The Jefferson girls have been through a rough year of injuries and disappointing performances from what looked to be a very competitive track team coming into the year.

But the J-Hawks appear to finding their stride at the right time. They looked much improved at the MVC Valley divisional meet Friday night at Prairie.

“We are finishing strong, I hope,” Jefferson Coach Bill Calloway said.

“I feel pretty good about everything tonight, but I know we can go harder,” senior Summer Carber added. “I know we can win.”

With districts coming up Thursday and the state meet looming the following week, the J-Hawks couldn’t have asked for a better time for their top relays to get healthy and run well.

The best performance of the night came from the J-Hawks' shuttle hurdle relay that broke an MVC record with a first place time of 1:06.96.

Jefferson’s relay got a boost with Taylor Jacobson running well in only her second time in the event since a hamstring injury earlier in the year.

“It feels great,” Carber said. “Tay Tay (Jacobson) has been running with us. We got her back and we did great.”

“We feel real good about that. We are excited our shuttle hurdle is going to run fast,” Calloway added. “We knew we would be one of the top shuttle hurdle teams in the state if we got our hurdlers back.”

Jacobson also had a career best time in her 400 meter leg of the J-Hawks' second-place finish in the sprint medley. Jefferson was seeded sixth in the event so second-place was almost as big as Jacobson running a 61 second split.

“We have to get a low 400 time to qualify. It’s really up to the 400 runner,” Jacobson said. “He (Calloway) wants me to get lower but that’s good I guess.”

“She will run in the 59s at state,” Calloway said of Jacobson’s time,

The J-Hawks got a bit of a disappointment in the 4X200 when they fell to third after leading the pack through the first two legs. Jefferson is the defending state champ in the event and despite struggling this season, they believe they will be in position to contend for another title.

“We are going to keep coming down,” Calloway said of the 4x200 time. “I think we can be in the top four and from there who knows.”

“Teams are definitely getting faster this year,” Carber said of the 4x200 competition. “We try our best to always win, but we hope on catching them at state this year.”

The most consistent J-Hawk of the year, Emma Edelen, picked up a win in the discus early in the meet.

The early part of the meet was big for the host Prairie. Sophomores Rachel Griffin and Natalie Rumer placed first and third in the shot put. Prairie also got a second place finish in the discus from Alex Mallory with a throw of 116 feet, a personal best.

"It’s very possible they could both qualifier for state,” Prairie Coach Chris Perkins said. "That would be great if we could have two throwers, two sophomores at state."

Leslie Harder capped off the Hawks' strong field events showing with a second-place finish in the high jump. Harder had won the high jump in her last seven meets but was not disappointed with her performance as she jumped a season best 5-foot-3.

“I’m happy. I don’t care that I got second,” Harder said. “I got 5-3. I have been going for it all season.”

The Prairie field events carried them to a third-place finish in the team standings. The Hawks edged Jefferson, 108.5-88, but could not keep up with powerhouses Iowa City West and Cedar Falls who finished first and second, respectively, with 202 and 192 points.

“Give them (Jefferson) a lot of credit. Their sprints and hurdlers are phenomenal,” Perkins said. “I credit our field events. I think they came through tonight. The fact that we can score points before the gun goes off is our blessing.”

The final Metro team in the field was Xavier and the Saints had a rough outing finishing sixth in the team standings without an individual winner.

GIRLS MVC VALLEY DIVISION MEET

At Prairie

Team Standings
1. Iowa City West 202, 2. Cedar Falls 192, 3. Prairie 108.5, 4. Jefferson 88, 5. Dubuque Hempstead 55.5, 6. Xavier 51, 7. Waterloo East 24

Long Jump
1. McCennan Cronbaugh (ICW) 16-11, 2. Jaclyn Riggins (WE) 16-1.5, 3. Abby Larsen (CF) 15-9, 4. Liza Kramer (DH) 15-6,5, 5. Jessica Harris (CRP) 15-4, 6. Maddie Baetsle (CRP) 15-2.5

High Jump
1. Alexis Higgins (CF) 5-4, 2. Leslie Harder (CRP) 5-3, 3. Alex Bartz (CRX) 5-1, 4. Hannah Riebkes (CF) 5-0, 5. 4-way tie at 4-8

Discus
1. Emma Edelen (CRJ) 125-3, 2. Alex Malloy (CRP) 116-0, 3. Erica Johnson (DH) 114-7, 4. Abby Brayton (ICW) 110-0, 5. Rachel Griffin (CRP) 108-8, 6. Jenny Hanson (ICW) 106-6

Shot Put
1. Rachel Griffin (CRP) 36-6, 2. Jamie Wichhart (ICW) 34-7, 3. Natalie Rumer (CRP) 34-2, 4. Abby Brayton (ICW) 33-7, 5. Mekaila VanErsvelde (CF) 33-6.5, 6. Emma Edelen (CRJ) 33-2

3000 Meters
1. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW) 10:20.88, 2. Allison Gregg (CF) 10:24.41, 3. Molly Leveille (ICW) 10:52.26, 4. Michelle Zikes (CRJ) 11:00.84, 5. Kaitlyn Hennings (CF) 11:24.55, 6. Beth Heims (CRP) 12:03.27

4x800 Relay
1. Cedar Falls 9:46.93, 2. Iowa City West 10:03.74, 3. Dubuque Hempstead 10:15.84, 4. Xavier 10:19.53, 5. Jefferson 10:34.69, 6. Prairie 10:41.18

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
1. Jefferson 1:06.96 (meet record), 2. Iowa City West 1:08.27, 3. Cedar Falls 1:10.69, 4. Prairie 1:11.08, 5. Hempstead 1:13.23, 6. Xavier 1:17.57

100 Meters
1. Kiana Wilson (ICW) 12.77, 2. Lucy Schneekloth (CRJ) 12.78, 3. Courtney Dauber (ICW) 12.90, 4. Rachel Broghammer (CRJ) 12.95, 5. Hannah Rochford (CRX) 13.19, 6. Shaylynn White (WE) 13.20

Distance Medley
1. IC West 4:21.10, 2. Cedar Falls 4:31.00, 3. Hempstead 4:37.92, 4. Xavier 4:42.17, 5. Jefferson 4:47.17

400 Meters
1. Madison Hersom (CF) 1:01.20, 2. Natalie Shimp (CF) 1:01.86, 3. Lizzy Klemme (ICW) 1:01.89, 4. Hope Steimel (CRP) 1:02.46, 5. Akimi Oya (ICW) 1:02.81, 6. Ashli O'Shea (CRP) 1:05.12

4x200 Relay
1. Cedar Falls 1:44.24, 2. Iowa City West 1:44.80, 3. Jefferson 1:45.45, 4. Xavier 1:49.58, 5. Waterloo East 1:49.71, 6. Prairie 1:49.80

100 Hurdles
1. Rebecca Tanner (ICW) 15.59, 2. Madison Ranschau (CRJ) 16.48, 3. Jesse Robinson (ICW) 16.73, 4. Chelsey Montgomery (CRP) 16.83, 5. Haley Alexander (CF) 17.00, 6. Hannah Brummel (CF) 17.17

800 Meters
1. Brianna King (CF) 2:19.61, 2. Ashley Knudson (ICW) 2:20.85, 3. Kayla Torson (CRX) 2:22.52, 4. Hannah Savage (CF) 2:23.06, 5. Molly Leveille (ICW) 2:26.46, 6. Emily Wallace (CRP) 2:36.85

200 Meters
1. Kaz Brown (CF) 26.24, 2. Daianera Whitaker (CF) 26.27, 3. Courtney Dauber (ICW) 26.34, 4. Malya Ratliffe (CRJ) 26.48, 5. Kiana Wilson (ICW) 26.78, 6. Shaylynn White (WE) 26.80

400 Hurdles
1. Emily Neff (CF) 1:07.04, 2. Lauren Bobst (ICW) 1:07.41, 3. Jamie Becker (CF) 1:11.43, 4. Katie Van Dooren (CRP) 1:12.08, 5. Lizzy Klemme (ICW) 1:12.62, 6. Becca Brimeyer (DH) 1:13.02

Sprint Medley
1. IC West 1:52.92, 2. Jefferson 1:54.02, 3. Cedar Falls 1:54.34, 4. Prairie 1:54.66, 5. Xavier 1:55.84, 6. Hempstead 2:02.48

1500 Meters
1. Allison Gregg (CF) 4:47.44, 2. Brianna King (CF) 4:48.23, 3. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW) 4:53.31, 4. Molly Leveille (ICW) 5:02.37, 5. Beth Heims (CRP) 5:29.88, 6. Allison Pitz (CRX) 5:30.57

4x100 Relay
1. IC West 49.21 (meet record), 2. Cedar Falls 50.14, 3. Jefferson 50.49, 4. Prairie 50.70, 5. Hempstead 52.06, 6. Waterloo East 52.47

4x400 Relay
1. Cedar Falls 4:05.19, 2. Iowa City West 4:06.42, 3. Prairie 4:15.29, 4. Xavier 4:18.47, 5. Hempstead 4:24.75, 6. Jefferson 4:27.88