Source: Jeff Linder – Blog