Comet Cole off to fast start this track and field season

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — When you talk about time, Charles City junior McKayla Cole is eight seconds faster in the 3,000-meter run than she was last year.

When you talk about space, that puts her about 50 to 60 meters closer to the finish line.

Cole knows she has to continue to improve in space and time if she wants to qualify for the prestigious Drake Relays, to be held April 27-30 at Drake University.

“I know someone who ran a 10:39 and made the cut,” said Cole, who posted a 10:40.47 time at the invitation-only Dickinson Relays held Monday inside the University of Northern Iowa Dome.

“But that was last year,” Cole said. “You don’t really know where the cutoff will be this year.”

As a sophomore, Cole recorded a then-personal best 10:48 3K time at the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships, which was good enough for eighth place.

This past fall, Cole placed third in Class 3A at the Iowa Cross Country Championships  with a 5K time of 19:11.

Aside from that, Cole said her recent run at UNI was the toughest of her career.

“It was against the best runners from the biggest schools,” said Cole, who placed seventh. Johnston sophomore Jessica McKee, who was a Top 10 finisher in the Class 4A Cross Country Championships, won the race with a time of 10:30.25.

“I learned a lot from racing against them,” Cole said. “If I had to do it again, I would have made my move earlier in the race.”

Cole said she got earlier start this year when preparing for the track season.

“I’ve been training all winter,” she said. “I’ve been doing a lot of base runs … working out on a treadmill.

“It was a lot of inside work. Now it’s nice to start running outside.”

Though Cole has had better success at the 3K and 5K distances, she says that the 800 run is her favorite race. Last year at the state meet, she placed 12th in the 800.