Mount Ayr’s golden finale

DES MOINES — The Mount Ayr girls track and field team was in a tight five-way battle for the two available team trophies as Edgewood-Colesburg took control of first place in the Class 1A state meet Saturday afternoon.

After sophomore Emma Reynolds placed fourth in a tight 200-meters final race, coach Brad Elliott knew that his team needed to finish ahead of southwest Iowa rival St. Albert Catholic, and could not finish any lower than fourth place in the final event — the 4x400 relay — to get a trophy.

Mount Ayr had qualified first on Friday in a school-record time of 4:02.36. Tatum Friedrich and Kacie Larsen ran the first two legs. Senior Aubree Shields, who won the 1A high jump for the first time on Friday just before the 4x400 prelims, moved the team into second place with her 57-second third leg.

Reynolds took the baton and quickly moved into first place. However, at the end of the backstretch AGWSR’s Piper Smith started to close on Reynolds. By the final turn she had nearly pulled even.

A few hours earlier, Reynolds had anchored the Raiderettes to a new meet record winning time in the sprint medley relay. It was Mount Ayr’s first girls relay win at state in school history. As Smith tried to overtake her, Reynolds held her off to secure the school’s second relay title to clinch the second-place trophy.

“I was a little frustrated with my performance in the 200,” Reynolds said. “So, I knew I had to give it all for my teammates in the 4x400. It kind of gave me that last little push. I thought about my teammates, all the work that we’ve put in, my coaches’ support, and I found another gear. It means so much to do something great and get this trophy. We all did it for each other.”

Elliott saw his sophomore star react with the poise of a senior in that moment.

“Sophomores don’t just come with built-in mental toughness,” Elliott said. “It’s something she has figured out on her own. Her biggest thing is to not panic when someone challenges you. Keep your rhythm, keep your arms moving, and keep moving in good shape. She kept moving and had that final surge there to do it for her team. She ran a 56-second split. She was firing on all cylinders at the end of the year.”

It was the first team trophy for Mount Ayr since the 1988 state championship, led by versatile star Dawn Huff. Mount Ayr was fourth the following year in Class 2A.

High jump gold

Shields was a huge part of the trophy run. In her fourth year on the podium for the high jump, she gained her first title with no misses on the way to clearing 5 feet, 5 inches. After she’d clinched the victory, she missed on three tries at a state meet record height of 5-9.75. (Shields’ all-time best is 5-8.)

In the three previous years, Shields had placed second, second and tied for third place. When Edgewood-Colesburg’s Lilee Boriskey failed on her third try at 5-5, making Shields the champion, the Raiderette senior and coach Elliott shared an emotional moment.

“It was definitely emotional,” Shields said. “I’ve been able to compete in the high jump at state all four years and been on the podium all four, but this year I was finally able to get the win.”

Elliott said Shields was focused on trusting her training and preparation to perform at her best Friday.

“She knew the 4x400 was just moments away, and it didn’t faze her,” Elliott said. “She was just executing her technique. The best thing she did today was just stay calm. She did what she knew how to do.”

Elliott said the versatility of Shields was a driving force in the team securing its first state trophy since the 1988 state championship by the team led by legendary long jumper and runner Dawn Huff. The next year, Mount Ayr was fourth in Class 2A.

Shields ended her career with nine career medals, including three gold medals last weekend — high jump, sprint medley relay and 4x400 relay. Her sixth-place 400-meter time of 58.93 ranks third in school history.

“To have nine medals overall and three golds in one meet, Aubree joins Dawn Huff as one of the most decorated athletes in Mount Ayr girls track and field,” Elliott said.

School records

Reynolds set a school record in her runner-up time of 57.54 in the 400 meters on Thursday, breaking the record held by her sister Addy, who was a senior on the University of Northern Iowa softball team this spring. Reynolds also broke her own school record in the 200 meters by running 25.39 in the prelims. He was only .03 slower than that in placing fourth Saturday.

“To put it into perspective on how balanced and elite this year’s 1A 200 race was, the eighth-place time was 25.80 and Addy took second place in 2022 in 25.93,” Elliott said.

The unit of Chloe Robb, Brittlyn Nickle, Shields and Reynolds set a meet record Saturday morning in winning the sprint medley relay in 1:47.80.

Mount Ayr got off to a strong start early Thursday morning when sophomore Emily Knox had a personal-record throw of 37-01.75 in sixth place. She had qualified 18th with a distance of 35-4.25.

“This trophy was truly a team effort,” Elliott said.

A hamstring injury suffered by senior Jackson Ruggles hampered the Mount Ayr boys team at state. The highlight was an 11th-place finish Thursday in the shuttle hurdle relay in a time of 1:02.50 by Ruggles, Michael Adkisson, Isac Dugan and Calvin Main. Drayden Thompson ran on two relays at state and was 18th in the 200-meters preliminaries in 22.96.

NOTE: Results from East Union and other area Class 1A and 2A teams will appear in a separate story in Wednesday’s edition.)