With her classic bouncy stride common for elite level high jumpers, Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Kennedy Brant bounds out of the blocks on track to a state medal in the Class 1A 400-meter dash on Thursday, May 22, at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

DES MOINES — Last Thursday evening (May 21) – cool for state track standards – area athletes went all-in on their respective events including Gladbrook-Reinbeck junior Kennedy Brant who secured another state medal with her effort in the Class 1A girls 400-meter dash by finishing with a time of 59.94 – a season-best time that earned her eighth place.

Looking a bit nervous before the race began, Brant admitted having lots of pressure put on herself.

“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself,” she said. “Just comparing myself to last year, I wanted to do better than that.”

With her legs tying up, Brant kept her arms moving and fought home hard, dipping under 60 seconds and earning another state medal to kick off her busy weekend at Drake Stadium.

With the 400 hurdles and high jump on deck for Friday night, the Rebels’ star athlete has her recovery figured out.

“Definitely some stretching tonight, lot of water, probably a hot shower, and then more stretching and more water,” she said.

Meanwhile on the infield, GMG freshman Arianna Pierce got 16th in the shot put with a toss of 34-10 1/2.