Des Moines, IA- Championship Saturday provides the perfect bookend to the 2024 State Track and Field Championships as teams lunged for that team title or individual glory. Here’s a look at how our local athletes fared today.
Running Events
The day started off with a bang for Southeast Iowa as the Danville girls’ team of Kenna Furnald, Violet Sowell, Jaeda Molle, and Alaina Gourley grabbed the gold in the girls’ Class 1A sprint medley with a time of 1 minute and 51 seconds. This added ten points to the Bears’ total.
Mt. Pleasant squad of Alex Scott, Bailey Jalas, Kynlee White, and Courtney Raub grabbed 22nd place in the girls’ Class 3A division with a time of 1 minute and 55 seconds.
Meliah Ertz, Shariah Hart, Kierah Wiseman, and Mylee Stiefel finished in 16th place with a time of 1 minute and 53 seconds for Burlington in Class 4A.
Three teams participated in the boys’ Class 1A sprint medley with one of the teams earning a point.
Danville’s team of Jaden Bauer, Kessler Whaley, Landon Seibert, and Ayden Doyle took 8th place with a time of 1 minute and 36 seconds, collecting the point.
Columbus had Riley Kaalberg, Alexander Rees, Juan Chairez, and Damian Vergara finish in 12th place with a time of 1 minute and 37 seconds, while Winfield-Mt. Union’s team of Abram Edwards, Brendan Simmons, Lane Genkinger, and Ty Scorpil finished in 19th place.
In Class 3A, Aiden Krueter, Dylan Adam, Tallon Bates, and Ben Boatright grabbed 23rd place.
For the 800-meter run, Danville’s Alaina Gourley took 21st place with a time of 2 minutes and 28 seconds in the girls’ Class 1A division. In Class 3A, Iris Dahl of Washington finished in 23rd place with a time of 2 minutes and 28 seconds.
The boys’ Class 1A 800-meter run had Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kohlby Newsom take 9th place with a time of 2 minutes and Jackson Shacklett of Danville finished in 18th place with a time of 2 minutes and 1 second.
Mediapolis had two competitors in the Class 2A division with Owen Schmidgall claiming three points for the Bulldogs with a 6th place finish, running the race in 1 minute and 57 seconds. Logan Rosas claimed 9th place with a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds.
Fairfield’s Gabe Tejada took 15th in the Class 3A race with a time of 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Moving to the boys’ Class 1A shuttle hurdle relay finals, Columbus added two seconds to their preliminary time and finished in 8th place with a time of 1 minute and 4 seconds. Johnathan Miranda, Kaalberg, Rees, and Lamar Ceant added two points to the Wildcats’ total.
For the girls’ Class 1A 100-meter dash final, Rya Scott of Hillcrest Academy earned three points for the Ravens, finishing in 6th place with a time of 13.13 seconds. In Class 3A, Mt. Pleasant’s Alex Scott claimed a point with an 8th place time of 12.91 seconds.
Moving over to Class 4A, Mylee Stiefel crossed the finish line in 12.59 seconds to take 6th place and three points for the Grayhounds.
Landry Haberichter for West Burlington-Notre Dame clinched the silver with a time of 11.16 seconds in the boys’ Class 2A division. The second-place finish gave the Falcons eight points.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Alexander Rees of Columbus did not finish.
Noah Schmidgall picked up a key second-place victory for Mediapolis in the boys’ Class 2A 200-meter dash with a time of 22.58 seconds. At that point in the meet, the eight points lifted Mediapolis from 8th place to 2nd and only three points behind the leader, Spirit Lake.
In the long-distance events, Avery Rump of Fort Madison clinched two points for the Bloodhounds with a 7th place finish in the girls’ Class 3A 1500-meter run, finishing with a time of 4 minutes and 52 seconds. Washington’s Iris Dahl grabbed 13th place with a time of 5 minutes and 2 seconds.
In the Class 1A boys’ 1600-meter run, Danville’s Jackson Shacklett and Carter Fesler finished one after the other as Shacklett took 20th place and Fesler grabbed 21st place.
Mediapolis continued their late strides toward the team title, gaining nine points in the boys’ Class 2A 1600-meter run. Solomon Zaugg finished with the silver, pacing his way toward a time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Owen Schmidgall grabbed 8th place with a time of 4 minutes and 28 seconds.
In Class 3A, Washington’s Micah Rees took 10th place with a time of 4 minutes and 25 seconds.
In the penultimate event of the meet, the girls’ Class 3A 4×100 meter relay saw the team of Kynlee White, Alex Scott, Bailey Jalas, and Andi Scott claim 5th place with a time of 49.36 seconds. Mt. Pleasant finished with seven points.
In Class 4A, Burlington’s squad of Wiseman, Hart, Stiefel, and Sophie Brown claimed 4th place with a time of 49.07 seconds. The Grayhounds finished with 23 points.
On the boys’ side for Class 1A, Columbus’ squad of Chairez, Kaalberg, Ceant, and Kaiden Amigon captured 2nd place and eight points with a time of 43.3 seconds. The Wildcats scored 15 points over the three days.
Danville’s team of Bauer, Whaley, Seibert, and Doyle finished in 4th place with a time of 43.69 seconds. The Bears scored nine points.
In the final event, the Danville girls’ team in Class 1A finished in 8th place with a time of 4 minutes and 14 seconds in the 4×400 meter relay. The Bears finished the meet with 20 points.
On the boys’ side for Class 1A, the team of Sheaden Adams, Kohlby Newsom, Ty Scorpil, and Gabriel Hemsworth grabbed 6th place with a time of 3 minutes and 28 seconds. The Wolves finished the meet with 12 points.
Lastly, with the team title firmly in their possession for Class 2A, the team of Rosas, Reese Campbell, Nathan Schmidgall, and Aedin Nelson finished in 6th place with a time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds. This added three points to their total that earned the Bulldogs their second consecutive team championship.
Team Standings
Boys Class 1A: Lisbon (76), Woodbine (49), Wapsie Valley (47)
Boys Class 2A: Mediapolis (47), Spirit Lake (43), South Hamilton (42)
Boys Class 3A: Western Dubuque (72), ADM (71), Pella (48)
Boys Class 4A: Ankeny (112), Cedar Falls (86), Dowling Catholic (82)
Boys Para: Mid-Prairie (40), Siouxland Christian (32), Waukon (30)
Girls Class 1A: Saint Ansgar (40), Nashua-Plainfield (38), St. Albert and Riverside (37)
Girls Class 2A: Van Meter (63), Pella Christian (60), Tipton (57)
Girls Class 3A: ADM (48), MOC-FV and Sioux Center (43), Mt. Vernon (41)
Girls Class 4A: Pleasant Valley (92), Waukee Northwest (81), Johnston (62)
Girls Para: Dubuque Hempstead and Iowa City West (40), West Liberty (34)
KILJ would like to thank all of our sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2024 State Track and Field Championships and all those that followed our coverage. We will be back next year for more Track and Field coverage!