RACHEL REISER FINISHES 8TH IN CLASS 2A STATE MEET 3000 METERS, BETTERS OWN SCHOOL RECORD ONCE AGAIN

Waukon Indian girls track senior Rachel Reiser brought her high school track career to a successful close this past weekend by finishing eighth in the Class 2A 3000 meter run at the Iowa High School Girls State Track Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Friday, May 19. After a career of sprinting and hurdling that began in junior high and continued through her junior season, Reiser made the switch to distance running this season, finding her niche in the world of track and field.
An undefeated season of running the 3000 meter run this year, including Northeast Iowa Conference and Class 2A District championships, led Reiser to her first-ever state meet appearance, with two new school records falling victim to her new-found ability. The state meet proved to be another stepping stone for the durable senior, as she established herself among the state's distance running elite with her eighth-place finish in the 24-runner Class 2A field, doing so in yet another school record time of 11:00.99.
"Rachel ran exceptionally well," Waukon girls track coach Don Steffens said. "It is very difficult to run down there if you have never been down there before, the place was packed and the excitement was high. Rachel handled it all very, very well. She did exactly what we wanted her to do, she ran aggressively, and was running about fifth or sixth all the way until about the last 100 yards when two girls who had just a little more kick edged her out down the stretch by about a second. We are very happy with her performance down there."
Reiser's 11:00.99 bettered her own latest record in the 3000 meter run by six seconds, her third new mark in the event this season. That time was also just over one second off the sixth-place time of 10:59.45. The Class 2A event was won by Amber Friedrich of Algona in a time of 10:15.74. Oelwein's Kristin Sparks, who also qualified out of the same Class 2A District Meet as Reiser, finished 12th in a time of 11:14.73.
"It's too bad that Rachel sort of slipped through and didn't discover that distance running was for her until now," Coach Steffens said. "She could have had an exceptional career in distance running, this season has just sort of touched the top of the well for her. She had an exceptional year, and I am very, very proud of her."