Topham’s four golds guides Griswold to second

 DES MOINES — There won’t be a fourth straight state team title for the Griswold girls track and field team, but they were close at the end.

The Tigers finished second in the 1A team state field with 43 points, one ahead of Central Elkader. North Linn snapped the Griswold team title streak as they finished with 57 points.

Griswold had the lead entering the final two races of the meet, the 4x100 and 4x400. North Linn clinched the team title with a win in the 4x100 and added to their point total in the 4x400.

The bulk of Griswold’s points came courtesy of junior distance runner Rebekah Topham, who won four state titles this weekend at Drake Stadium.

“It feels awesome just to be done, win them all,” Topham said. “It just feels good.”

Topham capped off her weekend with a dominating win in the 1,500 race as she broke the 1A state record, held by Blaire Dinsdale of North Tama (4:37.75), to run a time of 4:35.87, one of many records broken during the weekend.

“That was nice. I was thinking like I don’t want to barely miss this again, so I just gave it my all,” Topham said.

Teammate Alyx Flippin stepped up in a big way for the team as she finished sixth (5:12.13) in the 1,500. Her three points would be enough to guarantee the runner-up trophy.

“It’s definitely a good feeling knowing that if I had dropped back one more place, we wouldn’t have gotten that second place trophy,” Flippin said. “I held off for a sixth place finish and three points. That helped the team get the runner-up trophy and that’s probably the best feeling ever.”

Topham picked up her first win Saturday in the 800 as she finished nearly five seconds ahead of Pekin’s Gwynne Wright to post a time of 2:14.12.

The second win for Topham came Friday in the 400-meter hurdles when she beat out Abbey Murphy of Earlham with a time of 1:04.30. The race was the only one Topham hadn’t won a state title in up to that point and ensured she had a chance to complete the feat of four state titles.

“That’s pretty much when I realized I had a chance of doing it because that was the most competitive one,” Topham said.

Topham started her state meet Thursday with a dominating win in the 3,000-meter run. She ran a time of 9:56.73, missing out on the 1A state record, held by Sibley-Ocheyedan’s Leah Seivert (9:56.54) by less than two-tenths of a second. Teammate Flippin was 16th in the race with 11:25.06.

Breaking the 3,000-meter record is a goal Topham said she has in mind for next season. She would also like to complete the four state track title feat once again. Topham has nine state track and field titles in three seasons at Griswold.

Topham said she has the medals packed away.

 “I don’t know where to put them out at, I don’t really have room in my bedroom, I guess,” she said.

The Griswold girls team had one other individual competitor qualified in the field.

Candice Howell finished 19th in the discus throw with a mark of 100’4”.

The Griswold boys track and field team meanwhile didn’t score a point during the state meet. 

Their most notable finish came in the 4x800 when the team of Jordan Vetter, Holden Ogg, Morgan Kimpson and Jacob Maass took 15th with a time of 8:42.89.

The 4x200 team for Griswold, featuring Derek Kirchhoff, Grant Haynes, Mason Boucher and Kenneth Clary took 20th with a time of 1:35.09.

Red Oak

The big highlight of the weekend for Red Oak came courtesy of Kate Walker, who took sixth in the 2A, 1,500-meter race Saturday in Des Moines, completing her first high school track season.

“It’s a great feeling, [medaling] was one of my goals coming into this,” Walker said. “I’m glad I accomplished it.”

Walker ran a time of 4:56.67. The junior found herself in a three-person battle in the final 100-meters for the fourth place spot.

Unity Christian’s Jordan Bos and I-35’s Holly McKinney finished ahead of Walker.

“I couldn’t really feel my legs by that point so I just kept telling myself to push hard,” she said. 

It was the second of two races for Walker at the state meet. Walker’s three points gave Red Oak a tie for 46th in the team standings.

“I’ve been given so many opportunities at Red Oak High School and I was glad to take this one,” she said.

Walker also competed in the 400-meter dash along with teammate Nikki Graber Thursday evening. Walker had the top finish as she took 10th with a time of 1:00.61. Graber finished 23rd with a time of 1:03.88.

Red Oak had a boys qualifier at state represented by distance runner Josh Sunberg.

The junior posted his best time in the 2A, 1,600-meter final Saturday when he took 13th with a time of 4:36.12.

Sunberg also competed in the 2A 3,200 final Thursday as he finished 16th for the Tigers with a time of 10:12.88. 

The race was notable as Michael Melchert of Monticello broke the 2A state record in the race, running a time of 9:17.69.

It was the first state appearance for Sunberg, who has also qualified for state in cross country and swimming for Lewis Central.

Stanton

In her final race for the Viqueens, Carmen Subbert scored a seventh place finish in the 1A girls 100-meter hurdles Saturday. 

“It feels really good in my last year, being at state was awesome,” she said.

Subbert, a senior, ran a time of 16.23 seconds, edged out by Woodward-Granger’s Abby Musser.

Subbert reached the finals by finishing fifth (15.47) in the prelims Friday.

“Yesterday running the time, I was hoping to do a little better today, but I knew I had never run even close to that until yesterday,” Subbert said after the final. “I really can’t complain too much.”

Subbert said she thought running in the 4x200 before the 100-meter hurdles helped loosen her up to run the 15.47.

The Viqueens finished 12th (1:50.72) in the 4x200 final Friday, which also featured Avery Taylor, Moriah Kammerer and Macy Elwood.

Saturday’s 100-meter hurdles race was the only one for Stanton. The Viqueens shuttle hurdle relay team, which featured Elwood, Subbert, Lauren Stephens and Logan Wagg, were disqualified in the prelims Thursday.

“It was kind of disappointing, but you can’t get mad at the team, things happen. So you just have to get past it,” Subbert said. “We told our two juniors, you know they can be back here next year. So, they have nothing to worry about.”

The only other Stanton qualifier was Chelsea Weis as she finished 15th in the 1A long jump. Weis had a mark of 14’11.75”. It was the first state appearance for Weis, who is a freshman.

Stanton’s two points put them in a tie for 51st in the 1A standings.

East Mills

While East Mills was held winless at this year’s state meet, they still medaled in several events.

The best finish came courtesy of Sam Rew, who took fourth in the high jump with a mark of 6’4”. 

Rew shared the mark with Zach Cassens and Levi Hudnett. 

Cassens finished third, while Hudnett was fifth in the tiebreaker.

Travis Tupper meanwhile contributed points to the East Mills effort. 

In the 1A 200-meter dash final Saturday, Tupper was eighth with a time of 23.38 seconds. He ran a 23.09 to qualify for the finals.

Tupper also served as the anchor for the 4x100 team, which also featured Colton Story, Colby Jennings and Cavin Darnold, as they took sixth with a time of 44.55.

The Wolverines finished with nine points in the meet, placing them 25th in the 1A boys field.

Southwest Valley

The Timberwolves were unable to score points in the three events they qualified for at state this weekend.

Keegan Longabaugh finished 24th in the 2A boys shot put with a mark of 42’4”.

Colten Drake was 22nd in the high jump with 5’10”.

Sydney Maynes missed out on qualifying for the 2A girls 200-meter dash final as she finished 23rd with a time of 27.74 in the prelims Thursday.

Essex

The only Trojanettes competitor at state missed out on the top eight in her event.

Regan Burns finished 15th in the 1A girls shot put with a mark of 33’6”.