The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn girls track & field team qualified for state in four events, by virtue of their performances at their Class 1A State Qualifying Meet May 13 in Lawton.
Junior Jasmine Lux was part of four events that will run at the blue oval at Drake University this weekend. Lux was the champion in the 400 meter dash, setting a new school record, was second in the 200-meter dash, and was part of the runner-up sprint medley team and third-place 4×100 relay teams, which all qualified for state on basis of their times.
“That was quite a day for Jasmine,” Coach Nicole Dorhout said. “She not only broke her own school record that she recently set in the 400-meter dash, but she was part of three other performances that also advanced to state.”
The other members of both relays were junior Lydia Harders, sophomore Emily Mutombo, and freshman Abigail Otto. Alternates are juniors Anna Vander Veen and Emily Otto.
The sprint-medley team had been one of the better HMS relays throughout the year, but the team knew they would need to improve even more to qualify for state. “I thought we would need to be at least a second or two faster,” Dorhout said. “As it turned out, the girls ran 4.5 seconds faster than their previous best. It was fantastic. They all got healthy at the right time and then had outstanding performances.”
The same scenario played out in the 4×100, in which the team ran a huge personal-best for the year. “Again, all the chips fell in the right places and we had a great night,” Dorhout said.
Junior Madison Otto was the runner-up in the 3,000 meter run, although she did not qualify for state. “Madison ran a great race,” Dorhout said. “It was her best time of the year. We’re really proud of what she did.”
Other place winners were Mutombo (fourth in the 100 meter dash), Emily Otto (eighth in the 100), Harders (fifth in the 200 meter dash), VanderVeen (third in the 400 meter hurdles), Madison Otto (eighth in the 1,500 meter run), and the 4×200 team of VanderVeen, Harders, Emily Otto, and Abigail Otto, who were third.
As a team, the Hawks finished fourth of 13 teams, a result of which the coaches were proud. “We had a lot of struggles this year, between COVID and injuries and other things, but we are really happy with the way the girls performed at this meet. We had eight or nine personal-best performances, and that’s what we want from every competitor. We want all our athletes to have their best times and distances at their last meet, whenever that is.”
The state meet will allow limited spectators, but the meet will be live-streamed at the web site of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.
The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, May 20:
• Jasmine Lux in 200-meter dash preliminary – 5:10 pm (section 3, lane 8)
• Jasmine Lux in 400-meter dash final – 7:50 pm (section 3, lane 6)
Friday, May 21:
•4 x 100 relay preliminary – 7:10 pm
Saturday, May 22:
•Sprint medley final – 2:00 pm
• Potential final of 4 x 100 relay – 5:25 pm
Results – State Qualifying –

• denotes state-qualifying
  100-meter dash – E. Mutombo – 4th – 13.60, E. Otto – 8th – 14.54
  200-meter dash – J. Lux – 2nd* – 27.95, L. Harders – 5th – 28.65
  400-meter dash – J. Lux – 1st* (school record) – 1:00.40
  1,500-meter run – M. Otto – 8th – 5:57.13
  3,000-meter run – M. Otto – 2nd – 12:18.68
  400-meter hurdles – A. VanderVeen – 3rd – 1:15.78
  4 x 100-meter relay – 3rd* – 52.64 – M. Mutombo, A. Otto, L. Harders, J. Lux
  Sprint-medley relay – 2nd* – 1:54.12 – M. Mutombo, A. Otto, L. Harders, J. Lux
  4 x 200-meter relay – 3rd – 1:55.49 – A. VanderVeen, M. Otto, L. Harders, A. Otto