DES MOINES

All the emotions exploded on the final day of the Iowa High School Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

A year’s worth of tears rolled down the faces of Madeline Schrader and Tabitha Evans and Amara Jones and Jovi Evans.

Make that four years.

Make that seven years.

The Class 2A girls 4x100-meter relay final had just ended. And the Golden Hawks had lost a state title by just one-tenth of a second.

But this wasn’t about a second-place medal. And it wasn’t about a time (49.90 seconds) that was the fastest the team had put up all season long.

For three of them, seniors Schrader, Jones and Tabitha Evans, it was the finish to magical high school track careers that included three state team championships, countless River Valley Conference victories and a weekend that included one-two finishes in the state 4x200 and 4x100 relay races to tie a school record.

They will never run again together.

“I’m just so grateful we got this opportunity,” Schrader said.

“I’m so grateful,” said Tabitha Evans, whose older sister, Mitzi, was a senior last year and was in the stands this past weekend.

Immediately after Tabitha anchored a blazing relay that is done in under 50 seconds, she and Schrader hugged near the finish line, their bodies shaking as the tears flowed.

Soon, all four gathered in the infield for an emotional group hug. The same thing would have happened if they won. This wasn’t about a tenth of a second. It was about the years and the friendships and the hours and hours of running together during workouts.

Schrader and Jones talked about the middle school races they were in together back in Kalona.

Joining them this year was Jovi Evans, a freshman who played with Jones in basketball and who ran in four state championship relay races in her first year on the varsity team. It’s almost unheard of for a freshman. Two years ago, Jones ran in two relays as a sophomore. Schrader didn’t make her state finals relay debut until last year.

And for Jovi, the daughter of Mid-Prairie volleyball head coach Sherry Evans, the tears kept coming.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” she said.

This is precisely what girls track and cross country at Mid-Prairie has become. The Golden Hawks do not begin a cross country race without a group huddle. It’s always about the friendships.

“What’s important to life is our relationships,” said Mark Hostetler, the school’s track and cross country head coach.

Jones kept running track while at the same time taking a leading role on the school’s girls soccer team.

The Golden Hawks won their first 4x200 state title Friday with a time of 1:44.49 and less than two hours later qualified for the 4x100 finals with a time of 50.36 seconds.

On May 20, they knocked down a second-place finish for the Golden Hawks’ sixth podium of the weekend.

Not long after, they were jumping up and down at almost the same spot on the infield as they were handed the 2A state runner-up team trophy.

The tears turned into smiles.

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