AMES

The beginning to this remarkable day, March 14 at the Lied Rec Center on the Iowa State University campus, was almost comical.

Jeorgia Evans, a Mid-Prairie freshman who was about to compete in her first high school track event ever, the long jump, was fidgety.

She wandered over to the high jump area, where freshman best friend Tessa Bombei was competing in her first high school event. They’re besties. There is comfort in that. They competed together in three sports at Mid-Prairie Middle School, so now here they are, teammates in track, basketball and volleyball at Mid-Prairie High.

Jeorgia paced.

And she talked. And talked.

Her older sister, Jovi, noticed all this going on.

“I’m standing there, and Jovi’s like, ‘Why don’t you stop talking?’” Jeorgia said, recounting the moment with a nervous laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’m really nervous. I’ve got to get my mind off of it.”

Minutes later, in an almost lonely corner of the fieldhouse away from the crowds and away from the finish line for running events, everything changed.

Nervousness turned into history.

Evans lined up for the long jump, ran hard and hit 17 feet, 10 inches in a preliminary round jump.

If folks weren’t paying attention before, they were now.

Jeorgia could have channeled her inner Caitlin Clark and bragged to everybody else, “OK, who’s second?”

17 and 10? A Mid-Prairie record that had stood for 49 years was more than two inches shorter.

Golden Hawks coach Mark Hostetler laughed later. He hadn’t even graduated high school in 1976 when the Mid-Prairie record was set.

Heads turned.

Heads would turn again. And again.

A little later, with the long jump competition still going on, Evans broke the IATC Indoor Championships 2A meet record in the 60-meter run when she won her preliminary heat in 7.79 seconds.

She broke her own record in the finals, winning the event in 7.77 seconds.

Then, she broke sister Jovi’s 2024 meet record in the 200 with a time of 25.69 seconds, But so did three other girls, two of them from Pella Christian, and Jeorgia found herself standing on third place in the podium with a former meet record that lasted just seconds.

And here’s a point of information: Those two girls from Pella Christian who beat Evans in the final heat? One of them, Meredith Van Wyk, is the defending state champion in the 200. The other, Rachel Kacmarynski, is the defending state champion in the 100.

Jeorgia Evans’ final act was running the lead leg on the Golden Hawks’ 4x100 team. Jovi ran the anchor leg. Bombei ran the second leg and basketball teammate Myli Hershberger ran the third leg. They set a meet record, but just like the 200, the meet record evaporated into a third-place finish.

Four events, four meet records.

“What an outstanding performance to break the meet record in the 60-meter dash and the long jump for a freshman,” Hostetler said.

And somehow, Jeorgia Evans was skipped by when meet officials picked an MVP of the day.

Hostetler, who is hoping to shape this team into a state title contender after the Golden Hawks won a state cross country championship with a roster full of underclassmen, sees beyond the success of the day.

“She’s a real quick learner,” said Hostetler, who has only worked with Jeorgia Evans for a couple of weeks because she also played for the Golden Hawk volleyball and girls basketball teams in varsity roles. “She has a lot of ability, but she also has a mental toughness for a young person. Her older sister Jovi is also that way. Out of competition over the years probably between the two of them.”

Jovi Evans is the outspoken one. You’ll quickly hear her on the volleyball court and on the track.

Jeorgia is more freshman quiet.

But not on this day.

As Jeorgia blasted out to an impressive start in the opening leg of the 4x100, she shouted loudly to best friend Bombei as they completed the baton exchange for the first time in their high school careers.

“Go! Go!!”

After all of this was over, and the Evanses, along with mom and dad Sherry and Zeb Evans were getting ready to head to a club volleyball tournament in St. Louis, Jeorgia and Jovi stood side by side with four medals dangling around Jeorgia’s neck and one dangling around Jovi’s neck.

A proud older sister was overjoyed.

“She’s never really had the competition to show off her ability. Now she has people to actually run against,” Jovi said. “I get goose bumps after every single time. When she got the meet record in the 60, I literally just started grinning from ear to ear. I ran up and gave her a hug because I’m so happy for her.”

This was just a start.

Both Evans joined their teammates on top of the podium as the Golden Hawks celebrated their team championship of the spring, a two-point win over, yup, Pella Christian.

The path toward the state meet in Des Moines two months from now is clearly marked.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul