Waukon track girls medal twice, break record among Class 2A elite at State Track Meet
The Waukon girls track sprint medley relay team ran to a fourth-place finish in record-breaking fashion at the State Track Meet in Des Moines Saturday, May 21. Pictured: juniors Regan Wasson and Lanci Bulman make the exchange between the 100 meter legs of the relay, and seniors Madison Snitker and Nicole Behrend make the final exchange between the 200 meter and 400 meter legs. Their combined efforts resulted in a clocking of 1:51.93, which broke the Waukon girls track record of 1:52.10 set back in 1977 by the foursome of then sophomore Peg Larson and junior Marcia Huffey on the 100 meter legs, junior Deb Thune on the 200 meter leg and senior Selma Kugel on the 400 meter anchor leg. That effort also placed the Indians fourth both in their eight-team heat and overall within the 24-runner Class 2A field of the event. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Waukon girls track team made one final appearance for the 2016 season, making that final appearance memorable at the Iowa High School State Track Meet held Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines by winning the team’s first State medals since 2009 in two out of the Indians’ three qualified events and breaking a nearly 40-year-old school record in the process. That new standard was set in the track Tribe’s highest finish at the season grand finale, a fourth-place result in both its eight-team heat and overall in the 24-team Class 2A field of the sprint medley that resulted in a clocking of 1:51.93, which bested that event’s previous Waukon girls track record of 1:52.10 set in 1977.
That previous mark was set by then sophomore Peg Larson and junior Marcia Huffey on the 100 meter legs, junior Deb Thune on the 200 meter leg and senior Selma Kugel anchoring the 400 meter circuit. Rewriting that standard in their Class 2A sprint medley effort at the State Meet Saturday, May 21 were juniors Lanci Bulman and Regan Wasson on the 100 meter legs, and the senior tandem of Nicole Behrend on the 200 meter leg and Madison Snitker on the 400 meter anchor leg. That senior tandem wrapped up storied high school track careers with their best-ever effort in their fourth consecutive State Meet qualification in that sprint medley, which was won by West Marshall in a time of 1:49.84.
Earning the other medal for the Indians at the season grand finale was junior Erika Johnson, who placed eighth in the Class 2A long jump. After placing 19th overall with a jump of 15’2.25” at last spring’s season grand finale, Johnson took a significant leap forward, literally, from last season to this season’s State Meet, making this year’s eight-jumper finals with an effort of 16’3.25” to claim that eighth and final qualifying spot out of the initial 24-jumper preliminary field by just a quarter inch over the ninth-place finisher. In the finals, Johnson managed only one mark out of three jumps, soaring 15’4.75” to remain in that eighth-place final position. The Class 2A long jump was won by Northeast Goose Lake senior Aleenah Marcucci with a leap of 18’0.75”.
In the track Tribe’s only other State Meet event, Snitker’s individual effort Thursday, May 19 in the 200 meter dash at the season grand finale resulted in a 26.84 clocking that placed her fourth in her eight-runner heat and 14th overall in the 24-runner Class 2A field of the event. That result kept her out of the final top-eight qualifiers by just three-tenths of a second. The Class 2A 200 meter dash title was won by Earlham sophomore Keaton Kester with a time of 25.33 seconds.
