North girls track team wins 2nd straight MAC title
Jen Paul assembled her Davenport North coaching staff as Friday’s Mississippi Athletic Conference meet at Bettendorf came to a close.
It didn’t take them long to reach a conclusion.
“We couldn’t remember a time in any sport a team at North had back-to-back conference titles,” she said.
North’s girls track squad not only won the Mississippi Athletic Conference meet for the second straight year Friday. The title was the school’s second ever.
Senior AG Bradford won four events, and junior Kelsey Regan added three more titles as North held off Pleasant Valley 126-112.
Muscatine’s Danielle Frere won the shot put (a meet-record toss of 46-feet-11) and discus, and North senior Carissa Coopman came through with personal bests to finish runner-up in each event. Her throw of 43 feet, 8¼ inches in the shot put was a Wildcats record.
North also finished 0.6 seconds out of first in the 400-meter relay.
“Everybody’s been doing pretty good,” Regan said. “Last year was the only time we’ve won. We just want to keep up that tradition.”
Regan opened the meet with a win in the 3,000, and she came from behind to take the 800 and 1,500.
Bradford won the 400, the 100 and 400 hurdles, as well as the high jump. Her 5-foot-8 leap was a meet record.
The four events wore her down, but Paul said there’s no way Bradford gets out of the duty at next week’s district meet.
“It’s killing me,” Bradford said after ending her day with the 400 hurdles. “That guy with the clipboard is getting tired of me. I go to check, and as soon as I’m saying ‘Brad,’ he’s saying ‘ford.’ ”
Pleasant Valley, runner-up for the second straight year, won three events — the 1,600, 3,200 and shuttle hurdle relays.
Bettendorf, which placed third with 79 points, won the 800 and sprint medley relays.
Davenport Central got a pair of wins from Alexis Mitchell en route to a fourth-place finish.
Mitchell won the 200 and the long jump, when she recorded a personal best of 17-9¼. She almost cleared 18-0, but her lead foot was a little too far forward.
“I scratched just a little, but now I know I can do it,” Mitchell said. “It’s all about momentum. I just need another mark early to fall back on.”
Davenport Assumption won one race on its way to fifth, but the Knights looked good doing it.
Amanda Brandt surged from fourth to first in the distance medley, a leap she credits to understanding the blustery conditions.
“It was a bit of a mess with girls on the inside, so I had to go to the outside,” she said. “I’ve been learning a lot about the wind lately. You have to stick on someone’s butt and make your move on the second lap.”
Andrew Petersen can be reached at (563) 383-2288 or apetersen@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qcvarsity.com.