Ready for Des Moines
TREYNOR — Red Oak freshman track athlete Hannah Vial remembers going to Drake Stadium to watch her older brother Andy compete in the high jump at the state meet.
She watched from the stands as he competed in the 3A high jump at state, placing 18th in 2011 and 20th in 2012. Seeing her older brother compete in Des Moines has served as the perfect motivation for Vial.
“It made me want to do it too, so he could come and watch me,” she said.
The younger Vial will now have that chance to compete with her older brothers in the stands, at Drake Stadium after helping the Tigers win the distance medley relay during the 2A state qualifying meet in Treynor Thursday evening.
“We get to run at the blue track,” an excited Vial said after the meet.
Vial ran the first leg as she joined senior Nikki Graber, freshman Juhi Boeye and senior Kate Walker to run a 4:23.68, beating out Missouri Valley by a second.
“Not even our best time, but I’m super excited to go,” Graber said. Vial got off to a fast start as she handed it off to Graber, who continued to push the pace.
“Just getting out of the blocks helps a lot. I’m better at that,” Vial said. “With Nikki, it’s really easy to hand off to her because she knows what she’s doing.”
Graber pressed on in her 200 as she put the Tigers into the lead, handing it off to Boeye.
“I was surprised,” Graber said. “I wasn’t expecting to lead it, but it’s great that I did.”
Boeye immediately found herself in a tough battle in the 400-meter portion of the race. Boeye dropped to third in the race, but recovered in the final 200 meters to reclaim second place as she handed it off to Walker, the anchor.
“I was hoping to get a 61 [split] today, but a 63 I’m okay with that,” Boeye said.
With not as much ground to recover after Boeye’s strong finish, Walker took off and soon found herself taking the lead.
“I just got off to a good start,” Walker said. “I knew I had to get off to a good start and then after that first 200, I needed to find a fast-pace and coast the rest of the way.”
Walker held off several teams, including Missouri Valley and Panorama, to complete the 800-meter portion of the race.
All four girls have raced together on different relay teams this season. However, it was their second time together running the distance medley. The same team put together a third place finish at the Hawkeye 10 meet a week prior.
“We realized last meet we were pretty good at it,” Graber said.
This won’t be Walker’s only race as the senior is qualified in both the 800 and 1,500. She took the district title in the 800, running a 2:21.40, breaking the school record of 2:21.77 held by Abby Huston.
In the 1,500, Walker finished second behind Alexis Cook of Missouri Valley, running 5:18.64.
Walker and Graber will enter Drake Stadium with a bit of experience. Last year, both girls qualified for state in individual races. Both were in the 400-meter dash, while Walker also ran the 1,500. Graber was also part of the 4x200 team that took 21st at state in 2013.
With the influx of freshmen competing in varsity track this year, both Walker and Graber have served a larger role. They’ve been the leaders to the youngsters.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to have them cheer me on because they’re very supportive and great runners,” Vial said about Walker and Graber.
Walker, who has qualified for state in volleyball, basketball, tennis, cross country and track, believes this relay group is special because of the freshmen they’ve brought into the fold.
“I think they realized that good relays are hard to come by, so we’re all pushing each other and it’s worked out really well for us so far,” Walker said.
Boeye and Vial have both had memorable freshmen years. Boeye was also part of the cross country team with Walker and Graber, which qualified for state.
“I honestly didn’t think I would make it in my freshman year,” Boeye said. “I’m really excited and making it to state in my freshman year is great because track is my favorite sport.”
Vial meanwhile was an off the bench contributor for the Tigers girls basketball team when they qualified for state in February.
“It can’t [get better]; it’s just a blessing,” Vial.
LeRette and Nelson
Logan LeRette also qualified for state as he won district titles in both the 3,200 and 1,600-meter races.
LeRette started his day with a win in the 3,200. The win was important for LeRette, who has spent his offseason improving to reach this moment.
“It feels great knowing that all the hard work paid off,” LeRette said.
LeRette found himself in a tight race for several laps with teammate Josh Sunberg as well as Shenandoah’s Nate Hoyt. All three had the lead at different points in the race.
“I just let Josh and Nate duke it out like they wanted to. I was right behind them,” LeRette said. “Nate kept passing back and forth because they knew Nate, he’s the type of person that if anyone passes him, he’s going to pass back. I stayed patient and let them do their surges, let them complete themselves and two laps [left] it was game time and I took it.”
The final laps became a head-to-head between LeRette and Hoyt as LeRette was able to hold on and get the win with Hoyt one second back. LeRette ran a time of 10:30.24. Sunberg finished third with 10:40.29.
“Every time [Hoyt] tried to pass me, I kept working my pace faster and kept it maintained. That was really the key and then with a lap to go, I just surged really hard,” LeRette said.
With the win in the 3,200, much of the pressure came off of LeRette.
“It’s a relief and now I can take time to focus on my other events,” he said.
LeRette found himself in a battle in his second race as he held off a late charging Trey Castle of Treynor on the final lap to run a time of 4:41.56. Sunberg was seventh in the race with 5:00.32.
The only other state qualifier for the boys team was Gabe Nelson. The senior jumped six-feet to finish third in the high jump at Treynor. The jump was just enough for Nelson to be one of the last two included in the event.
Southwest Valley
The Timberwolves had one state qualifier during the Treynor meet Thursday night as Tony Klocke won the district title in the 110-meter high hurdles. Klocke ran 15.10, edging out Underwood’s Tyler Freese and AHSTW’s Nate Herbst to get the win. The time for Klocke was big as it places him fourth in the entry field.
The girls track team for Southwest Valley missed out on qualifying for state. The closest finisher was Kaylea Wiechman, who finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with 28.55.
Griswold
It wouldn’t be a state track meet unless Griswold went. This year, both teams will be sending no shortage of competitors to Des Moines.
Once again, Rebekah Topham qualified in four events. Topham won the district title Friday in Mount Ayr in three events, including the 3,000 (11:12.54), the 1,500 (4:55.70) and the 800 (2:23.75). Topham is also qualified in the 400-meter hurdles as she took second at Mount Ayr with a time of 1:09.21.
Teammate Alyx Flippin is also qualified for the girls in the 3,000 (11:15.49) and the 1,500 (5:11.30).
The other individual qualifier for the Griswold girls’ team will be Jackie Rush, who will compete in the discus and shot put.
Rush won the district title Friday with a throw of 101’2”. In the shot put, Rush was second in the district meet with 34’6.25”
The Tigers are in their fair share of relay races, including the distance medley, which they took second at Mount Ayr with 4:35.69.
Griswold is also qualified in the shuttle hurdles (1:12.23), the 4x400 (4:24.32) and the 4x800 (10:39.58).
The boys will also send individual competitors to state, including Derek Kirchhoff, who edged out Nishnabotna’s Chad Blank by one-hundredth of a second to run 11.30 and win the district title Friday. Kirchhoff’s time is the third fastest in the field.
David Thompson is an individual qualifier for Griswold in the 3,200. Thompson took first Friday with a time of 10:52.27.
Jadon Jahnke qualified for Griswold in the high jump when he took second with 5’8”.
The Tigers are also qualified for state in the 4x100 (45.25), the shuttle hurdles (1:03.39) and the distance medley (3:46.09).
The Griswold girls’ team enters the state meet looking for their fourth state title in five years. Last year, they took second.
Stanton
Both Stanton track teams had multiple qualifiers after strong finishes at the Mount Ayr meet Friday.
The Vikings had one qualifier in Alex Becthold, who won the district title in the discus with a throw of 148’9”. Becthold also qualified in the shot put when he took second with 45’8.25”.
The Viqueens meanwhile are qualified in two events, including the shuttle hurdles. Stanton finished third in the race at Mount Ayr Friday. However, their 1:12.91 was enough to get them into the field of 24. Stanton’s other qualifier was Chelsea Weis, who will compete in the long jump for a second straight year. Weis jumped 15’10” Friday at Mount Ayr to finish second and ensure her spot.
Essex
Both the Trojanettes and the Trojans will be represented at the state meet this weekend.
The Trojanettes are qualified in two relays for state, including the 4x100. The team of Daiton Martin, Amber Ohnmacht, Bethany Johnson and Kym Graham had the highlight of the Mount Ayr meet when they ran 53.23, holding off Bedford and ensuring their spot in the 4x100 field at state. The same team also qualified in the 4x200 when they ran 1:52.63 to finish second at Mount Ayr.
Martin is also an individual qualifier, as her 13.37 second place finish at Mount Ayr was more than enough to get the freshman into the 100-meter dash field at state.
Jescenia Mosley missed out on qualifying for state in the 100-meter hurdles. Mosley finished fourth in the Mount Ayr race with 17.10. The top three runners in the race, including Jennifer Eason of Lamoni, who was a tenth of a second ahead of Mosley in third, qualified for the state.
The Trojans meanwhile have Cody McClintock in the field for the 1,600. McClintock edged out Nishnabotna’s Josh Haning to run 4:49.79.
East Mills
The Wolverines had one state qualifier this season. Sam Rew qualified for state in the high jump during Thursday’s district meet at West Harrison. Rew jumped 5’10”.