Friday state track: Koch adds another bronze in long jump

Allison Koch clears the bar in the high jump on Friday.
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Allison Koch wasn’t satisfied with her state-qualifying leaps in the high jump a week ago.

They got her to the big stage though, and that’s where she returned to form for a second-consecutive bronze medal in the 2A high jump at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Koch and Samantha Lass of Ogden tied for third after both cleared 5-foot-4. West Central Valley’s Willow Ray cleared the height one jump earlier for second. Emmetsburg’s Rachel Schany repeated as state champion as the only one over the bar at 5-6.

Koch made it to state as an at-large bid after clearing 5-foot-1 at the home district meet last week.

She breezed past that height on Friday, clearing 4-10, 5-0 and 5-2 on the first attempt.

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“That consistency was most important for me to focus on,” Koch said. “I think a lot of times when I have early misses, I get in my head instead of just sticking to my routine.”

Locking in the medal was still going to take a clear at 5-foot-4, and Koch was down to her last attempt before getting over the bar.

“You just have to focus and relax,” Koch said. “If you get yourself all nervous – ‘Oh my gosh, it’s my last jump’ – you’re going to be so worried and then you’re going to miss it. You just have to focus on that attempt and really stay in a focused mind.”

Koch credited head coach Todd Rohler with keeping her focused in those moments.

Head coach Todd Rohler hugs Allison Koch after her final attempt in the high jump on Friday.

“He’s one of my biggest supporters,” Koch said. “He’s been with me through it all, I’ve had injuries, I’ve had setbacks like with districts and he keeps me consistent, he keeps my head level and in the right mind frame.”

In the middle of it all, she had to step up to run the third leg of the 4×100 prelims for the Spartans.

“That can always be difficult, but it’s about going out there and showing up for your teammates because it’s fun to participate in all of these events here,” Koch said. “You just have to make sure you’re focused on your [high jump] routine.”

Koch said it’s back to that routine looking ahead to senior year.

“It’s a lot of the same goals,” Koch said. “Do well at conference, do well at districts and be here at the same time next year.”

Front to back: Karlee Lynch, Grace Storjohann and Maddy Hendershot celebrate Friday’s school-record time in the 4×400 prelims.

Grundy girls 4×400 makes finals with school record

The Grundy Center girls 4×400 relay went in search of a school record and came away with so much more on Friday.

Grace Storjohann, Raelyn Steinmeyer, Karlee Lynch and Maddy Hendershot qualified with the second-fastest time out of Friday’s prelims in 3:59.71, a new school record and improving on the group’s previous personal best by almost five seconds.

Pella Christian had the fastest prelim time in 3:59.55, so a school record search has given way to a realistic goal of tracking down Grundy’s first 4×400 state title since 2010, when Abby Graves, Sarah Frisch, Meghan Krausman and Adrianne Alexia won the 1A title.

“It’s just really exciting to make history for this school,” Storjohann said. “I think this shows that we’re more capable of what we even thought going into this.”

The Spartans were firmly in control almost the whole way in the final of three heats on Friday, including a blistering 57.5 split from Hendershot to bring home the anchor.

“I looked at the clock coming down the home stretch and it’s like, ‘You gotta go now,’” Hendershot said. “Even if I didn’t hear any feet coming behind me, it’s just like, push, I couldn’t give up now, we wanted that school record.

“We’ve been talking about the record since we got down here, and maybe we were thinking to ourselves, ‘ehh’, but we can definitely do it when we put our minds to it. … Seeing we’re not even a second away from the first-place team, that’s just going to push and make us want to fight for tomorrow.”

The finals are set for 4:01 p.m. on Saturday. Fellow NICL schools Jesup and South Hardin will also be in the competition.

“I’m excited,” Lynch said. “I wouldn’t want to do this with any other group of girls and I’m excited to see what else we can do tomorrow.”

Elsewhere on the Blue Oval

  • The girls 4×100 relay of Jocelyn Freed, Hendershot, Koch and Ava Heeren finished 18th in the 2A prelims in 50.97. It was Freed’s first experience at the state meet. “Lot of nerves, but I got them under control,” Freed said. All four of the girls are eligible to return next year: “This just builds our confidence knowing that we’re able to accomplish something like this late in the season,” said Heeren, who will be competing in the sprint medley relay and 100-meter dash finals on Saturday.
  • The girls distance medley relay of Riah Schrage, Koch, Lynch and Storjohann finished 16th in 4:21.38. The Spartans bounced back from a mishap on Koch’s leg of the race to finish with a PR. It was Schrage’s first time at the state meet as a junior: “It’s a crazy different experience to running at home, but you hear those people in the crowd yelling ‘Let’s go Riah!’ … it’s just really fun to be running with these girls and get a PR today.”
  • Evelyn Geerdes was disqualified for a false start in the 400 hurdles in the sophomore’s state debut.

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