Class 1A State Qualifying Meet
Fremont-Mills hosted the Class 1A state qualifying meet in Tabor on Thursday. The meet brought teams from AHSTW, East Mills, Essex, Griswold, Hamburg, Heartland Christian, Lenox, Riverside, Sidney, Southwest Valley, Council Bluffs St. Albert, Stanton, Woodbine and the host Knights vying for spots in this week’s state track meet.
The Fremont-Mills girls won five events and captured the team title at the meet Thursday.
The Knights, who tallied 139 points to easily outpace runner-up Riverside’s 107 points.
In Class 1A, only the event champion automatically advances to state. The remainder of the field is determined by the 14 best non-champion performances across the state.
The Southwest Valley boys and girls did not have any automatic qualifiers on the night, but they punched 10 tickets to state as at-large qualifiers.
The boys team finished the night in third place in the team standings with 80 points, while the girls finished in 10th place with 28.5 points.
“Setting or matching nine records was an amazing way to end the regular season, and I and the rest of the coaching staff could not be prouder of the effort our Timberwolves put forth tonight,” said Southwest Valley girls and boys track coach Jason Hults. “For a lot of our kids their season may be over, but they all did a great job and improved tremendously as the season went on. Their effort and commitment throughout the season were outstanding, and it has been a very fun group of kids to work.”
Brody Crozier was second in the 100-meter with a11.05 and second in the 200 at 22.92, to qualify for state in both events. Crozier’s third place leap of 20 feet, 5.25 inches also earned him a trip to state.
Caleb Owen finished third in the shot put with a new personal best of 49 feet, 3.25 inches to punch his ticket to state and while Walker Bissell and Gavin Wetzel finished third and fourth, respectively, in the high jump, both at 6 feet, 1, inches to earn state bids.
Wyatt Mendenhall picked up a third-place finish in the 400-mters and a fourth in the 110-meter hurdles to qualify for state in both events.
The shuttle hurdle boys and girls both set new school records.
The boys group of Wetzel, Walker Bissell, Shires, and Mendenhall were third in 1:03.16 to earn a state berth.
The girls quartet of Alyssa Pearson, Saige Jones, Hailey Randall, and Mailee Templeton just missed out on a state bid in fourth place.
Templeton ran a 16.75 to place fifth to earn the Timberwolves’ girls lone state bid.
Jones added a third-place finish in the 800 in a new record time of 2:34.22 and Templeton added a fifth finish in the 100-meter hurdles. The distance medley relay unit of Randall, Ray Helvie, Anistyn Poston and Jones were eighth in 4:43.38.
The Griswold boys and girls track team earned their share of state bids in Tabor.
The boys’ shuttle hurdle relay team of Wyatt Silk, Owen Johnson, Callen Keiser, and Dain Laverty posted a season-best time of 1:03.6, the third-fastest time in school history, to secure their state bid.
“The team’s achievement represents the culmination of consistent improvement throughout the season, trimming eight seconds off their time through dedicated training and strategic preparation,” said Griswold coach Andy Everett.
Silk also qualified for state in the 110-meter-high hurdles for the third time in his high school career. R.J. Dishong also earned his third consecutive state meet qualification in the discus, placing him fifth
On the girls side, the Tigers’ Carsyn Adams had a big day. The junior was second in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 400-meter hurdles but earned a spot at state in both events as an at-large qualifier.
Brystol Wyman added a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles to earn a state big and she, along with Adams, Sadie Gohlinghorst and Alexa Steinhoff qualified for state with a second-place time of 1:09.13 in the shuttle hurdle relay.
Also earning state berths were the Tigers’ Ella Gade in the discus and the 4x400 and distance medley relays.
Stanton’s Lauren Roberts had a hand in all three of the Viqueens’ state bids.
Roberts had a top leap of 5 feet to place second to earn her at-large bid in the high jump and then joined Quinn McDonald, Leilanie Foster-Sayer and Piper French on the second-place shuttle hurdle relay and the distance medley relay team of McDonald, Foster-Saye and French that all earned at-large state bids.
Brodee Sowers had a top throw of 139 feet, 9 inches to place third in Tabor but just made it into state among at-large bids.
Ellie Hagen was East Mills lone girls state qualifier after running a 13.02 in the 100-meters. On the boys side, Jiri Brodigan earned a state nod in the 100-meters with a time of 11.15.
Essex’s Isaiah Sholes had a top leap of 6 feet, 2 inches to finish second at the state qualifier to reach state for the second straight year.
The Iowa State Track and Field Meet kicks off Thursday in Des Moines. The event runs through Saturday at Drake Stadium.
Class 1A State Qualifier
Girls Team Results
1. Fremont-Mills, 139. 2. Riverside, 107. 3. (tie) Council Bluffs St. Albert and AHSTW, 86. 5. Woodbine, 76.5. 6. Griswold, 45. 7. Lenox, 43. 8. Stanton, 36. 9. Heartland Christian, 33. 10. Southwest Valley, 28.5. 11. Essex, 26. 12. East Mills, 20. 13. Sidney, 11.
Boys Team Results
1. Riverside, 159. 2. Woodbine, 112. 3. Southwest Valley, 80. 4. Lenox, 77. 5. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 69. 6. Fremont-Mills, 67. 7. AHSTW, 59. 8. (tie) Griswold and East Mills, 28. 10. Sidney, 19. 11. Essex, 18. 12. Stanton, 14. 13. Heartland Christian, 6. 14. Hamburg, 3.