Saintes finish in better mood at State track...

Posted: 05/22/2005 - by

DES MOINES - After a disappointing morning amid rain showers the St. Albert girls' day brightened in the afternoon as the sun shone down on Drake Stadium and the Saintes finished fourth in the Class 1A distance medley.

The day got off to a rugged start for the Saintes as the team opened with all four members of  the defending sprint medley taking to the track during the early-morning drizzle.

"That was bad," said anchor runner Gina Assmann. "It was cold and raining. There was a lot of pressure to perform anyhow, being the defending champs, and the bad weather just made it worse."

The Saintes held a brief lead during parts of the race, but had to settle for a fifth-place medal as the squad finished in 1:53.03.

"It was kind of disappointing," sophomore Beth Hamling said.

It was the second fifth-place showing for the Saintes, who finished in the same spot during Friday's 4x200.

But in the afternoon things started to go the Saintes way.

The distance medley team, which qualified eighth, was looking for a top five performance.

"We got fifth in the 4x200 and fifth in the sprint medley," Assmann said. "(We said), 'we've got to do better than fifth.'"

St. Albert, in the same heat as Troy Mills North Linn and superstar Ellen Ries, took the early lead out of lane eight.

It was the third event in three days for many of the girls and it started to wear on them. Assmann said she started to get tired in the final 100 meters or so when she heard her teammate ... "I heard Justine yell to me 'last race,'" Assmann explained. "Because it was the last race of the year.

"I knew I had to go as hard as I could and pass the baton to (Audrey Weidman)," 

While Ries, who tied former Woodbine standout Deb Esser's record of 13 state titles with the victory in the race, was able to catch the Saintes as was Hinton's Delainye Hardersen as St. Albert finished third in the fast heat.

"I knew Ellen Ries was an excellent runner," Weidman said. "I just tried to keep in front of her."

Valley Elgin Community finished in the previous heat less than two seconds faster moving the Saintes back to fourth place.

They held the lead for all but the final 500 meters of their race.

"We got lane eight," Olsen explained. "We decided we wanted to get out and get the lead and make everybody chase us and that is pretty much how it was."

Jeff Deluca Daily Nonpareil Staff Writer

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