For the first time since 2019, the Algona Bulldogs are North Central Conference champions in girls track and field, as Algona ended Clear Lake’s four year reign atop the conference at Webster City on Thursday night. The Bulldogs had been the NCC runner up three years in a row prior to Thursday.
Algona showcased their depth up and down the lineup and top-end talent to score 174 points, nine better than the second place Lions of Clear Lake.
The Bulldogs finished the night winning 10 of the 19 events on the schedule, with 1st place finishes from Algona athletes in the high jump, long jump, 100, 200, 800, 400 hurdles, 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, and 4×800. More importantly than just the first place finishes, Algona doubled by having two athletes score in five of the 12 individual events, while not finishing lower than 3rd place in any of the seven relay events. The only two events Algona was shut out of scoring any points were the 1500 and 3000 meters.
Algona Head Coach Liz Bradley says her team had the belief going into the meet that they could get the job done.
The NCC title wasn’t officially in hand until the final event of the night, the 4×400 meter relay, wrapped up, as Algona entered the 4×400 meters leading second place Clear Lake by seven points in the team standings. The quartet of Charli Dodds, Rose Kitzinger, Regan Jensen, and Macy Knapp slammed the door shut on the conference title, running a season best time of 4:16.97, winning the event and outpacing 4×400 runner up Clear Lake by nearly 5 seconds. The time was over five seconds better Algona’s previous season best of 4:22.22.
Bradley says they weren’t 100% sure on the team scores heading into the 4×400, but knew if they beat Clear Lake it would deliver them a team title.
The 4×200 meter relay also recorded a season best time, as Lilly Allie, Maya Lentz, Bella Fairbanks, and Natalie Johnson chopped over a second off of their previous best with a first place finish in 1:49.22.
Allie, Lentz, and Johnson joined Alissa Engel in the 4×100 to capture the title in that relay as well in 50.65 seconds, while the 4×800 meter relay with Rose Kitzinger, Chelsy Vicente-Gomez, Regan Jensen, and Macy Knapp were 26 seconds better than the next closest team, winning in 10:23.
Bradley says in spite of dealing with injuries and lineup changes, the 4×800 meter relay has continued to peform.
Key first place finishes were also recorded by Johnson, winning her 3rd individual conference titles in a row in both the 100 and 200 meter dash in 12.39 and 26.04 seconds respectively.
According to Bradley, missing out on qualifying for finals in the 100 meter dash at state last season provided Johnson with even more motivation.
Sienna Fehr narrowly missed a personal best, but still captured first place in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.14 in a performance Bradley referred to as “dominant.”
In addition to running on the winning 4×800 and 4×400 relays, Knapp picked up a first place in the 800 in 2:23.65, and a 2nd in the 400 in 1:02.48, with the time in the 400 marking Knapp’s fastest time of the season in that race. Bradley also highlighted the additional points from Jensen’s 4th place in the 800 meters.
Jada Roberts, who currently ranks 8th in class 3A in the girls high jump, was able to clear 5-03 for the win, while Lentz added 10 more points for the Bulldogs in the long jump with a mark of 16-04.25.
Not to be overlooked, Reagan Haynes, a returning state qualifier in both the shot put and discus, finished 2nd in both events, with a mark of 36-10.50 in the shot put, and a personal best of 130-00 in the discus. Haynes’ new discus PB moves her up to 7th in the class 3A state rankings in the event.
Bradley says the signs of a big performance were apparent with what Haynes was doing in practice.
Another event recording a season best time was the shuttle hurdle relay, where the team of Sienna Fehr, Cassidy Bierstedt, Alissa Engel, and Alyssa Miller were runners-up in 1:11.20.
Bradley also highlighted the 1600 medley and 800 medley relay teams, both of whom finished in 3rd place, as Bradley mentioned that some key athletes who could run in those relays were instead focusing on open events to help maximize Algona’s point total, but that the athletes who ran in those relays were able to step up. Peyton Ernst, Alissa Engel, Aspen Trujillo, and Charli Dodds ran in the 1600 medley, while Lilly Allie, Eden Geddings, Bella Fairbanks, and Sienna Fehr contested the 800 medley.
Other top five finishers for Algona included Miller placing 3rd in the 100 hurdles, Allie taking 4th in the 100 meter dash, and Kitzinger capturing a 5th place in the 400 hurdles.
After Algona’s 174 and Clear Lake’s 165 points, the rest of the field was Webster City 3rd with 105, Humboldt 4th with 103, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 5th with 52, Charles City 6th with 42, Iowa Falls-Alden 7th with 39, St. Edmond 8th with 29, and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 9th with 15.
Up next for Algona will be the class 3A – region 4 state qualifying meet at MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday, May 14th.
