A-P girls 2nd in distance med; Barrett in hurdles final

DES MOINES -- Sophia Jungling was already prepared to give it all for her team.

  The Aplington-Parkersburg freshman has quickly built a reputation for being difficult to beat when she's locked in.

   And when Jungling saw her teammate, Ivy Nolte, storming around Turn 4 on a rain-dampened blue oval at Drake Stadium in Des Moines on Friday, Jungling couldn't wait to take the baton.

   "It made it all the more real to me," Jungling said. "I knew she was handing this to me in a good place and I was going to finish it off for the team."

   Jungling put together a great 800-meter run to cap A-P's run in the distance medley relay on Friday, winning the first of three heats with little issue in a blistering 4:12.22, with Avery Groen and Megan Johnson handling the 200-meter sprints to start the race.

   That time held up to the very bitter end of the third heat, as Cascade was able to sneak in with a 4:10.86 and the 2A championship.

   But that didn't take the smile off the faces of every A-P girl in that relay as they excitedly jumped about in celebration and then huddled together with emotion at being the state runner-up.

   "It's so special," Nolte said. "We've been running together for a couple of years and have known each other for so long. We're all friends, and it just made this so much easier."

  Elsewhere at Drake Stadium:

  Aplington-Parkersburg

-- Riley Barrett qualified for Saturday’s 110 hurdles final with the 2^nd-best time in prelims: 15.04. He was also fourth in the 400 hurdles in 55.11 seconds, just behind Eli Barrett of Denver, his first cousin.

   "We've been competing against each other all of our life, our times have always been about the same in everything," Riley Barrett said. "This year he's got the edge on me in the 4 lows. It's kinda ticked me off, but I'm happy for him as well."

-- A-P senior Dani Johnson, who will compete in volleyball and track at Wartburg next year, took 17^th place in the girls discus throw with a top throw of 106 feet, 2 inches, her final field event in the A-P school colors.

-- The distance medley relay team of Thomas Dominy, Grady Brungard, Riley Barrett, Mason Tyler finished 19^th in 2A in 3:46.80.

Dike-New Hartford

-- The 4x400 boys team will run in Saturday’s final after turning in the second-best prelim time, with Ryan Moore, Broden Coulter, Nick Durnin and Connor Blough finishing the race in 3:26.48. Albia has the top qualifying time with 3:22.80.

-- Nick Durnin was 15^th in the 110 hurdle prelims with a 15.52.

-- In the 4x100 relay prelims, Josie Claude, Sydney Petersen, Bailey Fettkether and Madison Hedges finished 15^th in 51.94.

-- Alayna Kollasch, Courtney Bolhuis, Baylee Petersen and Madison Hedges joined forces in the 4x400 prelims, finishing 21^st in 4:15.87.