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Central's Mitchell soars past field

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By Jon Gremmels | Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:00 AM CDT | () comments

Last week, Davenport Central junior Alexis Mitchell’s coach asked for a measurement in the long jump, even though Mitchell scratched on her attempt. He wanted her to see that an 18-foot jump was within her range.

It became a reality Friday night.

Mitchell exceeded her personal best by almost a foot, winning the long jump at 18-feet-7.75 at the Iowa Class 4A regional meet at Pleasant Valley.

“For it to be a real mark means everything to me.”

The victory qualified Mitchell for next week’s state meet in Des Moines, where she will try to succeed former teammate Christina Airington, who graduated last year after winning her third consecutive state title in the event.

“My first two jumps weren’t as far, and a girl from Clinton was beating me,” Mitchell explained. “That motivated me. Coach told me to pop 18. I heard ‘18’ (by the event judge after her jump) and automatically freaked out. It’s always been 17-9, 17-9. Finally, I pulled it out. It was a perfect time to do it.”

Mitchell won the 200 meters, too, and she also qualified for state with the 800 sprint medley relay unit that placed second. The top two finishers in each event automatically advanced to state, while the other finishers have to wait to find out if they will advance by having one of the next-best 12 times, distances or heights from the six regionals across the state.

As good as the night was for Mitchell, it had to be tough for her teammate, Ebonie Butler. Butler, also a junior, thought she was the winner in the 100-meter dash. The results said so. North Scott’s Jenna Higgins was ready to accept second-place, too. But a review of the tape revealed that Higgins edged Butler at the finish line, winning by three-hundredths of a second in 12.35 seconds, and the original results were overturned. It was the same outcome as last week’s Mississippi Athletic Conference, when the initial results showed Butler beating Higgins.

Despite the setback, Butler is headed to next week’s state meet.

“I have confidence right now,” Butler said. “She’s No. 3 in the state, and I was ranked like No. 20. I know I’m better than that.”

Besides winning the 100, Higgins also anchored North Scott’s winning 400 relay unit, which won in 50.0.

“I was so happy for the

4-by-1,” she said. “We’ve been doing so good. It’s awesome knowing we’re one of the best.”

Davenport North won eight events and claimed the team title with 129 points. Pleasant Valley, which finished third (101.7) behind North and runner-up Iowa City High (123.3) picked up wins in the 3,200 and distance medley relays. Bettendorf also had two relay wins, in the sprint medley and 800.

North got most of its points from AG Bradford and Kelsey Regan.

Bradford will be a threat to win four events at state after winning regional titles in the high jump (5-feet-10), the 100 hurdles (14.06), the 400 hurdles (1:01.32) and the 400 (56.69).

“Everything was great: the weather, the track, there were a lot of people,” Bradford said.

Regan, a junior, won the three distance races, the 800, 1,500 and 3,000.

“The best race was the 800,” she said. “At the beginning of the season, I was running slow in the 800. I kind of decided to go out hard.”

Regan was more than a second ahead of Davenport West’s Emily Martz. She charged past Pleasant Valley’s Anne Martin over the final 100 meter to win the 1,500 by a second-and-a-half, and she breezed to a 5-second win over PV’s Payton Strawser in the 3,000.

North’s other win came from Carissa Coopman in the shot put (42-0).

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qcvarsity.com.