Des Moines, IA- Day two of the 2026 Iowa State Track and Field Championships has wrapped up and a pair of sweeps in the throwing events has ensured that the Southeast Conference strengthens their reputation within the ring.
Field Events (Time: 2 pm)
It was not the most dominant performance of Burlington’s Kylee Hill’s career, but her first toss of the afternoon was all she needed to three-peat as the shot put champion, this time in Class 3A. The sweep of the throwing events gave the junior 20 points by herself.
Mt. Pleasant’s Ella Ensminger finished in 11th place after logging a throw of 37 feet and 1.75 inches.
It was a day to throw a personal best in the girls’ Class 2A discus. Aubrey Weber of Central Lee just missed out on the finals by seven inches with her heave of 120 feet and 1 inch for 9th place.
Payton Harris has a bright future for Mediapolis, as the sophomore launched the discus 137 feet and 7 inches—over 10 feet further than her personal best—to grab 2nd place and eight points for the Bullettes.
Five members from the Southeast Conference competed in the boys’ Class 3A long jump and Keokuk’s Kurt Joy, Burlington’s Brady Britt, and Hoang Quang of Mt. Pleasant took 22nd through 24th place, respectively.
Mt. Pleasant’s Kayle Brown soared 21 feet and 3.5 inches for 9th place, an excellent start for the freshman. Still, Eli Zillman of Fairfield compiled a couple more points for the Trojans after leaping a season best 21 feet and 6.5 inches for 5th place and four points.
In the boys’ Class 2A high jump, Shay Stephens of West Burlington/Notre Dame and Mediapolis’ Lathan Keller both failed to clear 6 feet and 1 inch, but one failed jump for the Nike gave him 18th place, while Keller took 12th place.
Leaping past all the local competition and most of the upperclassmen, Kellan Porter for West Burlington/Notre Dame cleared 6 feet and 3 inches to tie his personal best and to snatch 4th place and five points, as he cleared the jump on his first try.
Field Events (Time: 4:30 pm)
The Southeast Conference kept their reputation of boasting some of the best throwers in all of the state was held intact, as Greyson Hartman swept the boys’ Class 3A throwing events with a gold medal throw of 60 feet and 4.75 inches in the shot put. In fact, every throw of his that was measured would have won the championship. Hartman, alone, gave 20 points to the Demons.
Columbus’ Fritz Figaro added nearly six feet to his personal best to finish in 7th place in the boys’ Class 2A discus, earning two points for the Wildcats.
For the girls’ Class 3A long jump, Jaslyn Villa of Washington finished in 19th with a leap of 15 feet and 6.25 inches and Bella Crew of Keokuk took 17th place with a mark of 15 feet and 9.25 inches.
Mt. Pleasant’s Izzy Sloat, who has been phenomenally consistent all year, jumped 17 feet and 1.75 inches for 7th place and two points towards the Panthers’ total.
Lastly, Avery Crear of Mediapolis finished in 19th place for the girls’ Class 2A high jump, clearing 4 feet and 10 inches.
Running Events for Classes 2A and 3A
In the girls’ Class 2A distance medley relay, the team of Meadow Bennett, Olivia Ritter, Kaylee Webb, and Hannah Ritter of West Burlington/Notre Dame took 23rd place with a time of 4 minutes and 25 seconds. Mediapolis’ crew of Josie Hutcheson, Brynlee Steiner, Evie Schmidgall, and Avery Dietz finished in 14th place with a time of 4 minutes and 17 seconds.
For the girls’ Class 3A division, Mia Mason, Mara Smith, Charley Huebner, and Avery Rump of Fort Madison finished in 19th place with a time of 4 minutes and 21 seconds. Washington added a point with an 8th place finish of 4 minutes and 10 seconds with the team of Leighton Messinger, Jaedyn Moore, Lauren Drahota, and Iris Dahl.
Over on the boys’ side in Class 2A, as the only school for southeast Iowa, Mediapolis ripped off a 6th place time of 3 minutes and 34 seconds, as the squad of Will Luttenegger, Kyler Crow, Henry Luttenegger, and Will Schmidgall snatched three points for the Bulldogs.
Keokuk’s Alaya Carr finished in 23rd place for the girls’ Class 3A 100-meter hurdles prelims.
Columbus has featured two of the best hurdlers over the last several years, and the pair will be moving on the boys’ Class 2A 110-meter hurdles after Lamar Ceant turned in a 2nd place time of 14.81 seconds and Alexander Rees claimed a time of 14.93 seconds for 4th place. They will run on Saturday at 1:38 pm.
In Class 3A for the boys’ 110-meter hurdles prelims, Spencer McCready of Fairfield rounded out the full heat with a time of 15.96 seconds.
Mt. Pleasant and Washington both turned in season best times for the girls’ Class 3A 4×200 meter relay, as the quad of Ellie Freeman, Delaney Anderson, Kynlee White, and Alex Scott claimed 11th place with a time of 1 minute and 44 seconds; the Demons turned in a 7th place time of 1 minute and 43 seconds for two points with the team of Villa, Drahota, Messinger, and Moore.
In the boys’ Class 2A 4×200 meter relay, West Burlington/Notre Dame with the team of Maddox Diewold, Logan Hamma, Eli Oleson, and Sam Dzawo grabbed 23rd place and Mediapolis finished in 22nd place with the team of Kael Wischmeier, Keller, Truett Larson, and Brock Spears.
Fairfield’s crew of Eli Hoffman, Voss Richardson, Dayson Workman, and Ethan Bisgard snatched 23rd place with a time of 1 minute and 31 seconds in the boys’ Class 3A division for the 4×200 meter relay.
Ella Howell of Columbus earned two points with a 7th place time of 1 minute and 6 seconds in the girls’ Class 2A 400-meter hurdles.
Washington’s Leighton Messinger unleashed her personal best time of 1 minute and 4 seconds in the girls’ Class 3A 400-meter hurdles, taking 4th place and five points for the Demons.
In the boys’ Class 2A 400-meter hurdles, Logan Hamma of West Burlington/Notre Dame claimed 20th place with a time of 57.36 seconds.
Over in the boys’ Class 3A division, Lincoln Wray of Keokuk finished in 16th place with a mark of 57.03 seconds.
Mt. Pleasant’s group of White, Scott, Taylor Williamson, and Anderson exhibited their speed in the girls’ Class 3A 4×100 meter relay prelims and submitted a time of 48.4 seconds, which was the 3rd fastest, advancing the Panthers to the finals. The group will run on Saturday at 3:50 pm.
In the boys’ Class 2A 4×100 meter relay prelims, Mediapolis was unfortunately disqualified due to an illegal exchange of the baton.
The Columbus team of Tyson Corneille, Rees, Domonic Garcia, and Ceant just snuck into the finals with an 8th place time of 43.44 seconds, which was a tenth-of-a-second faster than 9th place. The Wildcats will run on Saturday at 3:58 pm.
Keokuk might have Ryan Bair, but it was not fast enough to qualify for the boys’ Class 3A 4×100 meter relay finals as Joy, Jackson Bair, and Antonio Crockett took 10th place with a mark of 42.91 seconds.
Steiner, Gracie Beschorner, Dietz, and Schmidgall of Mediapolis turned in a season best time of 4 minutes and 14 seconds in the girls’ Class 2A 4×400 meter relay prelims to claim 21st place.
In the girls’ division for Class 3A, Washington snatched 18th place with a time of 4 minutes and 8 seconds with the team of Drahota, Villa, Messinger, and Dahl.
The Mediapolis boys’ team was aiming at avenging their mistake in the 4×100, as the team of Nathan Schmidgall, Will and Henry Luttenegger, and Crow sprinted to a season best time of 3 minutes and 21 seconds, which was the 2nd fastest time in the boys’ Class 2A 4×400 meter relay prelims. The Bulldogs will compete on Saturday at 4:36 pm.
Team Standings
Boys’ Class 2A
- Grundy Center: 33, 2. Alburnett: 24, 3. Spirit Lake: 15, … 8. Mediapolis: 11, … 31. West Burlington/Notre Dame: 5, … 45. Columbus: 2
Girls’ Class 2A
- Spirit Lake: 35, 2. Grundy Center: 30, 3. Mid-Prairie: 27, … 17. Mediapolis: 8, … 34. Columbus: 2
Boys’ Class 3A
- Pella: 41, Clear Lake: 31, 3. Gilbert: 27, … 6. Washington: 22, … 14. Fairfield: 12, … 27. Fort Madison: 2
Girls’ Class 3A
- Pella: 50, 2. Sioux Center and Mt. Vernon: 35, 4. Williamsburg and ADM: 23, 6. Burlington: 20, … 17. Washington: 8, … 21. Mt. Pleasant: 6, … 26. Fort Madison: 3
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Stay tuned to KILJ for updates and an end-of-day recap for championship Saturday, as we thank our sponsors for allowing up to cover the 2026 State Track and Field Championships!