Girls are off and running at state meet

The Girls’ State High School track meet is underway at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Iowa City West beat City High in the Class 4-A distance medley — by a mere nine-hundredths of a second. North Linn has won the distance medley relay for the second straight year in Class 1-A. And for the second straight year, Ellen Reis ran the 800-meter anchor leg.Reis says they weren’t sure they could repeat, and it was fun to go out and prove they could. North Linn was in 7th place when Reis got the baton.In Class 3-A, Fairfield’s team won the distance medley. Jennifer Kuiken ran the 800-meter anchor leg, and was breathless as she talked with reporters immediately afterwards. Kuiken says the team was gunning for a school record time in the race, and thought they had a chance to win the race. Tipton won distance medley in 2-A.Jenny Elbert of Laurens Marathon jumped five-foot-eight inches to win the Class 1-A high jump.Elbert was the runner-up in the event at last year’s state meet, and she won the Drake Relays high jump last month. Elbert says that Relays victory gave her an edge today.Elbert says knowing she’d beat all the girls she’d be competing against today gave her confidence. Elbert says she has a good coach who helps her focus on having a consistent approach to her jumps.