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.

Des Moines, IA- The 2025 State Track and Field meet is off and running with Classes 2A and 3A to lead off the three-day event. Here’s a look at how our local athletes have fared against some of the best competition in the state.

Boys Class 2A

Lathan Keller of Mediapolis started the day with 12^th place finish in the high jump after clearing 6 feet and 1 inch on his 3^rd attempt but failing to get over 6 feet and 3 inches.

Kegan Damico of Central Lee took 22^nd place with a time of 58.58 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.

In the 4×100 meter relay, Mediapolis finished in 24^th place with a time of 44.67 seconds. The Bulldogs just missed out on qualifying for the 4×400 meter relay finals, claiming a 9^th place time of 3 minutes and 26.5 seconds.

Girls Class 3A

For the Friday morning field events, Mt. Pleasant’s Ella Ensminger and Brylie Lorence of Fort Madison were looking to earn some points for their teams and both did just that. Ensminger qualified for the finals but could not improve her throw of 38 feet and 9 inches, earning 8^th place and one point for the Panthers.

Lorence held on to 1^st place after her second throw of 40 feet and 0.75 inches and kept on improving from there, breaking 41 feet in the finals before uncorking a toss of 44 feet and 8.25 inches, which ranks 5^th in the state, to take back 1^st place. 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.

In the second round of field events, Mt. Pleasant’s Izzy Sloat leapt 16 feet and 3.25 inches to place 12^th in the long jump, while her teammate Linzy Striegel claimed 21^st place with a jump of 15 feet and 2.5 inches.

The distance medley relay was the first running event of the day and Fort Madison and West Burlington/Notre Dame each sent teams to compete. The Bloodhounds took 21^st place with a time of 4 minutes and 21 seconds, while the Falcons grabbed 24^th place with a time of 4 minutes and 31 seconds.

Lilly Bergren of Fairfield led the local trio in the 100-meter hurdles prelims with a time of 15.57 seconds, which finished outside the top 8 in the 10^th place. Leighton Messinger of Washington took home 17^th place with a time of 15.97 seconds, while Keokuk’s Layonna Stewart finished in 20^th place with a time of 16.1 seconds.

For the 4×200 meter relay, Mt. Pleasant’s squad finished in 10^th place with a time of 1 minute and 43 seconds, while Keokuk claimed 20^th place with a time of 1 minute and 46 seconds.

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 6^th place and three points for the Demons. Fairfield’s Lilly Bergren grabbed 22^nd place with a time of 1 minute and 9 seconds.

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 6^th place time of 49.09 seconds.

Washington finished outside qualifying with a time of 49.38 seconds, which was good enough for 10^th place.

In the 4×400 meter relay, Washington finished three seconds ahead of Keokuk with a time of 4 minutes and 14 seconds, as the teams finished in 22^nd and 24^th place, respectively.

Boys Class 3A

The Friday morning long jump featured two Trojans, Eli Zillman and Spencer McCready, and the #1-seed Dayton Lamar of Fort Madison. McCready leapt 20 feet and 4.5 inches to finish in 15^th place. Lamar nearly missed out on the finals, but on his third jump, eclipsed 21 feet and 7 inches to qualify for the finals.

Zillman’s mark of 21 feet and 9.5 inches was his best jump of the day. Nevertheless, Lamar would improve his distance in the finals with a leap of 21 feet and 10.75 inches, claiming 6^th place and three points, while Zillman earned two points and 7^th place.

In the second round of field events, a trio of Southeast Conference throwers made their way into the ring. Fort Madison’s Caden Barnes claimed 21^st place with a heave of 45 feet and 6.25 inches.

Urijah Brooks of Fort Madison fell just outside of the finals with a 10^th place throw of 50 feet and 6.25 inches. Washington’s Greyson Hartman is responsible for 11 of the team’s 12 points after taking 4^th place with heave of 55 feet and 4.75 inches.

In the distance medley relay, Fort Madison’s squad of Dylan Adam, Ethan Bisgard, Ousman Saine, and Gabe Tejada improved their time by 10 seconds to claim 3^rd place with a time of 3 minutes and 28 seconds, adding six points to the Trojans’ total.

Washington took home 13^th place with a time of 3 minutes and 36 seconds.

Keokuk earned two points in the 4×200 meter relay after cashing in a time of 1 minute and 28 seconds for 7^th place. West Burlington/Notre Dame grabbed 20^th place with a time of 1 minute and 34 seconds.

Fairfield’s Dylan Adam and West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Logan Hamma finished side-by-side in the 400-meter hurdles with Adam taking 19^th place and Hamma yielding 20^th place with times of 57.24 seconds and 57.33 seconds, respectively.

Similarly to the race above, Keokuk and West Burlington/Notre Dame finished in 19^th and 20^th place, respectively, in the 4×100 meter relay. The Chiefs tabbed a time of 43.84 seconds, and the Falcons scored a time of 43.9 seconds.

Keokuk ended out their day with a 22^nd place finish in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3 minutes and 31 seconds.

Scoring

Boys Class 2A: Okoboji (32), Denver (27), Camanche and Spirit Lake (26)

Girls Class 2A: Tipton (34), Van Meter (32), Emmetsburg (22)

Boys Class 3A: Epworth (30), Gilbert (28), Newton (27), 8^th place Fairfield (22), 12^th place Washington (12), 16^th place Fort Madison (10.5), 28^th place Keokuk (2)

Girls Class 3A: Mt. Vernon (32), Clear Lake (30), ADM (29), 13^th place Fort Madison (12), 30^th place Washington (3), 34^th place Mt. Pleasant (1)

Stay tuned to KILJ for updates, results, and recaps from now until Saturday, May 24^th! We would like to thank all of our sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2025 State Track and Field meet.