Ames' Corey Phillips ends illustrious high school career with boys discus school record at state track

It was the fitting end to an amazing final season for beloved Ames senior Corey Phillips.

Phillips, who helped the Little Cyclones win the Class 4A boys state basketball championship and had a big year at tight end/receiver in football, placed second in the 4A boys competition at the state track meet Thursday in Des Moines.

"I had a great year," Phillips said. "All you can really ask for is to compete at the highest level. I feel I did that all year round and this feels great."

In taking runner-up honors behind Indianola's Walker Whalen, Phillips set a new school record with a throw of 195 feet, 10 inches. Whalen set the all-time state meet record with a winning throw of 204-9.

MORE: Ames football, basketball star Corey Phillips pretty dang good at discus, too

Phillips hit his school-record throw on the final attempt of his career. He threw 180-7 on his second attempt in the second flight to reach the finals; he scratched on his other two attempts.

In the finals, Phillips was on top of his game. He threw 187-5 and 187-9 before setting the school record.

Whalen also hit his best mark on his final attempt.

"Hats off to Walker — he deserves it," Phillips said. "But I had a great year. I'm happy."

Ames places second in 4A girls 4x800

Marley Turk wasn't expecting her team to be in the thick of the 4A girls 4x800-meter relay during the morning session of the state track meet Thursday.

Ames entered the meet ranked second, but Turk said she figured the Little Cyclones were going to fall back once competition got going at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

“Before this meet started, I saw we were second and I was like that won’t last long," Turk said. "I thought we’re probably going to get sixth or seventh.”

That is until she saw her older sister Sydney about to get her the baton on the final exchange.

"When I saw Sydney come around in third place, I thought, 'This might be a reality,'" Marley Turk said. "I just went out and focused on the Pleasant Valley girl."

Turk passed Pleasant Valley's Josie Case early in the final leg. Dubuque Hempstead's Brooke O'Brien had too big of a cushion in first place for Turk to make up, so she focused on Valley's 9:31.73 time that won the first heat.

"I started to cruise and my legs started to get a little bit heavy," Marley Turk said. "I saw the time and I realized, 'You'd better run a 1:20 in your last 400 meters so you can beat Valley.'"

She ran a 2:19.669 on her split to give Ames a time of 9:29.10 to best Valley and Pleasant Valley's 9:32.33 for second place behind Hempstead's 9:21.09.

“I gave everything I got," Marley Turk said. "Even if I fell down at the finish line, they were not catching me.”

Her older sister was thrilled with the victory.

“It’s incredible,” Sydney Turk said. “Getting second is such a big accomplishment.”

Ames placed 13th in last year's 4x800 at state.

“That's a ton of improvement,” Ames senior Nyadio Chan said.

Claire Helmers ran the opening leg for Ames. Helmers was sick when Ames placed 10th at the Drake Relays in 9:44.73, so the freshman was glad to get a second go-around on the blue oval.

“I was like, 'I need to redeem myself at state,'” Helmers said. “Being able to redeem myself and do it with these girls was fun.”

Marley Turk had also battled health issues this spring. She suffered a stress fracture and sesamoiditis, inflammation in the bones and tendons on the balls of her feet, which held her out until late in the season.

Those injuries made Turk focus extra hard when she returned to the track.

“With the injury, I realized I was taking racing for granted,” she said. “I realized I need to give it my all.”

The Ames girls shuttle hurdle team ran in the 4A preliminaries Thursday. The Little Cyclones came up short of qualifying for the finals, with the team of Aker Yor, Ireland Buss, Sammi Schaben and Claire Galvin taking third in their heat and 16th overall with a time of 1:10.67.

Galvin also placed 14th in the 4A girls high jump with a jump of 5 feet even. Ella Stagg finished 17th in the 4A girls discus with a personal-record throw of 103-2 and Chan came in 18th in the open 400 with a time of 1:01.27.

The Ames boys 4x800 team also ran Thursday. The Little Cyclone quartet of Charlie Bennett, Camden Wacha, Connor Johnson and Zachary Lenkaitis placed 21st with a season-best time of 8:25.91.

Alexis Houge finishes sixth in the Class 1A girls 400

Collins-Maxwell senior Alexis Houge picked up an individual medal in Class 1A girls competition Thursday.

Houge bounced back from scratching in the 100 dash prelims to place sixth in the 400. She ran a time of 1:00.14.

"I feel like I gave it everything I had," Houge said. "I've been wanting a medal. Obviously I wanted to place higher, but it's OK. A medal is a medal."

Nashua Plainfield's Cadence Huck won in 57.35.

Houge will have a chance to earn two more medals. She runs in the sprint medley and 4x100 relays over the weekend.

"We're going to do really well in those relays," Houge said. "I'm excited for those."

Collins-Maxwell also ran in the 1A girls shuttle hurdle relay prelims Thursday. The team of Marissa Boege, Gracie Leslie, Hannah Kimberly and Avery Fricke took 16th overall with a time of 1:12.57.

Individually, Mary Staudt took 14th in the 1A girls shot put for the Spartans with a personal-record throw of 33-10.5 Ethan Haus took 20th for the Collins-Maxwell boys in the 1A 3,200 with a personal-record time of 10:47.05.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Corey Phillips sets new Ames record in boys discus at state track meet