High School Track

Day two of the 2025 State Track and Field Championships is in the books and one of our local teams could be eyeing a surge towards the team championship. Here’s some of the highlights from day two’s events.

Starting with the girls’ Class 3A field events, Mt. Pleasant’s Ella Ensminger and Brylie Lorence of Fort Madison were looking to earn some points for their teams in the shot put and did just that. Ensminger earned 8th place and one point for the Panthers with a heave of 38 feet and 9 inches. 

Lorence nearly had the championship in her grasp after uncorking a throw of 44 feet and 8.25 inches; unfortunately, Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont-CAL unleashed a state record heave of 47 feet and 6.25 inches to grab the championship. Lorence still took home eight points for the Bloodhounds and the silver medal for her effort.

For the boys’ Class 3A long jump, Dayton Lamar of Fort Madison and Fairfield’s Eli Zillman claimed 6th and 7th place, respectively, after Lamar eclipsed the Trojan’s mark of 21 feet and 9.5 inches with a leap of 21 feet and 10.75 inches in the finals. 

Lastly, in the boys’ shot put for Class 3A, Washington’s Greyson Hartman is responsible for 11 of the team’s 12 points after taking 4th place with heave of 55 feet and 4.75 inches.

In the 400-meter hurdles, the Southeast Conference champion, Leighton Messinger of Washington, turned in her personal best time of 1 minute and 6 seconds to grab 6th place and three points for the Demons.

Mt. Pleasant’s squad of Kynlee White, Alex Scott, Taylor Williamson, and Kiyah Sanders will generate some points for the Panthers after qualifying for the 4×100 meter relay finals with a 6th place time of 49.09 seconds. The race is scheduled for 3:33 pm today.

In the distance medley relay, Fort Madison’s squad of Dylan Adam, Ethan Bisgard, Ousman Saine, and Gabe Tejada claimed 3rd place with a time of 3 minutes and 28 seconds, adding six points to the Trojans’ total. Fairfield sits in 8th place with 22 points, just eight off the leader, Epworth.

In the boys’ Class 1A field events, WACO’s Louden Huisenga matched his personal best in the high jump and cleared 6 feet and 1 inch to finish in 6th place, earning three points for the Warriors. 

In the boys’ Class 1A 110-meter hurdles prelims, Columbus sent both Lamar Ceant and Alexander Rees to the finals after Ceant clocked the 2nd fastest time of 14.77 seconds, while Rees finished in 5th place with a time of 14.86 seconds.

New London started their championship surge with a silver medal performance in the boys’ 4×200 meter relay with the team of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter, and London Franklin sprinting to a time of 1 minute and 29 seconds. The Tigers furthered their case when the same quartet raced to the fastest time in the 4×100 meter relay prelims, clocking a time of 42.82 seconds. Columbus also qualified with a season best time of 43.29 seconds, which ranked 3rd.

New London currently sits in 5th place with 16 team points, 11 points off 1st place Lisbon. 

Van Buren County will run in the finals of the 4×400 meter relay after claiming 6th place in the prelims with a time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds.

Lastly, our lone state champion through the first two days, Kylee Hill of Burlington retained her shot put title with a heave of 45 feet and 11.75 inches. The sophomore has secured all 18 of the Grayhounds’ points.

Stay tuned to KILJ for live updates and recaps as the 2025 State Track and Field Meet finishes up today. 

High School Tennis

Fairfield’s Rumin Luo earned the #3-seed in the boys’ Class 1A State Singles Tournament. His first round matchup will be against Ethan Valtman of Newton on Tuesday, May 27th. 

High School Golf

The girls’ Class 1A state meet will be held at American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown with New London’s Emma Busby and Wapello’s Emmalin Marshall making the trip, starting on Thursday, May 29th, and concluding on Friday, May 30th.

The boys’ Class 1A state golf meet will take place at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo on Tuesday, May 27th, and Wednesday, May 28th.

Central Lee will contend for the boys’ Class 2A state championship starting Tuesday at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo.

Washington’s Drew Conrad will tee off on Tuesday at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls for the boys’ Class 3A state meet.

High School Soccer

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team fell to Clear Creek Amana 3-0 last night in the first round of the Class 2A Region 4 bracket. 

On the bottom half of the bracket, Fort Madison handled Keokuk 10-0 to advance to the semifinals. The Bloodhounds will square off against Burlington on the road on Wednesday, May 28th, at 7 pm.

In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 5 bracket, Danville will take on (14-1) West Liberty on Tuesday, May 27th, at 7 pm in a road showdown.

The Central Lee boys team will travel to Mediapolis on Tuesday at 7 pm.

In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, #6 Burlington Notre Dame will take on Assumption on Tuesday at 7 pm at home.

It will be a Southeast Conference battle in the boys’ Class 2A Substate 6 semifinals as Mt. Pleasant will get to host Fairfield on Tuesday at 5 pm. 

In the girls’ Class 1A Region 3 bracket, Assumption will take on Washington on Wednesday, May 28th, at 7 pm.

The Mediapolis girls’ team will get to host Mid-Prairie on Wednesday at 7 pm.

High School Baseball

Wapello’s woes continued last night in a 16-0 loss to Wilton. Wapello will look to right the ship against Hillcrest Academy on Thursday, May 29th, at 5:30 pm on the road. 

West Burlington continued their offensive pace in last night’s 7-5 win over Louisa-Muscatine. Garret Bence led the offense with three RBIs. The Falcons will travel to Winfield-Mt. Union on Tuesday, May 27th, at 5:30 pm.

Mt. Pleasant is back on the road on Tuesday against Clear Creek Amana for first pitch at 7 pm.

Fairfield will travel to Moravia on Tuesday at 5:30 pm. 

Mediapolis will face off against New London on the road at 5:30 pm on Tuesday.

Van Buren County will face off against Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, May 28th, at 5:30 pm at home.

Central Lee will compete against Fairfield on Wednesday at 7:30 pm on the road.

Southeastern Community College

The baseball team earned the #7-seed for the NJCAA DII World Series and will be taking on the Great Lakes District Champion in #10 Kellogg Community College today at 10 am. 

This Day in Sports History

1935 – The first night game in major league baseball history was played at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, where the home team defeated the Phillies, 2-1.

1981 – Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser crosses the finish line ahead of Mario Andretti; Unser was disqualified for pit lane infraction, but later has his win reinstated for his 3rd career victory.

1992 – Indianapolis 500: Al Unser Jr. holds off Scott Goodyear to win by 0.043 seconds; Unser Jr. becomes the first second-generation driver to win the race along with this being the closest finish in Indy history.

Des Moines, IA- Two days down, one more to go after Class 1A and Class 4A finished up day two of the 2025 State Track and Field meet. Here’s a look at how our local athletes have fared against some of the best competition in the state.

Girls Class 1A

In the distance medley, WACO finished in 20^th place with a time of 4 minutes and 27 seconds, which was a season best time.

Josie Nelson of Winfield-Mt. Union concluded her standout career with an 11^th place time of 16.51 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles prelims.

Van Buren County put together a 19^th place time of 1 minute and 50 seconds in the 4×200 meter relay. Aida Troutman, Ava Loeffler, and Emma Coffin ran their second race of the day in the 4×100 meter relay prelims and snatched 20^th place with a time of 52.45 seconds.

In the 400-meter hurdles finals, Josie Dykstra of WACO clinched 21^st place with a time of 1 minute and 9 seconds.

Danville’s squad of Delaney Newberry, Miya Orbiana, Macie Wagner, and Alaina Gourley qualified for the 4×400 meter relay finals with a time of 4 minutes and 7 seconds, which was 7^th amongst the field.

For the final field event of the championship meet, Bren Graber of WACO collected 8^th place in the high jump, leaping over 5 feet, which netted the Warriors their lone point of the two-days.

Boys Class 1A

WACO’s Louden Huisenga matched his personal best in the high jump and cleared 6 feet and 1 inch to finish in 6^th place, earning three points for the Warriors. The second half of the field events featured Wapello’s Kolton Small as he threw the discus 138 feet and 6 inches, which was good enough for 14^th place.

Danville’s squad of Kessler Whaley, Landon Seibert, Noah Horn, and Nick Powell turned in a time of 3 minutes and 35.61 seconds, which eclipsed WACO’s time of 3 minutes and 35.69 seconds to finish in 7^th and 8^th place, respectively.

In the 110-meter hurdles prelims, Columbus sent both Lamar Ceant and Alexander Rees to the finals after Ceant clocked the 2^nd fastest time of 14.77 seconds, while Rees finished in 5^th place with a time of 14.86 seconds.

The 4×200 meter relay put New London into the conversation of a possible attempt to grab the team championship after the team of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter, and London Franklin snatched the silver with a time of 1 minute and 29 seconds. The eight points puts their team total at 16.

Danville and Columbus each had a team compete and the Bears took 16^th place with a time of 1 minute and 33 seconds, while the Wildcats finished in 21^st place with a time of 1 minute and 34 seconds.

Helping their case for a team championship, New London’s same quartet raced to the fastest time in the 4×100 meter relay prelims, clocking a time of 42.82 seconds. Columbus also qualified with a season best time of 43.29 seconds, which ranked 3^rd.

Danville collected 11^th place with a time of 44.44 seconds.

To end out the night, Van Buren County will run in the finals of the 4×400 meter relay after claiming 6^th place in the prelims with a time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds. With a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds, Danville grabbed 14^th place.

Girls Class 4A

Burlington’s Kylee Hill is now a back-to-back state champion in the shot put and she had the sophomore had the title locked up after her first throw of 44 feet and 11.5 inches as no one else broke the 43 feet and 3-inch mark out of the field.

Yet, Hill would improve upon her mark in her first throw of the finals, securing the win with a toss of 45 feet and 11.75 inches. She has secured all 18 of the Grayhounds’ points and at the time of her final event had Burlington tied for 6^th place all by herself.

Scoring:

Boys Class 1A: Lisbon (27), Riverside (20), Lenox (18), 5^th Place New London (16), T-21^st Place Van Buren County (6), T-27^th Place Winfield-Mt. Union (5), T-34^th Place WACO (4), T-43^rd Place Danville (2), T-49^th Place Columbus (1)

Girls Class 1A: St. Edmond (31), St. Albert (24), Pekin and Lake Mills (21), T-26^th Place Danville (5), T-40^rd Place Winfield-Mt. Union (2), T-44^th Place WACO (1)

Boys Class 4A: Cedar Falls (49), Iowa City West (43), Dowling Catholic (30.5)

Girls Class 4A: Waukee Northwest (47.5), Ankeny (33), Pleasant Valley (32.5), T-9^th Burlington (18)

Stay tuned to KILJ for live updates and recaps tomorrow, May 24^th, as the 2025 State Track and Field Championships come to a close! would like to thank all of our sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2025 State Track and Field meet.