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Hamann wins three races while girls’ track takes 5th
by Matthew Dickinson, sports editor · Sports · April 10, 2024
With a limited crew, the West Branch girls’ track team captured a fifth-place finish with 77 points at Saturday’s Dennis Riley Invitational in West Liberty.
“I’m really proud of a lot of the marks that we got,” Bears Head Coach Luke Posivio said. “It was nice to kind of just put together girls in different events. We had 10 girls here, and we still managed to score 77 points with five first-place finishes. So I’ll take that.”
West Liberty won the meet, with the hosts scoring 146. Lone Tree and Northeast tied for second with 104 while Midland finished ahead of the Bears with 93.
West Branch entered the meet, which was rescheduled from April 2 due to weather conditions, on short notice after the Bears canceled the Chad Gates Invitational set for April 4 for inclement weather.
The last-second entry left West Branch with a fraction of its typical roster, making a high team score difficult.
“I was really thankful that a lot of the girls and of course their families were able to make that last-minute sacrifice,” the coach said of the athletes who were able to compete in the Saturday meet. “We had a good crew, they all had really good attitudes today.”
The meet was the first track competition West Liberty hosted on its new track and turf field, part of an extensive renovation effort. West Branch had a special connection with the project, as the Bears hosted the Comets’ meets until the new track was finished.
“It’s really cool to be able to come,” the coach said. “Coach [Michael] Hart and I went to high school together, so we know each other really well. It’s kind of nice that we have a facility like this right down the road. Hopefully we can make this a yearly thing.”
Freshman Grace Hamann continued a strong start to her high school career, winning all three individual distance events despite having less rest in the small girls-only meet.
She began the day by claiming the 3000 meter run in 11:22.15. For the second straight meet, Hamann pulled off the quick turnaround between the 800 and 1500.
She took the 800 in 2:34.01 before turning around and running a 5:33.82 in the 1500.
“Grace Hamann running the three open distance events was really impressive,” the coach said. “I told her before the fact that she could scratch one if she needed to, and she ended up doing all three which was really cool.”
Posivio added that heavy winds on the backstretch of the track upped the difficulty for her events.
Alyssa Pierce led the field in the shot put, taking the event with a lifetime best of 38 feet, 1 inch. The throw put her in a tie for 18th in all classes as of Monday afternoon, putting her within the top 24 entry range to qualify for the prestigious Drake Relays held at Drake Stadium in late April. Posivio said that Pierce breaking the “38-foot” barrier was “really exciting.”
Lexi Skay had a PR of her own in the 400 meter dash with a 1:04.76, good for third place. Amber Wolf claimed second in the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:17.91. Posivio said that he was pleased with the times Skay and Wolf put up.
The distance medley relay added a championship for the Bears, with Wolf, Sulli Bucknell, Finley Rushton, and Caitlyn Harrison finishing in 5:17.80.
“It’s four girls who haven’t run that before,” Posivio said. “We had them run today, so that’s pretty cool to watch them here and not have any experience running those and winning a couple events.”
McKenna Worrell added placings in the 100 meter dash (fifth, 15.20) and 200 (seventh, 30.89).
The Bears will return to action April 11 with a meet at Lisbon before taking select events to the April 13 Eastern Iowa Track & Field Festival held at Iowa City West. The coach said that he looks forward to mixing up the lineup while taking on strong competition.
Team scores: 1. West Liberty 146 2. Lone Tree 104 2. Northeast 104 4. Midland 93 5. West Branch 77.
3000 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 11:22.15
1500 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 5:33.82
800 meter run: 1. Grace Hamann 2:34.01
Shot put: 1. Alyssa Pierce 38-01.00
400 meter dash: 3. Lexi Skay 1:04.76
100 meter dash: 5. McKenna Worrell 15.20; 6. Gisele Gross 15.70; 11. Alissa Van Hall 16.34
200 meter dash: 5. McKenna Worrell 30.89; 6. Gisele Gross 31.31; 11. Alissa Van Hall 33.00
400 meter hurdles: 2. Amber Wolf 1:17.91
Distance medley relay: 1. (Amber Wolf, Sulli Bucknell, Finley Rushton, Caitlyn Harrison) 5:17.80
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