While spring activities begin to wind down, summer sports practices began Monday, starting one of the busiest stretches of the sports calendar. (Events covered: April 29-May 6)
Girls Track
The Hawks moved up one spot this year, finishing in sixth place as a team during Tuesday’s WCAC meet at Des Moines Christian where the Hawks set one school record.
Comprised of Jaidyn Achenbach, Kristyn Crouse, Andrea Nardini and Hayden Thomas, the 4×100 relay team set a new program record of 51.11 seconds. Just 0.24 behind Van Meter’s winning time, the Hawks move up from the 17th to 15th fastest time in Class 2A this season.
One of the biggest leaps year-over-year came from the thrower’s circle with Kiki Gregory launching into first place with a distance of 36-foot-5 in the shot put, improving by more than four feet from last year’s meet where she placed sixth.
For a bit of a bittersweet finish, Hayden Thomas’ time of 12.72 seconds was a substantial 0.20 seconds better than her time last season that notched her first place. This year it was good for second place as Madrid’s top runner ascended the ranks.
Improvements were further found in the 4×200 relay where Thomas anchored a second-place finish with Riley McCaulley, Kristyn Crouse and Andrea Nardini in 1:51.28. It was more than eight seconds improved from last year’s WCAC meet.
And in the middle school, a new school record was set by the 4×800 team with Emma Sebastian, Victoria Sheridan, Lena Uhle and Chlover Wahl clocking a time of 10:38.24. That’s more than five seconds better than the previous mark. Among Class 2A times, they’d be on the verge of state qualification as the 30th best time this season.
Boys Track
Woodward placed eighth overall at the conference meet on Tuesday, improving by two slots compared to last year’s outing.
Apart from relay events with fewer participants to compete for points with, the entirety of W-G’s score came from the field, led by Kane Mahler-Moreno with fourth place finishes in the shot put and discus, events he wasn’t even involved with in 2024.
Cael Leighton also earned fourth place in the long jump, maxing out at 20-foot-6 for nearly a full foot further than where he ended last season.
Boys Golf
Fifth place was an identical rank for the Hawks to last year’s WCAC meet, played once again at Lake Panorama this year. But the team’s overall stature improved, dropping their score from 355 to 338 this season. Des Moines Christian and Earlham also improved, tying at 315 for first place.
Girls Golf
The Hawks played on their home green twice this past week, coming out with plenty to celebrate.
A score of 378 against a crowd of six teams was good enough for the Hawks to win their May 1 invitational, even defeating a strong ADM group by 10 strokes. Mallory Polito gave the ultimate edge, scoring 80 on the day for a 10-stroke advantage over second place. Ella Chambers, at 91, gave the Hawks a third-place score as well.
The team’s score dropped to 386 at Monday’s conference meet, but a state championship hopeful, Des Moines Christian’s 343 was an impossible competition. Mallory Polito’s 83 placed her in third place. Callie Reber’s score of 98 made her the third Hawk this season to score under 100 on a full round, landing her in ninth place for the day.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Woodward-Granger’s Gregory wins WCAC title, girls golf wins Woodward Invitational
Reporting by Sean Cordy / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
