Red Oak girls fifth in “Class AA” at Griswold

The Red Oak girls maximized their thin roster of four athletes to win seven medals in the Class AA portion of the Griswold Girls Relays last Tuesday.
Riverside captured the team title with 127 points. AHSTW was a distant runner up with 80 points.
The Tigers tallied 27 points with Jocelyn O’Neal winning both the 100-meters and the long jump. The senior ran a 13.61 to win the 100 and had a top leap of 16 feet, 3 inches to win gold in the long jump.
Natalie Johnson added a third place medal in the 200-meters and Gillian Heim was fifth in the high jump.

Griswold Girls Relays
Class AA Team Results
1. Riverside, 127. 2. AHSTW, 80. 3. Woodbine, 78. 4. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 61. 5. Red Oak, 25.

Red Oak Top Medal Winners
100m: first place, Jocelyn O’Neal, 13.61.
200m: third place, Natalie Johnson, 29.71.
800m: fourth place, Leya Walker, 3:20.80.
High jump: fifth place, Gillian Heim, 4’ 4”.
Long jump: first place, O’Neal, 16’ 3”.
4x100m relay: fourth place, Red Oak, 58.56.
Distance medley relay: fifth place, Red Oak, 5:27.14.

Tigers 10th at Cardinal Relays
Jocelyn O’Neal won the long jump and the Red Oak girls finished 10th in the team standings at the Cardinal Relays in Treynor last Monday.
The host Cardinals won 10 events and grabbed the team title with 176 points.
Red Oak tallied 24 points for 10th place.
“It was pretty windy, but we had a lot of really strong performances across the board,” said Red Oak coach Abigail Ellsworth
O’Neal had a big night for the Tigers, winning four medals.
Her top leap of 16 feet, 6.75 inches to win the long jump was a season-best.
“Jocelyn’s long jump really stood out,” Ellsworth said. “She’s been around the 16-foot range, and it’s very encouraging to see her continue to improve while staying consistent. In the long jump, being able to repeat quality efforts is a great sign, and she’s doing that right now.”
The senior also placed third in the 400-meters and fifth in the 200-meters, both in season-best times. She added a fifth-place medal in the 100-meters.
“She has always been strong in the 400 (meters) and 200 (meters), and it was great to see her drop times, especially after some early meets were cancelled or postponed,” the coach said. “We’re optimistic she’ll keep improving and have another successful season in those events.”
Gabrielle Smith was 12th in the 400-meters but set a new season-best time of 1:34.85.
Leya Walker also ran a season-best 6:52.67 to finish 11th in the 1,500-meters.
“She’s been very consistent and been putting in a lot of work on her pacing,” Ellsworth said of Walker. “To see her take 15 seconds off from the previous meet was a big step forward, and we’re looking forward to seeing how she continues to progress this season.”

Treynor Relays
Team Results
1. Treynor, 176. 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 131.5. 3. Fremont-Mills, 88. 4. Underwood, 73.5. 5. Riverside, 61. 6. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, 56. 7. Glenwood, 37. 8. Shenandoah, 36. 9. Logan-Magnolia, 32. 10. Red Oak, 24. 11. Heartland Christian, 13. 12. Tri-Center, 9.

Red Oak Top Medal Winners
100m: fifth place, Jocelyn O’Neal, 13.69.
200m: fifth place, O’Neal, 27.85.
400m: third place, O’Neal, 1:03.79.
Long jump: first place, O’Neal, 16’ 6.75”.