Prairie High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Evans called 'The Greatest' with 4 golds

DES MOINES - Josh Evans sat in the stands at the state track meet as a scrawny freshman in 2011 and loved seeing the crowd rise to its feet as Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East set a batch of records in the girls distance races.

He remembers the Public Address announcer kept everyone informed that day as one record after another fell by the wayside.

"I remember thinking, that would be so cool if I could get that some day," Evans said Saturday afternoon. "It's really a dream come true that this happened."

Evans got his share of standing ovations Saturday as he completed one of the most remarkable performances in state meet history with four gold medals, three meet records and an all-time Iowa best in the 1600.

Mike Jay, the Public Address announcer, told the sun-splashed crowd of 8,744 that it was "The best distance performance in Iowa state meet history."

Evans wasn't sure about that, praising some of the other record-setting performances at this year's state meet, but he was the Star of Stars in the distance races with four golds.

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J-Hawks, Jenks win more gold medals

DES MOINES - Jasmine Blue runs fast for a reason.

"I hate getting second," she said with a sweet, determined smile. "I love first."

Blue had that loving feeling Saturday afternoon with a gutsy anchor to help Jefferson win the sprint medley at the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines.

Ashley Norem of Urbandale made a spirited bid to pull ahead of Blue on the 400 leg of the medley, but Blue refused to concede.

"I felt her the whole time, but I knew I had to do it," said Blue. "I already knew how it was going to feel if I was going to get second."

And as she said before, "I hate second."

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Marion girls join soccer rankings

The Marion High School girls soccer team popped into the state rankings in the No. 15 spot in Class 2A Friday, according to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Indians (7-4) were not ranked last week.

The Xavier Saints dropped one spot in the Class 2A rankings to No. 3. Waverly-Shell Rock and North Scott are ranked 1-2 in Class 2A.

Linn-Mar held onto the No. 2 spot in Class 3A and Prairie remained No. 10 in Class 3A. Bettendorf topped the 3A rankings again.

CLASS 3A

1. Bettendorf (14-1), 2. Linn-Mar (13-0), 3. Iowa City West (11-1), 4. West Des Moines Valley (9-3), 5. Dowling Catholic (9-4), 6. Dubuque Hempstead (12-2), 7. Johnston (12-3), 8. Waukee (11-2), 9. Muscatine (10-3), 10. Prairie (11-3).

CLASS 2A

1. Waverly-Shell Rock (12-4), 2. North Scott (12-4), 3. Xavier (6-7), 4. Ankeny Centennial (9-6), 5. Pleasant Valley (9-7), 6. Dallas Center-Grimes (12-3), 7. ADM (12-2), 8. Ankeny (5-8), 9. Pella (10-4), 10. Council Bluffs Jefferson (10-6), 11. Lewis Central (10-5), 12. Spencer (14-2), 13. Newton (10-3), 14. Winterset (10-4), 15. Marion (7-4).

Jeff girls defend crown in 4x200 relay

DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson girls were disappointed in themselves when they finished second in the 4x200 relay at the Drake Relays last month.

They got mad, and Friday they returned to Drake Stadium and got the gold.

Abbie Ranschau, Jasmine Blue, Morgan Meese and Lucy Schneekloth sped to victory in their favorite event in 1 minute, 41.12 seconds for a convincing victory over Dowling Catholic.

Blue and Schneekloth helped the J-Hawks set the all-time state mark in 4x200 relay at the Class 4A state meet last year in 1:40.94. Meese and Schneekloth joined the quartet this year and they produced the third-fastest time ever, just 18-hundredths of a second behind last year's group.

Ranschau, Blue, Meese and Schneekloth are all underclassmen. They plan to be back in 2015 and take another shot at the all-time mark.

"We all want it," said Blue. "We'll get it next year."

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