Worth the wait
Saint girls 4×400 reach final
By Kristi Nixon
DES MOINES — Tom Petty made the phrase, “Waiting is the Hardest Part,” popular more than 40 years ago.
St. Ansgar’s girls 4×400 made it known that it is still true today.
With a delay due to starter sound technical issues, the foursome of Lila Powers, Amelia Porisch, Kinsey Anderson and Natalie Bork had to wait nearly 20 minutes to get the opening heat of the event going and then had to wait longer to see if their time, 4 minutes, 8.64 seconds was good enough to qualify for Saturday’s final.
Turns out it was more than enough as they take in the fourth-best qualifier out of all three heats.
The wait was so long that the crowd started up The Wave that went around Drake Stadium at least three times.
How patient was Powers in both cases?
“I looked up at my coaches and they told me to keep moving,” Powers said. “I knew I’d get stiff after that because I didn’t know how long it would take, but I just tried to stay cool and warmed up.
“Learned a little bit after the 4×8 that you just have to stay calm and not celebrate too early, but just sitting here with my team was enough to pass the time, so it was good.”
It was a season best for the quartet by seven seconds and featured at least one split under a minute.
The Saints will run the final at 3:55 p.m. Saturday.
Anderson, who said she loves her team, said that the the group has to stay together.
“We have to give it all we have,” she said.
