Auxier wins four golds at Districts

MOUNT AYR — Villisca’s junior Courtney Auxier has become something of a spectacle throughout southwest Iowa.

As she stepped into the starting blocks at the Corner Conference Meet in Tabor on May 4, there were athletes from other schools who left their camps to watch her run the 100-meter dash.

Again, at the District 10 Meet in Mount Ayr Friday, the crowd along the infield and the fence grew for the 100-meter dash, with spectators clamoring over the speed and intensity the Blue Jay displays each time she steps onto the track.

Auxier did not disappoint, taking four gold medals home, two individual and two relays, advancing to the State Meet in Des Moines in the long jump, 100-meter dash, the 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays.

In her first competition, Auxier leapt 16 feet, four inches in the long jump. Her season best was set at Corning on April 22 with a jump of 16 feet, 7 inches. Her district mark placed her in 15th place going into State.

In her second event, Auxier won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.08 seconds. 

The junior was even with the top four runners at the 40-meter mark, but her tenacity kicked in as she pulled away from the pack, winning the race by more than a quarter of a second. Auxier has only finished second in the 100-meter dash twice this season.

Auxier led off for the Blue Jays’ 4x200-meter relay team which included sophomores Lilly Berggren and Sheri Schaaf, along with freshman Morganne Haer.

“I was talking to the girl from Bedford, who asked what lane we where in,” Auxier said. The Blue Jays were in the fourth lane, while the Bulldogs were in the fifth. “She didn’t like it that she couldn’t see me, but it gave me a pretty good target to try to catch up to.”

Auxier caught and passed the Bedford runner, setting the stage for the gold medal-winning team as they finished the half-mile race in 1:49.38.

In her final race, the 4x100-meter, Auxier came in very confident in her team’s chances of taking the gold.

“We have seen some pretty good competition this season, but we’ve stepped up every time and never lost all year,” Auxier said. The Blue Jay relay team had already beaten every other team in the district meet at some point in its 2010 campaign.

With the same team as the 4x200, Auxier started the one-lap race in the same fashion as the previous. The foursome took gold in 51.79 seconds, which was the seventh fastest state qualifying time. The Blue Jay team’s time is less than one second off the pace of the first-place team from Highland who had a time of 50.9 seconds.

Auxier’s four-gold performance at the district meet made her the highest decorated athlete in District 10.

Head Coach Steve Wood debated running Auxier in the open 200-meter dash, rather than one of the relays, but decided to keep the relay teams together. Auxier’s season best in the 200-meter dash of 26.09 would have placed her in the top four at State.

“I’m just excited to be running with my teammates at State,” Auxier said after the 4x200 relay. “We have all been working really hard all season for this, and now we are on our way.

Berggren, as a sophomore, qualified for State as part of the two relay teams along with her gold-medal individual effort in the 400-meter hurdles. She ran the race in 1:08.5, which seeded her 12th at the state meet.