DES MOINES

The Blue Oval was empty.

Well, almost.

Long after the Mid-Prairie girls track & field team had won its fourth consecutive state championship last Saturday, the Golden Hawks just didn’t want to leave Drake Stadium. One photo with a cellphone turned into another and another. One hug turned into another and another. Laughter echoed around the place.

The Hawks and their coaches and a large gathering of parents congregated at one end of the stadium as a security official politely tried to send them on their way. Not so easily done. History works that way.

Among the seniors taking in one last breath of a championship season were Mitzi Evans, who won two races and also helped the distance medley squad to a fourth consecutive title; Sydney Yoder, who finished fourth in the 3000-meter run and overcame a fall in the 1500 to place eighth; and Maddie Nonnenmann, who finished 10^th in the discus in her only year on the track team following strong volleyball and basketball seasons.

“It’s pretty bittersweet because it’s my last season with the girls,” Yoder said. “It feels good to win another state championship. All glory to God. Couldn’t have done it without Him.”

“It’s hard to believe that it’s over,” Nonnenmann said. “No more playing under Mid-Prairie.”

“We will be very sad to see the seniors leave,” said sophomore distance runner Danielle Hostetler, who has scored two cross country individual state titles, three track individual state titles and four state team championships in two years.

The Golden Hawks’ dominance in the Class 2A state track & field meet held over three days polished off another year in which Mid-Prairie’s girls swept the cross country and track state titles.

“It’s a great feeling,” Mid-Prairie girls coach Chris Tyler said. “The kids have worked incredibly hard. It’s been a goal since day one of this season, get that repeat, four-peat. It doesn’t get old. But each one’s special in its own way.”

Evans, who was a starter on those cross country teams, finished no lower than second in any of her races. She won the 800 in dramatic fashion, defeating Clare Kelly of Van Meter by less than a second in school-record time. She also won the 400, ran the third leg of the distance medley race and finished second in the 200.

Hostetler won the 3000 and ran the anchor leg for the distance medley team. She also finished third in the 1500 and fourth in the 800.

“I’m so proud of my team,” said Hostetler, hobbling in the post-meet celebration because she was spiked by another runner in the 1500. “Everyone gave it their hardest. There were some disappointments, some amazing accomplishments.”

And, yes, it was physically challenging. Especially in the 1500.

“It was a pretty rough race,” Hostetler said. “There was a lot of shoving. I got spiked pretty bad. That’s just kind of how the 1500 is.”

Yoder went down on the third lap and still finished eighth.

“Sydney actually fell, fell flat on her face,” Hostetler said. “She came back and placed, so that was amazing. I’m so proud of her.”

“Someone tripped me from behind and I just fell,” Yoder said. “You’ve got to get back up and keep going.”

Those were about the only times the Golden Hawks were slowed during the meet’s three days at Drake Stadium. Hostetler won the 3000 and Evans won the 400 during Thursday’s opening day of competition.

Mid-Prairie’s distance medley team won its race Friday in record time with some of the members of previous distance medley championship teams watching.

Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Evans and Hostetler combined to win the event in 4:07.96.

“It feels awesome because I feel like the distance medley has been like there for a long time,” Evans said. “It means a lot to me … to carry on the tradition of our school.”

“Being able to watch those distance medleys before, actually being a part of one, it’s just so exciting,” Jones said.

Evans won the 800 on Saturday, trimming four seconds off her personal record with a time of 2:12.56, and then finished second in the 200.

“Thankful to God,” Evans said. “Thanks for giving me such a great weekend. A lot of victories and good times.”

Nonnenmann and Ella Groenewold had 10^th-place finishes in the discus and high jump, respectively.

The Golden Hawks led the team title race all three days and finished with 65 points, topping Van Meter by 10 points.

“It’s just neat to see the tradition continue and the buy-in that these girls get even in middle school and then as they come in as freshmen,” Tyler said. “It’s just kind of something that keeps rolling and obviously we’ve got tremendously talented individuals on the team. The dedication, the character of all the kids on this team is just fun to be a part of. I’m just fortunate to get to coach a group like this. They make it very fun.”

MID-PRAIRIE STATE RESULTS

200: 2, Mitzi Evans, :25.26.

400: 1, Mitzi Evans, :56.36.

800: 1, Mitzi Evans, 2:12.56; 4, Danielle Hostetler, 2:21.66.

1500: 3, Danielle Hostetler, 4:42.95; 8, Sydney Yoder, 5:00.10.

3000: 1, Danielle Hostetler, 10:27.77; 4, Sydney Yoder, 11:02.12.

Discus: 10, Maddie Nonnenmann, 112-5.

High jump: 10, Ella Groenewold, 5-0.

Long jump: 21, Emma Lueck, 14-11.25.

Distance Medley: 1, Mid-Prairie (Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Mitzi Evans, Hostetler), 4:07.96.

800 Sprint Medley: 14, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Alyssa McDowell, Groenewold, Tabitha Evans), 1:55.12.

4x200 Relay: 11, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Amara Jones, Groenewold, Tabitha Evans), 1:49.06.

4x800 Relay: 24, Mid-Prairie (Greta Sieren, Annika Poll, Phoebe Shetler, Abby Fleming), 11:05.42.

4x100 Relay Prelims: 9, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, McDowell, Tabitha Evans, Jones), :51.18.

Shuttle Hurdle Prelims: 13, Mid-Prairie (Jones, Nora Pennington, Emily Schlabach, Behla Schmidt), 1:11.05.