WAVERLY - Brooke Foreman dedicated her state title in the 400 meter hurdles last year to her late grandfather, who lost his battle with cancer before getting a chance to see her run.

Foreman is dedicating this season to Ed Foreman as well with a unique plan that she hopes will help fight cancer and motivate herself to win another state crown.

The plan is still in the formative stages, but Foreman would like to receive pledges from people in the community who would donate money to the fight against cancer based on how well she does in the Class 4A state meet this year.

People would sign up to make pledges, perhaps $25 if she finishes first at the state meet or $20 if she finishes second.

"Hopefully I can get a lot of publicity and get a lot of support for my idea," she said Tuesday after competing at the Wartburg College Co-Ed High School Invitational in the Hoover Field House.

All proceeds from the fundraiser would be donated to the Mercy Hospital cancer center. "I wanted to do something special my senior year to make it memorable," she said.

Foreman welcomes the added pressure that could come with her unique idea. "I need it. I definitely need it," she said.

She said she's still working on her plan, but is excited about the idea. "I haven't worked out the details," she said. "I just thought of it last night."

Washington Coach Frank Scherrman supports Foreman's plan.

"Just on her own, she decided, 'How can I keep my grandpa's memory as a motivator and do something in his name, in his honor?' She just completely came up with that on her own," he said. "Fantastic."

However, Scherrman wants to make sure Foreman doesn't put too much pressure on herself this season.

"We're going to have to talk to her a little bit about that," he said. "There's going to be enough pressure (as the defending state champion).

"She'll have a big target on her back all year long, so I don't want her to be disappointed to have the same time and things don't go quite her way."

Scherrman said people can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if they'd like to participate in Foreman's project and pledge money.

Foreman's speciality is the 400 meter hurdles, but they did not offer that event at the indoor meet in Waverly. She competed in the 55-meter hurdles and placed second after she and Mary Young of Urbandale accidentally brushed each other during the race.

"We were definitely bumping into each other," Foreman said. "It caused me to slow down and go a little higher over the hurdles, because I was pretty scared I was going to fall.

"It's no big deal," she said. "It was the first meet and I'm not complaining."

LINN-MAR SENIOR Brandon Ophoff blazed to victory in the boys 55-meter hurdles in 7.62 Tuesday. He looked a little wobbly in his preliminary heat, then looked smooth in the finals.

"That was really a surprise," he said after his victory. "The prelims were really sloppy, but I cleaned it up a little bit for the finals."

Tuesday was the first time he had run a full race in spikes this year and was obviously pleased with the result. He's looking forward to the start of the outdoor track season in a few weeks.

"Outdoors is always a whole other game," said Ophoff. "You have double the hurdles (in the 110 highs) and anything can happen. But it's always nice to start out good."

Ophoff has committed to run track at Iowa State next year, specializing in the hurdles and perhaps the decathlon.

Ophoff placed third in the 110 high hurdles at the state meet last year, helping Linn-Mar finish third in the Class 4A team standings. He also ran the first leg on the shuttle hurdle relay team that placed second at the state meet.

"I want to do well in the state meet this year, but really I think my biggest goal is the team," he said. "I think our team can do really well.

"We've got a lot of good guys. If we're all running on all cylinders, we should be good at the state meet."

Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans, a state title threat in the 3200 this year, eased into the new season by running the third leg on Linn-Mar's 4x800 relay that placed sixth. Evans finished second at the state cross country meet last fall.

Taylor Vogel of Cedar Rapids Washington captured the girls 400-meter dash Tuesday in 1:03.73, beating Brooke Long of Ankeny by 62-hundredths of a second.

Austin Dellamuth of Cedar Rapids Prairie won the boys 400-meter dash in 53.01 seconds, clipping Nate Lucs of Waukee by 29-hundredths of a second.

There were a total of 24 boys teams and 20 girls teams in the meet, which began at 3 p.m. and ended at 10 p.m.

METRO GIRLS RESULTS
Top 8 Finishers

Cedar Rapids Washington
1st - Taylor Vogel, 400 meter dash, 1:03.73
2nd - Brooke Foreman, 55 meter hurdles, 8.90
2nd - 4x200 relay, 1:50.52, Taylor Vogel, Jasmyne Jones, Sarah Witte, Brooke Foreman
5th - Taylor Vogel, 200 meter dash, 27.77
6th - Shannon Gorman, 1500 meter run, 5:13.74
7th - 4x800 relay, 10:57.38, Sarah Witt, Megan Kelly, Sam Stuer, Shannon Gorman
8th - 4x400 relay, 4:33.21, Jasmyne Jones, Mikayla Frye, Megan Muller, Brooke Foreman

Cedar Rapids Jefferson
4th - Madison Ranschau, 55 meter hurdles, 9.11
5th - Malya Rattliffe, 55 meter dash, 7.71
8th - Lucy Schneekloth, 55 meter dash, 7.78

Cedar Rapids Prairie
3rd - Jessica Harris, long jump, 15-2 1/4

Marion
6th - Distance Medley, 4:42.29, Morgan Kolarik, Natalie Ertz, Ellen Cannon, Allison Scott

METRO BOYS RESULTS
Top 8 Finishers

Linn-Mar
1st - Brandon Ophoff, 55 meter hurdles, 7.62
4th - Chase Grabau, 3200 meter run, 10:17.06
4th - Matt Simon, 800 meter run, 2:04.40
4th (tie) - Brandon Ophoff, high jump, 5-10
5th - Mike Keiser, 55 meter hurdles, 8.15
6th - 4x200 relay, 1:37.45, Brandon Jeffries, Colton Sanchez, Travis Kvach, Jake Luerkens
6th - Jabez Walker, 800 meter run, 2:06.77
6th - 4x800 meter relay, 8:41.36, Amani Richardson, Devin Bettmann, Josh Evans, Tanner Rathje
7th - Michael Detert, long jump, 20-10
7th - Jack Halupnik, shot put, 45-11 3/4
8th - Ryan Wirth, 400 meter dash, 54.57

Cedar Rapids Prairie
1st - Austin Dellamuth, 400 meter dash, 53.01
3rd - Tristan Beyer, 400 meter dash, 53.34
7th - Mitch Pritts, 1600 meter run, 4:43.67
8th - 4x200 meter relay, 1:38.03, Jarred Edmonds, Tristan Beyer, Haakon Wilz, Austin Dellamuth

Cedar Rapids Jefferson
7th - 4x400 relay, 3:41.86, Nate Karlan, Alex Baxter, Ryan Deerberg, Jordan Selby