HC Track Girl’s 1st, Boys’ 2nd at Denison-Schleswig Co-Ed

Harlan Community's Ari Daniels (4-10-26)

Harlan Community's Hagen Sorensen
(4-10-26)

Harlan Community's Julia Heslink (4-10-26)

HC's Cade Nelson, Foxx Argotsinger, & Ayden Redmon (4-10-26)

HC Track Girl’s 1st, Boys’ 2nd at Denison-Schleswig Co-Ed -

(4-10-26) – The return to the oval was successful for Harlan Community track.

After weather caused postponements and cancellations for the past two weeks, Harlan Community track got back to work at the Denison-Schleswig Co-Ed Friday. The Cyclone girls’ topped the standings with 140 pts, getting four event victories over the course of the meet.

Julia Heslink was one of the Cyclone stars in their win, taking the 800m run in 2:19.81. Heslink was pleased with her performance, especially since she’s recovering from a recent injury.

“Recently I've been dealing with a hip problem, so I just went into the race to run hard and just go out and get a strong lead in. The 1st 100 meters felt great and the whole race felt good. Having not really someone to run next to was a little hard and challenging, but I think the race went pretty well.”

Ashlyn Rau won the 1500m run for Harlan Community and finished 2nd in the 3000m run. The Cyclones also got wins in the 4 x 800m and 4 x 400m.

Ari Daniels also helped Harlan Community get valuable points getting a 2nd place finish in 100m hurdles, and helping them to 3rd place finishes in the Sprint Med and Shuttle Hurdle relay.

“We have great motivation,” Daniels said of her team and teammates. “We have great leaders in the team and it's just really the battle, the mental mindset that you just got to show up to practice every day and give it your best so you can show up for a meet and give it your all.”

Daniels time of 17.09 in the 100m hurdles cracked the Cyclones Top-10 all-time in the event.

Denison-Schleswig girls’ were 2nd with 119 pts while Tri-Center was 3rd with 99pts.

Harlan Community boys’ track came in 2nd overall with 129 pts. The relay teams stole the show with wins in the Sprint Med, Distance Med, 4 x 200m, and 4 x 100m. Hagen Sorensen, part of two of those relay wins, talked about the preparation he’s been putting in.

“I've just been doing a lot of sprints and then I've been focusing on my block starts A lot. That's a big thing for me. If I can keep improving on my block starts, I think I can drop my time.”

Sorensen also finished 3rd in the 100m dash. Ayden Redmon and Cade Nelson also helped the Cyclone boys’ to relay wins in the Distance Med and Sprint Med, where their time of 1:36.97 was 8th all-time in school history.

“I've been just working on my block starts and whatnot and just trying to stay consistent with my hip level and making sure that I explode out of blocks as fast as possible and just continue that speed and carry that speed,” said Redmon about his preparations for the relay events.

“We've been working on our baton handoffs for almost like 3 weeks now. We're just trying to get them as consistent as possible, as much as possible,” added Nelson.

Jeffery Gross was 2nd in the 3200m run with a time of 9.59.71, 4th best all-time in school history.

IKM-Manning was your overall winner 145 pts, while Logan-Magnolia was 3rd with 112 pts.

Harlan Community’s track teams will next compete on Monday as they’ll combine the Koos Relays & Ken Carstens Invitational for their first-ever co-ed track meet in the school’s history.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats