Panthers win 4x800, finish fourth at State

     Monticello won a relay team championship and earned a higher point total than its groundbreaking 2016 team scored, during the Class 2A State Girls Track and Field Meet Thursday through Saturday, May 18-20 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

     Seven entries scored points, as the Panthers scored 42 points and finished fourth as a team – just two points shy of a second straight team trophy.

     “The girls combined on the weekend to score more team points this year than last (40.5 in 2016), but the most encouraging thing for next year is that we only lose one of the 13 girls who competed at State this year,” Monticello coach Darren Reade said.

     Athletes competed in cool-to-cold conditions, more remindful of early-April meets than what they generally see in mid-May.

     “This was the first year in a long time I can remember the weather being as bad as it was for pretty much all three days, but the girls have trained in that all season and were ready for it,” Reade said.

     The Panthers were led by the state championship 4x800-meter relay team of Paige Holub, Taylor McDonald, Jordyn Patterson and Corinne Gadient. That team won on Thursday with a time of 9:26.97, just 1.74 seconds short of the school and state meet record the relay set last year. It was the second straight year Monticello won the title in that event.

     “We went out there and just ran our race,” said Corinne Gadient, the anchor runner. “We definitely had more confidence coming in this year.”

     Cascade repeated as team champion with 65 points, Mid-Prairie was second with 58, and Pocahontas Area was third with 44.

     The Panthers picked up 14 of their team points on Saturday morning, when Corinne Gadient and Holub ran second and third in the 800, finishing behind Mid-Prairie’s Anna Hostetler.

     “I tried to make a move, but she had more left than I thought she did,” Gadient said of Hostetler, who won three individual championships.

     “I did what I wanted to do,” Holub said. “I got out in front, didn’t let anyone cut me off; I ran the time I wanted.”

     Monticello also was third in the distance medley with the team of Anna Loes, McDonald, Patterson and Gadient.

     The Panthers made the finals in the 4x400, finishing fourth; and in the 4x100, finishing fifth. The 4x400 team included McDonald, Gabrielle Steiner, Patterson and Holub. On the 4x100 squad were Ciara Edwards, Maddie Lambert, Kaylee Stephen and Loes.

     Holub had a big weekend, finishing in the top six in four events. Holub also was sixth in the 1,500.

     Patterson and McDonald were in the top four in their three races.

     The shuttle hurdle relay was 11^th. Steiner and Corinne Gadient had 16^th-place finishes, in the 3,000 and 1,500, respectively. Freshman Gabby Gadient ran 23^rd in the 400.

     Edwards is the only departing senior on the team.

     “I was happy to see Ciara win one last medal to close out her final season,” Reade said. “The experience she has had at State has helped her teach the younger girls what to expect when they get to the blue oval, and that has been a huge benefit to our program.”

May 18-20

State Class 2A Meet

(at Drake Stadium,

Des Moines)

TEAM SCORES

     1, Cascade 65; 2, Mid-Prairie 58; 3, Pocahontas Area 44; 4, Monticello 42; 5, Madrid 34; 6, Western Christian 31.33; 7, Aplington-Parkersburg 30; 8(tie), Pella Christian 25 and West Marshall 25; 10, North Cedar 22 (55 teams scored points).

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     3,000: 16, Gabrielle Steiner, 11:21.95.

     4x800: 1, Monticello (Paige Holub, Taylor McDonald, Jordyn Patterson, Corinne Gadient), 9:26.97.

     400: 23, Gabby Gadient, 1:04.62.

     Shuttle hurdle: 11, Monticello (Kaylee Stephen, Macy McDonough, Jaelynn Kraus, Maria Recker), 1:10.20.

     Distance medley: 3, Monticello (Anna Loes, Taylor McDonald, Jordyn Patterson, Corinne Gadient), 4:10.86.

     800: 2, Corinne Gadient, 2:15.92; 3, Paige Holub, 2:17.83.

     1,500: 6, Paige Holub, 4:51.51; 16, Corinne Gadient, 5:08.48.

     4x100: 5, (qualified sixth in the prelims)  Monticello (Ciara Edwards, Maddie Lambert, Kaylee Stephen, Anna Loes), 51.08.

     4x400: 4, (qualified third) Monticello (Taylor McDonald, Gabrielle Steiner, Jordyn Patterson, Paige Holub), 4:05.60.