On one hand, the South Hamilton junior was pleased with her group’s performance in the Class 2A shuttle hurdle relay on the opening day of the Iowa High School Track and Field Championships. But the reality that it marked the end of an era left Cavan with mixed emotions.

“It’s a sad moment because our seniors are leaving and we’re not going to run together again, but we ran really well,” Cavan said after she anchored the quartet that also included junior Emily Greenfield, senior Bridgit Schlafke and senior Rylee Woodall.

Seeded 14th in the field of 24, South Hamilton turned in a time of 1:10.38 to finish second in its heat behind Emmetsburg (1:07.82) and 10th overall in the preliminary round. The Hawks missed the finals by a little more than a second; eighth-place Sioux Center (1:09.21) secured the final spot in Saturday’s finals.

Not making the finals was a bitter pill to swallow for the Hawks, but then they remembered last year when they were disqualified on the blue oval.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“We definitely thought we could make it into the finals, but we redeemed ourselves from last year,” Cavan said. “That was one of the main things we wanted to do.”

Lily Skartvedt was part of the shot put field yesterday morning, but was unable to uncork a throw good enough to push for a spot in the finals. Her top toss of 33 feet, 73⁄4 inches was good enough for 21st place.

Skartvedt will be back in action this morning in the discus — the better of the two throwing events for her — at 9 a.m. The school record holder in the event, Skartvedt is seeded 11th.

Cavan will also be on the track today in the 100 hurdles. She’s seeded near the back of the 24-girl field and will run out of the dreaded Lane 8, but she’s got clear goals in mind.

“With the shuttle hurdle I got the feel of the track and I really got my nerves out,” Cavan said. “So hopefully I can run something in the 15s (seconds) and I can at least track down someone in my heat.”

DFJ photo/Troy Banning