Drake Relays: Mid-Prairie's Hostetler sisters run 1-2 in 3,000

DES MOINES ? Anna Hostetler has emerged as the top girls? distance runner in the state.

Her chief challenger is her training partner.

Her sister.

Mid-Prairie?s Hostetler siblings went 1-2 in the girls? 3,000-meter run at the Drake Relays on Thursday at Drake Stadium.

Anna, a junior, crossed the line in 9 minutes, 51.08 seconds. Marie, a freshman, was next in 9:56.78.

?It?s awesome,? Anna said. ?We train together. We work hard together, and the hard work has paid off.?

It?s not as if this was some sort of surprise. The Hostetlers finished 1-2 in Class 2A at the state cross country meet last fall (with Anna?s effort of 17:57 leading all runners in all classes), and they were seeded 1-2 (led by Marie) coming into the race.

?This is pretty cool,? Marie said. ?Last year, I watched (McKenzie) Yanek and (Stephanie) Jenks run the 3,000.

?I thought I?d be in this race, but I didn?t have a clue I?d be finishing this high.?

The Hostetlers took out the pace from the start, with Anna leading and Marie chasing.

They were 1-2 from the 400 mark all the way until the finish. Iowa City West?s Bailey Nock was third; Adrianna Katcher of Center Point-Urbana was fifth.

?We wanted to go out and hold the pace the whole time,? Anna said. ?We were hoping to go 9:40 to 9:50.?

Discus champion Leah Dusterhoft of Iowa City West didn?t get the distance she wanted. But the result ?was everything I hoped for.?

Disterhoft?s effort of 129 feet, 3 inches was four inches better than runner-up Kenzie Sullivan of Pocahontas Area.

?I thought it would take 135 feet to win,? said Dusterhoft, a senior who will throw next year at South Dakota.

The outcome moved her to tears multiple times.

?I thought I was done crying,? she said. ?Then they handed me the (championship) flag.

?I?m just very happy right now. I want to thank my coaches and my parents. There?s nothing like this.?

Darby Thomas of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln was the long-jump champion at 18-4.

Hannah Anderson, a freshman at Washington, was second at 18 1 1/4.

Iowa City West?s Valerie Welch (17-11 1/2) and Kitra Bell (17-3) were fourth and fifth.