2014 South Dakota State Meet Special Features are written by South Dakota MileSplit Special Guest, Rich Winter.
You can follow Rich Winter's blog at http://panicbutton.sportsblog.com/.
Photo via Kernit Grimshaw (kernit.zenfolio.com)
PIERRE'S CORTNEY DOWLING LOOKING TO ASSAULT SOUTH DAKOTA SPRINT RECORDS
By Rich Winter
When the AA girl sprinters convene on the first day of the South Dakota state meet, all eyes will be on Pierre sophomore, Cortney Dowling.
Well, Actually, all eyes are going to be on her back side because Dowling can absolutely fly.
Dowling has the top qualifying times in the state and the 100, 200 and 400.
100 meters:
| 1. | Dowling, Cortney | 11.80 | Pierre T.F. Riggs | ||||
| 2. | Ireland, Brooke | 12.00 | Sturgis Brown | ||||
| 3. | Klapperich, Alaina | 12.00 | RC Central | ||||
| 4. | DeWitt, Callie | 12.20 | SF O'Gorman |
200 meters:
| 200m Dash | |||||||
| Automatic - 26.80 | |||||||
| 1. | Dowling, Cortney | 24.50 | Pierre T.F. Riggs | ||||
| 2. | Denzer, Macy | 25.20 | Watertown | ||||
| 3. | Sullivan, Maddison | 25.30 | RC Central | ||||
| 4. | Ireland, Brooke | 25.50 | Sturgis Brown | ||||
| 5. | Klapperich, Alaina | 25.50 | RC Central | ||||
400:
| 400m Dash | |||||||
| Automatic - 1:00.10 | |||||||
| 1. | Dowling, Cortney | 55.60 | Pierre T.F. Riggs | ||||
| 2. | Ireland, Brooke | 56.60 | Sturgis Brown | ||||
| 3. | Sullivan, Maddison | 57.80 | RC Central | ||||
| 4. | Bickley, Courtney | 57.90 | Brandon Valley | ||||
You start looking at those times and you realize that before she is done at Riggs high school, Dowling is going to be putting a hurting or at least a scare into all the sprint record in South Dakota.
That 11.8 in the 100 she ran at the Pierre Invite and she just crushed an elite field.
The 24.5 in the 200 is .7 of a second faster than Macy Denzer of Watertown. In other words she owns the field in that 200.
In the 400, Dowling dipped down to 55.6 this season and she's a full second ahead of Brook Ireland, who is the defending champion in that event.
Dowling won the state 100 and 200 titles last year as a frosh, but Ireland nipped her in the AA, 400 final last season and you can bet the ultra-competitive Dowling will be looking for that gold medal at 400 meters.
The Lady Govs finished 5th at the state meet last season but no doubt they will be looking to climb higher in the standings this season.
Key to any Governor run will be the performance of thrower, Sydney Palmer who is ranked No. 2 in the shot put and No. 3 in the discus.
But the real key for Pierre is the success of Dowling. She's even dabbled in the 800 and PIerre has a solid mile relay.
Don't blink, cuz you might just miss one of the fastest women in South Dakota history.