The Mid-Prairie girls took another step towards defending their 2019 state track championship on Thursday, winning a district championship and qualifying 17 entries for the state track meet.

“We qualified everything we came to do and then some,” Mid-Prairie coach Chris Tyler said. 

“Last year teaches us to not take anything for granted. I know our seniors especially are very grateful just to have the opportunity to do this meet, let alone to perform like they did and go out on top as district champions.”

The Golden Hawks amassed 177 points to take first place over Williamsburg with 143. Davis County was a distant third with 86. 

Danielle Hostetler won the 800-meter, 1500-meter and 3000-meter races with Mid-Prairie finishing 1-2 in each of those events. Sydney Yoder finished second in both the 1500 and 3000.

“Me and Sydney just took that one easy,” Hostetler said about the 3000, which she won with a time of 11:18 with Yoder two seconds behind. “We were just trying to get first. That one felt like a warm up I guess. It was pretty easy.”

Hostetler edged teammate Mitzi Evans by five hundredths of a second for first place in the 800-meter run. She said that she did not expect to win that race. 

“My motivation was, I’m going to push Mitzi, because her mom always says if she gets pushed, she runs a lot faster. And we just helped each other out a lot. I would not have gone that fast without her.”

Hostetler also anchored a first-place distance  medley that had a late replacement. 

Amber Swart was switched out of the relay after a minor injury, and was nervous watching the race as the Golden Hawks were well behind the second place relay after Maddie Edgington and Amara Jones ran the 200-meter legs and Tabitha Evans ran the 400. 

Hostetler took the baton and quickly moved into second. With a little over 100 meters left, she took the lead and won the race by over two seconds. 

“It was fun, they were all cheering me, and I think that’s why I went so fast,” Hostetler said. “I had so much adrenaline. That, and I just felt God’s presence and peace.”

The Golden Hawks had the fastest qualifying time in 2A at 4:20.85.

“It’s amazing to know that you have teammates like that, who you can count on,” Swart said. 

In addition to finishing second in the 800-meter run, Mitzi Evans won the 400-meter dash, finished second in the 200-meter dash, and anchored the first-place sprint medley. The sprint medley of Edginton, Alyssa McDowell, Swart and Evans had the second-fastest time among all qualifiers on Thursday. 

The 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays of Edgington, Jones, McDowell and Swart both finished second to Williamsburg, who had the top overall qualifying time in both races. 

The Mid-Prairie seniors Swart and Edgington, who both qualified for state with four relays said that their main goal for the state meet is to just make memories.

“Since we missed out last year, we really have to make up for it,” Edgington said. 

The Golden Hawks will also take a few field events to the state meet as sophomore Ella Groenewold finished second in the high jump, clearing 5-02, and senior Tori Boyse finished second in both the shot put and discus. 

“I wasn’t doing so hot in the prelims, but I got to finals and I threw 119 (feet), which is a foot off my PR,” Boyse said. “I was hoping for a PR, but that did it, so I’m happy about that and just waiting for state to get here.”

On Friday morning, Boyse will be back at Drake Stadium, where she set her personal record of 120-09 in April. 

“I really want to get past 120,” Boyse said about her goals. “I’m hoping for the school record, that’s really what I want to go for, which is 128.”

The shuttle hurdle of Jones, Sidney Davis, Emily Schlabach, and Behla Schmidt qualified with a second-place finish. The 4x800 of Jayden Yoder, Annika Poll, Ana Fleming, and Sydney Yoder finished third on Thursday, but learned Friday morning that their time of 10:17 was good enough to qualify. 

“I really wanted to make it to state, it was my last chance really,” said Fleming, a senior who ran the third leg. 

“I was disappointed that I couldn’t catch up to the (top three) girls, but I knew Sydney is a really strong runner, and I knew she would at least catch the one girl, and she did.”

The Golden Hawk 4x800 had the 17th fastest time among the 24 qualifiers. 

“I mostly just want to have a fun last race,” Fleming said about her state goals. “I’ve only been to state once before and I can hardly remember it now. So, make more memories, I guess?”