Day one at the 2014 State High School Coed Track & Field Championships went well for Greene County High School, especially in the preliminaries that lead to Saturday’s finals. Senior sprinter Roman Phillips led the boys’ team by being the fastest qualifier in Class 3A for the 100 meter dash final. He was clocked in 10.99 seconds in Thursday’s prelim. Phillips is the second fastest qualifier for the 200 meter dash final. He won his preliminary heat and the  22.04 clocking is his career best. The 100 final is Saturday at 12:25 p.m. and the 200 final is at 1:35 p.m. on Saturday.

The girls’ shuttle hurdle relay entered the 3A prelims last night behind Mount Pleasant and Clear Creek-Amana, and that’s the order they’ll go into the finals. The Rams won their preliminary heat in 66.62 seconds, a new school record at this hurdle height. Junior Eme Johnson led off and was followed by freshman Nadia Fisher. Sisters Sarah Sandage, a junior, and Kate Sandage, a senior, ran the third and fourth legs. Mount Pleasant is coached by former Jefferson teacher/coach Dave Hutchcroft and the Panthers ran 1:03.39 in the prelims. CC-A was timed in 65.96. The shuttle hurdle final is set for 11:20 a.m. Saturday.

The Greene County teams did not score any points on Thursday. It takes a top eight finish to get team points and the girls’ team just missed getting on the scoreboard when junior discus thrower Hannah Onken was ninth at 112′ 4″. Senior Allison Higgins was 12th in the 3000 meter run in 11:13.13. Fisher tied for 14th in the high jump at 4′ 10″, and freshman Olivia Hansen ran both the 200 and 400 meter dashes. Hansen was 12th in the 400 in 59.98 seconds and she was 17th in the 200 prelims in 26.79. Both are personal bests for Hansen and the 400 time was one of the few instances in the last 20 years a female runner from a Jefferson-based program slipped under 60 seconds.

Other Thursday boys’ events for Greene County saw junior Alex Rasmussen finish 17th in the discus throw at 137′ 0″, and sophomore Max Neese was 21st in the 200 meter dash prelims in 23.63 seconds.

Class 3A action begins at 2 p.m. today at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The first Greene County event is set for 3:55 p.m. with Johnson running the girls’ 400 meter hurdles race. The boys run the 4 x 200 meter final just after 4 p.m. with Neese, junior JC Weitl, senior TJ Lint, and Phillips. Rasmussen is in the shot put at 4:30 p.m. and both Johnson and Kate Sandage are in the 100 meter hurdles prelims around 5:30 p.m. The boys’ 4 x 100 prelims are around 6:30 p.m. with Neese, Weitl, junior Dylan Hamilton, and Phillips. The Greene County girls will top of the evening around 8 p.m. with the 4 x 400 meter relay prelims with Hansen, junior Emma Saddoris, junior Emily Christensen, and Johnson.

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