During an early-season preview of postseason-caliber competition, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn girls' track athletes outpaced the best in two events and nearly won a third at the Sioux City Relays. The Hawks competed at Elwood Olson Stadium on April 9.

Emily Mutombo, Abby Otto, Lydia Harders and Jasmine Lux combined to win the Class C sprint medley relay and set a new meet record time of 1:55.13. The same quartet also won the 4x100 meter relay in a time of :53.26.

The Hawks nearly completed the trifecta in the 4x400 relay, finishing slightly over two seconds behind first-place Pierce, Neb. Mutombo, Anna Vander Veen, Harders and Lux ran a time of 4:21.04.

H-M-S added a third place finish in the 4x200, with Harders, Mutombo, Otto and Lux running a time of 1:55.15.

Mutombo also fared well individually, finishing sixth in the Class C 100-meter dash (:13.78) and seventh in the long jump (15'10").

Otto also competed in the long jump and finished in 21st place. Her best distance was 14'4-3/4".

In the distance events, Madison Otto placed 15th in the 3000-meter run (12:38.55) and Alexis Croat finished 21st (13:15.21). Otto added a 24th-place finish in the 1500-meter run (6:01.07).

• Compete at Dutch Relays

Earlier in the week the Hawk girls competed at the Dutch Relays, which was hosted by MOC-Floyd Valley on April 5 at Orange City.

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Alexis Croatt maintains her pace during the 3200 meter run at the Dutch Relays in Orange City.

The 4x200 relay team of Emily Mutombo, Emily Otto, Lydia Harders and Jasmine Lux finished second (1:52.97). Mutombo, Abby Otto, Harders and Lux also placed second in the sprint medley (1:58.58).

In the open sprints, Lux was runner-up in the 400-meter dash (1:05.35); Mutombo placed third in the 100-meter dash (:13.66); and Harders came in fourth in the 200-meter dash (:28.24).

Mutombo added a fifth-place finish in the long jump (15'2").

The Hawks finished ninth among the 10 competing teams with 36 points. MOC-Floyd Valley won the team title with 109 points and Sioux Center was second with 94. Other team scores were Unity Christian 69, Sheldon 63, Spirit Lake Park 57, Sibley-Ocheyedan 54, Gehlen Catholic 44, Western Christian 41 and Storm Lake 22.