Sports : Girls Track taking 8 events to State

TAMA – In her wildest dreams, Vinton-Shellsburg girls’ track coach Heather Kalous never thought that by the time the weekend ended she would be talking about this: Eight events in the State track meet.

Kalous’ crew won a pair of Regional titles and grabbed off some big second and fourth-place finishes Friday night at South Tama High School on the way to advancing eight entries into the Class 3A State track meet this weekend at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Junior Erika Hammar led the gold rush for the Vikettes. Hammar – who pulls double duty as a member of the Vikette soccer team – sailed the long jump title with a leap of 16 feet, eight inches, to edge out Grinnell’s Kelly Bahl by half a foot.

Then, Hammar joined teammates Cheyenne Barnes, Ashley Boyer and Shelby Beyer to with the 4x200 relay championship in a season-best time of 1:50.10.

The Vikettes also added four runner-up finishes (and automatic State berths) along the way. Hammar was second in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 16.81. Allison Emrich grabbed second in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet six inches. Barnes added a silver in the 100 meter dash, as the sophomore crossed the line in a time a 13.26. And, the 4x100 relay team of Barnes, Hammar, Maddie Springer and Beyer shattered their season, coming in second in a time of 51.45.

And, just for good measure, the Vikettes snuck in two more qualifiers with fourth-place finishes that came in under (or on) the statewide cutoff times.

In the 200 meters, Beyer ended up fourth at the Regional, but her time of 27.76 was enough to get her into the State field. And, in the long jump, Springer ‘s fourth-place sail of 16 feet even was enough to put the sophomore into the Drake Stadium sand.

“Isn’t this amazing?” said an overjoyed Kalous Sunday. “In my four years here this is the most events we’ve ever sent to State. I’m so proud of these young ladies.”

The Vikettes ended up fourth in the Regional team race with 99 points, but that fact was secondary to the number of qualifiers the team had.

The Vikette schedule at State is as follows:

THURSDAY

4:20 PM: 100 Meter Dash Preliminaries (Cheyenne Barnes)

6:20 PM: 200 Meter Dash Preliminaries (Shelby Beyer)

FRIDAY

2:00 PM: Shot put (Allison Emrich)

4:30 PM: 4x200 Relay FINAL; Long jump (Erika Hammar, Maddie Springer)

5:20 PM: 100 Hurdles Preliminaries (Hammar)

6:40 PM: 4x100 Relay Preliminaries