T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - East Marshall sophomore Sydney Hull (7) competes in the Class 2A 800-meter run on Saturday at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Hull finished 19th in the 800 and later was 18th in the 1,500, setting personal-best times in both races.

DES MOINES — Sydney Hull has a season of firsts behind her and an offseason of running in front of her.

The East Marshall sophomore made her Drake Stadium debut on Saturday at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships, completing the Mustangs’ eight-entry slate with two events of her own.

In order to do next year what she wanted to do this year, Hull plans to put on the miles this summer.

Hull finished 19th in the Class 2A girls’ 800-meter run and 18th in the 1,500, running personal-best times in both to represent the Mustangs on Saturday at the state meet in Des Moines.

Hull had the spike marks to show for her efforts, but it was all part of the experience she’s been working for.

“A couple of times,” she shrugged. “I got kicked here, spiked there. But I just tried to get out of that and not get boxed in.”

Hull’s Saturday began with a new personal-best time of 2 minutes, 23.04 seconds, to earn 19th in the 800. She was seeded 11th with her qualifying time of 2:24.92, but couldn’t move up the final standings even after improving her best time ever.

“I felt really tight on the last lap,” she said. “My legs were not there today. I’m not sure what happened. But I can feel it here (after the 1,600). I stretched my legs out so I could make that better for this race.”

Tipton’s Noelle Steines set the new 2A state meet record with her winning time of 2:11.49 — the second-fastest 800 time in Iowa this season. Kadence Huck of Nashua-Plainfield won the 1A title in 2:10.22.

Fellow North Iowa Cedar Leaguers were scattered throughout the 800 field, as Grundy Center’s Grace Storjohann was third (2:14.52), Hudson’s Mollie Hansen was ninth (2:19.33), Oelwein’s Ashlyn Sauser was 16th (2:22.56) and Denver’s Hailey Homan was 23rd (2:27.21).

Hull took nearly two seconds off her personal-best 1,500-meter time, improving upon her qualifying time (5:05.15) by running 5:03.20 in Saturday’s 2A finals. Seeded 14th, Hull was content with 18th place.

“Yeah, I got out hard and I just tried to stay at my pace the whole time,” she said. “My race, not anybody else’s.

“Two-second PR. It felt good, but it was a little rough though.”

Hull’s final lap was the fastest of the three complete circuits around the blue oval, as she finished with a split of 1:21.091.

“I wanted to go out hard, but I just didn’t want to kill myself first,” she said. “I wanted to have stuff left over for my second or third lap.”

Steines of Tipton took the 1,500 title as well in 4:35.19, the sixth-fastest time in Iowa this year. Oelwein’s Sauser finished fifth (4:44.58) and Union Community’s Amilia Condon was 13th (4:57.68).

Hull is the first East Marshall girl to qualify in both the 800 and 1,500 since her older sister Ellie Hull achieved the feat in 2022. Ellie earned 20th in the 800 and 22nd in the 1,500.

Sydney’s sights are set on higher yet.

“Obviously (I’ve got to) work harder and run a lot more, especially for this race,” she said. “More mileage and just push yourself at a faster pace and getting used to that pace at that mileage.”