GILBERT – Kenzie Garvey couldn’t have picked a better time to bring out her best.

Her senior year. Her final chance to reach the state meet as an individual.

Book it.

A good start sent her to the lead and her flawless execution over the hurdles kept her there, as Garvey gave the Webster City girls’ track and field team its only gold medal at last night’s Class 3A State Qualifying meet.

Seeded second entering the 100-meter hurdles, Garvey crossed the finish line in 16.02 seconds.

“The highlight was Kenzie Garvey in the hurdles,” WCHS head coach Clint Howard said. “I thought she had a great shot and she ran an outstanding race. She’s just been steadily knocking time off the 100 hurdles … she had a great start and led the whole race. She dominated it.”

WCHS automatically qualified for next week’s state meet in seven events and scored 104 points to finish third behind Boone and Gilbert. Allie Flaws punched her ticket for the blue oval in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Cassidy Nerland will put in work in both throwing events, and the 4×100 and 4×200 relays will also take part in the festivities.

“We couldn’t have scripted it any better. We were consistent again,” Howard said.

Flaws, a veteran of the sprints, turned in times of 12.71 in the 100 and 27.08 in the 200 to place second behind Boone burner Dianna Slight, who is the 3A leader in both events.

Nerland slotted comfortably into second in the shot put (39 feet, 7 1/2 inches) and discus (109-0).

“Allie took care of business and Cassidy took care of business,” Howard said. “They were both expected to make it.”

Flaws anchored both relays into the runner-up spots. Garvey ran a solid leg on the 4×100 (51.46) and she was also joined by Kali Dawson and Haley Flaws. The Flaws sisters, Dawson and Zoey Woodle competed together in the 4×200 (1:51.91).

WCHS could still add more later today when the wild card entrants are revealed. The next eight best performances from all of the non-automatic qualifiers in the state will be added in each event.

Lynx boys qualify two

Seeded sixth entering last night’s 3A State Qualifying Meet, the Webster City boys’ track and field team’s shuttle hurdle relay thought it could make a splash if each leg stepped up and performed.

Oh how right the Lynx were.

The foursome of Ty Schnathorst, Zane Carter, Jordan Tanner and Fernando Martinez broke their season’s best time by more than a second, as their clocking of 1:01.38 was good enough for second place and automatic entrance into the state-meet field.

“The shuttle hurdle was the surprise of the night,” WCHS boys’ head coach Tony Bussan said. “To knock a full second off … every single guy had a (personal best) split and Martinez had a really good anchor.”

Payton Kannuan will head back to state as an individual for the second consecutive year in the long jump. He launched himself into the sand and measured out at 20-10 1/4 to pick up the silver.

Kannuan, Carter, Tanner and Noah Perfect banded together to place third in the 4×100 in 44.43, a time that has a good chance of being added to the state field. Perfect was also third in the 100 (11.24), as was James Cherry in the shot put (45-8 3/4) and discus (135-9).

The Lynx placed seventh in the team race.