Waukon girls track team posts top-20 finishes among Class 3A elite at State Track Meet


The Waukon girls track fast and furious foursome pictured above joined forces for a pair of final relay efforts together in the Class 3A competition at the Iowa High School State Track Meet held at Drake Stadium Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23. Friday, May 22, the speedy quartet blazed around the Drake Stadium blue oval in another school record time in the 4x200 relay, bettering the previous mark of 1:48.42 they had set just a couple weeks ago by clocking in at 1:48.29 (as evident by the scoreboard pictured at right). That time placed them seventh in their eight-team heat and 19th overall out of 24 Class 3A teams in the event. Pictured above, left to right, senior Lyvia Bulman anchors that 4x200 to its new standard, junior Nicole Behrend and sophomore Regan Wasson work the middle exchange, and junior Madison Snitker explodes out of the blocks to start off that new 4x200 record. That same crew teamed up later that same Friday to clock in at 52.13 seconds in the 4x100 relay, placing eighth in their eight-team heat and 24th out of 24 Class 3A teams competing at the State Meet. Bulman, Behrend and Snitker also teamed up with sophomore Lanci Bulman in the Class 3A sprint medley relay Saturday, May 23 to place fifth in their eight-team heat and 19th out of 23 Class 3A teams, clocking in at 1:54.31. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link.

The Waukon girls track team brought its 2015 season to a final close at a place that is every team’s goal. The Indians competed one final time this season in four total events that qualified for competition in the Class 3A field of the Iowa High School State Track Meet held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday through Saturday, May 21-23.
Already proving they belong among the Class 3A elite by earning qualification for the season grand finale, the Indians garnered a trio of top-20 event finishes in those high-end fields. One of those efforts came in record-breaking fashion, as the Tribe’s 4x200 relay team improved upon a record it had already rewritten a couple weeks earlier, lowering that standard another nearly quarter of a second to 1:48.29.
For one of this season’s only two seniors to complete the 2015 Waukon girls track season, Lyvia Bulman, this year’s State Track Meet marked the end of a stellar career around the high school oval. A nine-time State Meet qualifier for the Indians throughout her high school career, Lyvia Bulman once again anchored the three sprint relay events that have become her State Meet specialties for the third consecutive season.
Also for the third straight year, Lyvia Bulman teamed up with a similar fleet-of-foot pair, juniors Nicole Behrend and Madison Snitker, in all three of those sprint relays, with sophomore Regan Wasson joining that State Meet sprint relay mix last season. That fast and furious foursome combined their efforts Friday, May 22 for that new school record effort of 1:48.29 in the 4x200 - improving their own mark of 1:48.42 from just a couple weeks ago that had replaced the previous school mark that had been in place for 30 years - to place seventh in their eight-team heat and 19th overall in the 24-team Class 3A field. The Class 3A 4x200 was won by Dubuque Wahlert in a new State Meet record time of 1:42.74.
Later that same Friday, that same quartet of quickness teamed up once again in the 4x100 preliminaries, clocking in with a time of 52.13 seconds to finish eighth in their eight-team heat and 24th overall out of the 24 Class 3A teams competing to miss out on a top-eight finish required for qualification to advance on to Saturday’s event finals. Dubuque Wahlert had the fastest Class 3A preliminary clocking, 48.94 seconds, and also finished atop Saturday’s finals with a time of 49.28 seconds for this year’s Class 3A 4x100 championship.
Friday’s State Meet competition also saw qualifying newcomer sophomore Erika Johnson make her State Meet debut in the Class 3A long jump. She managed just one mark out of three attempts in the preliminary round, jumping 15’2.25” to miss out on a top-eight finals advancement finish and end up ninth in her 12-jumper flight and 19th overall out of 24 Class 3A competitors. Boone senior Bailey Schwinke was crowned this year’s Class 3A long jump champion with a leap of 18’1.25”.
The Indian track girls wrapped up this year’s State Meet experience Saturday morning, May 23, as Lyvia Bulman returned to Drake’s big blue oval for one final time in her career and was joined by both Behrend and Snitker, as well as her sophomore sister, Lanci Bulman, in running to a time of 1:54.31 in the sprint medley relay to finish fifth in their eight-team heat and 19th out of 23 Class 3A teams that competed in the event. Lanci Bulman and Behrend ran the opening 100 meter legs of that medley, Snitker blazed the 200 meter segment and Lyvia Bulman anchored one final lap around the 400 meter circuit. Boone won the Class 3A sprint medley title in a time of 1:47.48.