Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
H-M-S girls medal in three events at state meet
Anna Vander Veen hands off the baton to Lydia Harders last Friday during the 4x400 relay at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Emily Mutumbo sprinted her way to an eighth place finish in the Class 1A 100-meter dash.
Senior Madison Otto ran in the state meet for the first and last time, placing 24th in the 3200-meter run.
H-M-S senior Jasmine Lux finished seventh in the Class 1A 400-meter dash during the state meet in Des Moines last week.
Abby Otto breaks out of the starting blocks on Saturday during the 800-meter sprint medley.
Competing against some of the state's best track athletes, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn claimed medals in three Class 1A girls' events at the state meet last week in Des Moines.
Senior Jasmine Lux and junior Emily Mutombo won medals as individuals, and they along with sophomore Abby Otto and senior Lydia Harders added a medal-winning performance in a relay event.
Lux finished seventh in the 400-meter dash, running a faster time (1:00.38) than she did at the state qualifying meet despite the conditions.
"She fought [the wind] well and came close to breaking her own school record," said Hawk coach Kirsten Taylor.
The "biggest sleeper" finish was by Mutombo, who placed eighth in the 100-meter dash. She ran times of :13.47 in the prelims and :13.22 in the finals.
"It's not that we didn't have confidence in her. It's just that it was a new experience [at state]," Taylor noted.
Otto, Mutombo, Harders and Lux finished seventh in the 800-meter sprint medley, running a time of 1:54.37. H-M-S had entered the meet seeded No. 1 in Class 1A.
"They were disappointed, but I'm so proud of them," Taylor said.
Another relay for which the Hawks had high hopes was the 4x100, which also featured Otto, Mutombo, Harders and Lux. They finished 11th in the prelims (:51.90) and failed to make the finals.
"The girls were disappointed a bit. They always want to qualify for the finals," Taylor acknowledged. "They ran a better time [than 2021], but the field was tough this year."
The Hawks' 4x400 relay squad of senior Anna Vander Veen, Harders, Otto and Lux ran a season-best time of 4:18.15 to finish 18th in another strong field.
Senior Madison Otto competed for the first time at state in the 3000-meter run. She placed 24th with a time of 12:54.08.
H-M-S finished with five points and tied for 38th among the 59 teams in Class 1A that scored.
Overall, Taylor was happy with the Hawks' performances at Drake Stadium.
"To close out the season on the blue oval was great," she said.
The first-year coach's biggest regret is not having another season to work with seniors Lydia Harders, Jasmine Lux, Emily Otto, Madison Otto and Anna Vander Veen.
