Indians rule the track at regionals

Make no mistake about, the Spirit Lake Park girls' track and field team meant business Friday, May 15 at the Class 3A regional meet in Orange City, sprinting to first-place finishes in three races and qualifying for the state meet in 13 total events.

"I thought it went about as well as could be expected," said Spirit Lake Park head coach Tim Heinitz. "We got almost all of the events in I thought that we would. We did miss out in the shuttle hurdle, which is a race I thought we could make it in."

The Indians easily captured the regional championship with 139 points. Storm Lake was the next closest competitor with 108. Sitting in third place was Sioux City Bishop Heelan with 102 while Spencer and MOC-Floyd Valley tied for fifth with 98. Le Mars, Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Estherville Lincoln Central all scored 47 or more points in the meet as well.

Junior sprinter Megan Lawler finished with the top outing of her career -- setting a school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.07 seconds. Lawler broke the previous mark set by Greta Goerss in 1998. She captured the race title just ahead of Storm Lake's Katie Blum and Heelan's Mariah Irwin.

Lawler established a new school record in the open-200 as well, winning a three-way sprint to the finish line over Blum and Irwin. The SLP standout won the race in 25.58 seconds. She broke the school record of 25.70 that was set in 1998 by .12 seconds.

"Megan's running with a lot of confidence right now," Heinitz said. "The wind did help her cause. But wind or no wind it was a good confidence booster going into the state meet."

Lawler advanced to state in two other races -- anchoring the 4x200 relay team of Lindsey Arneson, Caila Jones and Laura Rowe to a third-place finish in 1:51.82 and teaming up with Arneson, Alex Horsman and Deni Peters for a runner-up performance in the sprint medley with a clocking of 1:56.10.

Carrie Emgarten turned in the team's other top showing in the 1,500 run. She raced to a personal record of 5:07.52. Abby Gustafson also advanced to state in the race with a second-place time of 5:13.46. Gustafson also knocked 12 seconds off her previous-best time in the 3,000 en route to a third-place finish in 11:08.43.

"They had fabulous nights," said Heinitz about Emgarten and Gustafson. "Abby Gustafson in the 3,000 was very determined. She led almost all of her race, and then two girls caught her at the end. She ran a PR by two seconds and is sitting about ninth or 10th in the state in the 3,000. Abby and Carrie both ran PRs in the 1,500, and that really helped us seal up the district championship as well."

The final three individual state qualifiers were Laura Rowe, Peters and Megan Skalbeck. Rowe was the 400 hurdles runner-up in 1:12.29. Peters jetted to a third-place showing in the quarter-mile in 1:01.96 and Skalbeck finished second in the high jump behind two-time defending state champion Megan Glisar of Sergeant Bluff-Luton. The SLP senior cleared 5-foot-4 to reach a new high-water mark for her career.

"Megan had a great night. She picked the best night of the year to have her best meet," Heinitz said. "Megan Glisar from Sergeant Bluff-Luton, who is the top high jumper in the state, was the only girl to beat her. Right now Megan is tied for second going into the state meet."

SLP also qualified for state in the 4x400, 4x800 and distance medley relays.

The 4x400 squad of McKenzie Dziedzic, Horsman, Skalbeck and Peters placed third behind Spencer and MOC-Floyd Valley. The quartet was able to earn an at-large berth with a time of 4:18.99.

In the 4x800, MOC-Floyd Valley and SLP locked up in a heated battle, but the Lady Dutch pulled out the victory by two and one-half seconds. Emgarten, Mary Brown, Skalbeck and Briana Brunsvold raced to a time of 10:09.14.

The distance medley team of Arneson, Jones, Dziedzic and Emgarten was a runner-up as well with a clocking of 4:33.14.

"I knew our 4x8 was capable of running the way we did. I was also confident in our sprint medley. But we feel fortunate to make it in the 4x2 and 4x4," said Heinitz. "At about six o'clock a cold front moved down, so we had about 40 mile per hour winds. That affected our times, be we did run just well enough to qualify, and that's all you want is a second chance. Now no matter what the weather is at least everybody is running in the same place (at state)."

Heinitz credited the heart of his team for the ability to step up in less than ideal running conditions.

"It does say a lot about the heart of our girls," he said. "They battled hard and knew they had to run for times. They were able to stay focused and do that. I'm proud of them for still running good times despite the weather conditions."

After qualifying for state in 13 events, SLP has an outstanding opportunity to make a run at a top-8 finish in the 3A team race and bring home some medals.

"I think the girls are excited to go down," Heinitz said. "Our goal is to place in as many events as we can. Our (team) goal is to place in the top eight. We believe we have a good chance of that. A lot of the girls have state meet experience, so it's not a new thing, and I think they're ready for it."

The 2009 Iowa State Co-Ed Track & Field Championships get under way tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Class 3A Regional Meet (CENTERED AND BOLD)

Team scores -- 1. Spirit Lake Park 139; 2. Storm Lake 108; 3. Sioux City Bishop Heelan 102; T-4. Spencer 98; T-4. MOC-Floyd Valley 98; 6. Le Mars 86; 7. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 53; 8. Estherville Lincoln Central 47.

Shot put -- 5. Molly Hutchins 35-5 1/2; 8. Emily Mercer 34-0 1/2.

Discus throw -- 10. Emily Mercer 83-4; 12. Sam Mercer 71-6.

High jump -- 2. Megan Skalbeck 5-4; 5. Jessica Wallace 4-8.

Long jump -- 7. Laura Rowe 14-6 1/2.

100 dash -- 1. Megan Lawler 12.07 (School Record); 8. Lindsey Arneson 13.38.

200 dash -- 1. Megan Lawler 25.58 (School Record); 9. McKenzie Dziedzic 28.74.

400 dash -- 3. Deni Peters 1:01.96; 6. Megan Skalbeck 1:04.15.

800 run -- 4. Mary Brown 2:41.97; 7. Anna Brandt 2:43.91.

1,600 run -- 1. Carrie Emgarten 5:07.52; 2. Abby Gustafson 5:13.46.

3,000 run -- 3. Abby Gustafson 11:08.43; 7. Erin Lynn 11:49.73.

100 hurdles -- 6. Sammy Spies 16.96.

400 hurdles -- 2. Laura Rowe 1:12.29; 9. Jessica Wallace 1:16.71.

4x100 relay -- 5. Spirit Lake Park (Lindsey Arneson, Alex Horsman, Jessica Wallace, Caila Jones) 53.54.

4x200 relay -- 3. Spirit Lake Park (Alex Horsman, Caila Jones, Laura Rowe, Megan Lawler) 1:51.82.

4x400 relay -- 3. Spirit Lake Park (McKenzie Dziedzic, Alex Horsman, Megan Skalbeck, Deni Peters) 4:18.99.

4x800 relay -- 2. Spirit Lake Park (Carrie Emgarten, Mary Brown, Megan Skalbeck, Briana Brunsvold) 10:09.14.

Sprint medley -- 2. Spirit Lake Park (Lindsey Arneson, Alex Horsman, Megan Lawler, Deni Peters) 1:56.10.

Distance medley -- 2. Spirit Lake Park (Lindsey Arneson, Caila Jones, McKenzie Dziedzic, Carrie Emgarten) 4:33.14.

Shuttle hurdle -- 3. Spirit Lake Park (Laura Rowe, Caila Jones, Sammy Spies, Jessica Wallace) 1:12.82.