Lady Vikes score in six out of seven state meet events

 DES MOINES (May 16-18) -- Not many teams walk away from Iowa’s state track meet with a medal percentage of 85.7, but that’s exactly what the AHSTW girls accomplished last weekend inside Drake Stadium.
 Bringing home top-eight medals in six of the seven events they qualified, the Lady Vikes scored 22 points and finished in a three-way tie for 11th place in the Class 1A girls team standings.
 Led by junior Ryann Portch’s second-place effort in the 800-meter run and sophomore Holly Hoepner’s third-place showing in the 400 hurdles, the Lady Vikes improved their season or personal-best performance in five events. The only event that didn’t place - the sprint medley relay - still finished a respectable 10th out of 24 qualifiers.
 “The state meet is a special place, and nobody competes here who doesn’t completely deserve to be here,” said AHSTW head coach Jenny Hamilton. “We are beyond proud of (the girls’) poise, focus and execution."
 Portch, who was part of four state meet events for the second straight year, notched the team’s highest finish by placing second to Bedford standout Emma Lucas in the 800 Saturday morning. Lucas won gold in 2:18.55 while Portch held off West Bend-Mallard’s Rachel Fehr, 2:20.57 to 2:20.71.
 It was Portch’s best 800 time of the season, but about one second off last year’s state meet time when she placed fourth in Class 2A.
 “It wasn’t my ‘PR’ but it was a great way to end the season,” she said. “I’m really just honored to be here and honored to get that spot and to run with somebody as great as Emma Lucas.”
 Individually, Portch also placed seventh in Thursday’s 400-meter dash finals with a solid time of 1:00.32.
 Hoepner entered her first state meet with some lofty standards after clocking the fastest 1A qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles and the fifth-best time in the 100 hurdles. She proceeded to match or exceed those times Friday afternoon, running the eighth-best prelim time in the 100 hurdles (16.28) to tie her personal best, then improving her 400 hurdles ‘PR’ to 1:05.92 to place third. Hoepner would move up one spot to seventh in Saturday’s 100 hurdles final (16.42).
 Another impressive Lady Vike showing came from junior Kinsey Scheffler, who placed seventh in Friday’s discus competition with a ‘PR’ of 120 feet, seven inches, despite being at far less than 100 percent physically.
 Scheffler qualified for the finals in eighth before moving up a spot and throwing three and a half feet farther on her fifth of six attempts. She injured a hamstring at the state qualifying meet May 10 and could barely practice during the days leading up to state.
 The Lady Vikes also placed seventh in the 4x400 relay final as Hoepner, Talia Welsh, Kelsi Cornejo and Portch combined for a time of 4:14.59 on Saturday. The same crew ran even faster during Friday’s prelims with a season-best time of 4:11.34 that ranked sixth out of 24 teams.