Normally, that’s a lead in for a football or basketball story, but make no mistake, despite having a lackluster Saturday finals’ performance, the Trojans’ track and field team left its mark on Class 2A this year.

The Trojans won nine of their 11 regular-season meets, including the district meet, and had a win streak of eight-straight in 2017. They finished eighth in the state with 25 points after sending 12 events to Des Moines.

Leading the way was senior Allison Hilleman, who was second in the 200-meter dash (26.22 seconds) and fifth in the 100 (13.10), doubling in the finals in her last meet of the year.

After her 100, she said she’s been impressed and confident with her abilities this year, as she’s finally seeing the work paying dividends.

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • West Marshall sophomore Addi Moore completes the third leg of the shuttle hurdle relay during the Class 2A event finals Saturday at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The Trojans took seventh with a combined time of 1 minute, 9.46 seconds.

“It’s always nice to make it here, but we’ve worked really hard to make it here. We want to do something here. It’s not just about coming,” Hilleman said. “I’m pretty happy with myself, because it’s been a dream of mine since high school to come down and place in open events. And now it’s not even the [200] but the open [100], that makes me really happy.”

The day started off rough with the reigning state champions in the sprint medley relay, who were seeded first, falling to 13th. Emma Meyer, Avril Sinning, Hilleman and Kayla Cripps ran a 1:54.36, forfeiting their sprint medley relay title to Aplington-Parkersburg in the first event of the afternoon.

Freshman Hana Hohnstein did what she could in the open 800, taking 20th with a time of 2:33.37. She said at the beginning of the year, that state meet crossed her mind, but initially, she was just working to hang with the fast heat.

“I was trying to stay up with the top girls, but they were pretty good,” Hohnstein said. “I knew I was pretty good, but I just had to see what I could do in the first couple meets. I knew I wanted to make it to state, and I’m glad I did.”

Hohnstein said she was taken out of the 4×800, which ended up fueling her fire to run faster 800 times. She hopes to return to the relay next season.

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • West Marshall freshman Hana Hohnstein (12) passes Vanessa Blanco of Estherville-Lincoln Central during the Class 2A 800-meter finals Saturday at the state track meet in Des Moines. Hohnstein placed 21st in 2 minutes, 33.37 seconds.

The shuttle hurdle relay of Lexi Keigan, Katie Price, Addi Moore and Isabelle Gradwell earned two team points with a seventh-place finish in 1:09.46. Gradwell came back to run the 100 hurdles but false-started, resulting in a disqualification.

Hilleman’s 200 runner-up race was the final of the West Marshall season, nearly epitomizing what the Trojans had accomplished in their 2017 campaign.

Team Standings

2A — 1. Cascade 65, 2. Mid-Prairie 58, 3. Pocahontas Area 44, 4. Monticello 42, 5. Madrid 34, 6. Western Christian 31.3, 7. Aplington-Parkersburg 30, 8. West Marshall, Pella Christian 25, 10. North Cedar 22; 28. South Hardin 8.

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD