Deluge wreaks havoc on thrower Skartvedt, jumper Hay
Cavan runs season’s best time in girls’ 2A?100 hurdles
DES MOINES — The excuses were there for the taking, but no one bit.
With the conditions being what they were Friday morning — water-logged would be a good way to put it — it would have been easy for South Hamilton thrower Lily Skartvedt or Webster City jumper Ashlyn Hay to blame the elements for their disappointments at the Iowa High School Track and Field Championships.
Both wanted a medal. Both walked away unhappy.
Skartvedt, a senior, entered the Class 2A discus seeded 11th, but finished 20th following a best throw of 101 feet, 9 inches.
As luck would have it, the steady rain that had fallen all morning turned into a downpour just as Skartvedt’s flight got underway. The flooded ring, the slippery disc, it couldn’t have been easy.
“Lily was a little disappointed because she knows it was out there if she could just get a good grip on the disc,” South Hamilton head coach Dan Brodie said. “It was a really tough day to throw for everyone. But she’s probably the most prolific thrower we’ve ever had at South Hamilton and it doesn’t diminish her career at all.”
Skartvedt owns the school record in the discus — 121-7.
Hay, a WCHS junior, was unable to pop a big leap in the 3A long jump and finished 20th. Her best jump measured 14-111⁄2, well off her season’s best of 17-11⁄2.
“That rain was an issue, but it was the same for everybody,” WCHS head coach Clint Howard said. “I know Ashlyn is disappointed in the way she performed, but I also know how driven she is and how hard of a worker she is and that will just fuel her for next track season.”
Dubuque Wahlert’s Aliyah Carter, a Kansas State volleyball recruit, broke the 3A state-meet record in the long jump with a title-winning leap of 18-81⁄2.
On the track inside Drake Stadium, South Hamilton’s Hailey Cavan placed 19th overall in the 100 hurdles with a season’s best time of 16.56 seconds. Running against the wall in Lane 8, Cavan got out of the blocks well, but couldn’t keep up in a heat that saw half of the eight runners reach the finals.
“She finished with a better time than she came to state with, so that’s good,” Brodie said. “This is going to give her a taste for what’s out there next year.”