Top Girls To Watch At A.D. Dickinson Relays


WATCH LIVE A.D. Dickinson Relays (Girls)

Take a look below at some of the biggest names to watch for during the track events at the 2020 A.D. Dickinson Relays on Monday with the girls events starting at 2 PM CT from the University of Northern Iowa Dome in Cedar Falls. All of the races will be live streamed exclusively on MileSplit.com.

Mackenzie Michael (Cedar Falls) - Last year's 1500 meter champion at Dickinson Relays locally here from Cedar Falls High School, Mackenzie Michael is slated to compete in both the 1500 and 800 on Monday. Michael might be the best pure middle distance runner right now in the state of Iowa with her range to run as fast as 2:08 for 800 meters, 55.64 for 400 meters, and 4:51 for 1500 meters. She finished 8th at last year's New Balance Nationals Outdoors in the 800 and was the 2019 Iowa Class 4A state champ in the 400. Michael also already run 57 seconds for the 400 in a win at the Iowa State Games and 2:16 for 800 meters in a win at the Wartburg Invitational this indoor season. She should face some competition in the 1500 from the more longer distance and endurance strength geared girls coming back from the 3K, while the 800 she will have a great matchup with Ainsley Erzin of Carlisle who has the state's fastest time for 800 this season at 2:13 from the Arkansas Invite as well as the Bookin-Nosbisch twins of Ottumwa, Sophia Jungling of Aplington Parkersburg.

Ainsley Erzin (Carlisle) - The aforementioned Erzin is only a sophomore at Carlisle, but is quickly becoming one of the state's top stars in the middle distances. Erzin as a freshmen was the Class 4A state runner-up in the 800 and ran her personal best of 2:11 in the 800 at the Drake Relays with a fourth place finish. She has great range to not only run 57 seconds for 400 meters and 4:42 for 1500 meters on the track, but went undefeated in cross country up until the state meet running consistently in the 18 minute range for 5K. She has already faced off against Michael earlier this winter in the Iowa State Games 400 with a runner-up finish, but if Michael ends up running the 1500 prior to the 800, Erzin might have the advantage racing the 800 fresh.

Sophia Jungling (Aplington Parkersburg) - One of the state's most versatile athletes as the reigning Iowa 2A state 400 meter outdoor champ (56.96) as well as a fourth place finisher in the past fall's Iowa 2A state cross country race (18:28 5K best). She will be the top seed and favorite in the girls 400 at Dickinson Relays and doubling back as a contender in the 800 with her 2:11.98 personal best from last spring's Drake Relays in one of the deepest events of the day in Cedar Falls.

Alli Bookin-Nosbisch (Ottumwa) - The defending 4A girls outdoor state champion in the 800, the Iowa commit Alli Bookin-Nosbisch is one of many stars found in the loaded girls 800 at Dickinson Relays with her lifetime best of 2:10.23 in the event. She will have her twin sister Grace who is also run 2:12 for 800 meters and headed to Iowa with her next fall.  They are both racing the 400 against Jungling as well with Alli having a PR (56.97) which is only one hundredth of a second slower than top seed Jungling (56.96)

Camille Jackson (Ames) - The Iowa 4A state cross country champion this past fall with a 17:23 5K best and just missed qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals with an 11th place finish at the Midwest Regional in Wisconsin, Jackson will be competing in both the 3K and 800 at the Dickinson Relays on Monday. Jackson was a 4th place finisher in the 1500 at the 2018 Dickinson Relays. She has run as fast as 10:14 outdoors in the 3K from a 7th place finish in last year's Drake Relays as well as swift 1500 PR of 4:47. 

Micah Poellet (Linn-Mar) - One of the top returning girls distance runners on the track with personal bests of 4:59 in the 1500 and 10:29 in the 3K, the Linn-Marr junior will be the top seed in the girls 3K invitational race. She is the defending champion from last year's A.D. Dickinson Relays, where she clocked her personal best performance. Poellet was a 2018 Iowa cross country state champion as a sophomore in the 4A classification. She is also seeded second fastest in the 1500 meter run at the Dickinson Relays.

Brooklyn McKee (Johnston) - The Johnston senior McKee will be in contention for the win in both the invitational 3K and 1500 meter races bringing in her personal bests of 10:20 in the 3K and 4:43 in the 1500. McKee finished 5th in the spring at the Iowa State Championships for the 4A girls 1500 and was the state runner-up in the 3K.  She will have just over 3 hours of recovery between the 3K and 1500 at the Dickinson Relays on Monday as the third seed in the 3K and second seed in the 1500. She won the Iowa State Games 1600 earlier this winter in 5:18.

Katie Petersen (Ankeny Centennial) - The senior hurdler Petersen is one of Iowa's best returning and currently has the fastest 55 meter hurdles time this winter statewide with her 8.48 clocking at the Wartburg Invitational victory last weekend. She will attempt to take over the state leaderboard as well in the 60 hurdles at the Dickinson Relays, where she finished 4th in last year's finals with a 9.34 clocking. She is the top returnee from last year's meet. Petersen finished 4th in last spring's 4A state outdoor finals in 100 hurdles and also ran her 14.70 personal best in the Drake Relays finals. 

Eva Van De Mortel (Ankeny) - The defending Dickinson Relays champion in the girls 60 meter dash, Eva Van De Mortel of Akenny is bringing back her speed to the UNI Dome to attempt to go for a repeat. Van De Mortel won the 55 meter dash last week at the Wartburg Invitational with a speedy 7.27 clocking. She posted her 60 meter dash best of 7.84 in her victory at the 2018 Dickinson Relays. Believe or not despite one of the state's standout sprinters, she runs cross country in the fall for conditioning and has worked her 5K time down to 21:40. Last year's Dickinson Relays runner-up in Janyla Hoskins of Dubuque Hempstead is back as well to compete in Cedar Falls on Monday.

Estimated Time Schedule