Topham wins two state titles to complete high school career

 DES MOINES — When Rebekah Topham was a freshman, she was a fresh face at Drake Stadium.

Topham won two state titles in 2012 as she helped Griswold win the second of three straight state championships.

Topham made her mark and continued to dominate the 1A track scene for the next four years.

This past weekend, Topham returned to the famed-blue oval once more, winning two state titles, her 10th and 11th for her high school career during the state track meet at Drake University.

Topham scored her 11th state title in the final race of her high school career Saturday, the 1,500. The senior ran a 4:45.76 to get the win.

“The last hundred, I was thinking to run as hard as I can because it’s my last high school race ever on this track,” Topham said. 

Topham passed Pekin’s Gwynne Wright before the final lap and raced around once more to an ovation from the Drake Stadium audience.

“I was thinking I don’t want to lose it now. I didn’t want to look back, I didn’t know if [Wright] was coming. I didn’t know what she was doing,” she said.

Wright finished nearly 12 seconds behind Topham.

Of the 11 titles Topham won, four came in the 1,500. Topham is the first Iowa High School girls athlete to win the state title in the 1,500 all four years since West Des Moines Valley’s Christa Holms did it in the late 80s.

Also placing in the 1,500 was teammate Alyx Flippin, who powered through to finish sixth with a time of 5:06.66.

The first win for Topham came Thursday afternoon in the 3,000 when she once again passed Wright late in the race to run 10:30.80.

Topham stayed close with Wright for most of the race, staying on her heels.

“I wanted to get to the last part so I could take off and get the race done with,” she said. “It was seeming to take forever.”

Flippin also placed in the event when she took fourth with a time of 11:03.77. Flippin was edged out of third place at the finish line by Woodbine’s Megan Maaske.

“I was hoping for a little bit better of a finish, but I can’t be upset coming from a 21st place finish last year to a close fourth place this year to someone that I’ve loved racing against the last few years,” Flippin said.

Flippin fell behind early, but worked her way up to help Griswold score points.

“There was a couple of times where I wasn’t catching up and I was really considering not even trying, but something clicked and I realized it was my last time so I had to go for it,” she said.

The next best finish for Topham came in the 800-meter race when she finished second behind Wright. Topham ran a 2:18.08, attempting a comeback late in the race, but Wright ran a 2:16.86.

The fourth race for Topham was the 400-meter hurdles as she took fourth with a time of 1:06.58.

The points scored by Topham and Flippin were the only scores for Griswold as the team finished fourth with a score of 41.

Hudson, who dropped down to 1A after finishing runner-up in 2A last season, won the team title with a score of 72. Last year’s 1A champion North Linn finished second with 67.

The only boys athlete for Griswold to place at state was senior sprinter Derek Kirchhoff.

“Being the only one, I wish we could have gotten more relays in and gotten more guys in, but being the only one in, that definitely holds you a little higher,” Kirchhoff said.

Kirchhoff took eighth in the 1A 100-meter dash finals when he ran an 11.8. All eight competitors in the final were within a half second of each other.

“At meets there’s usually only one or two guys that you would compete against,” he said. “Coming here just makes a huge difference.”

In the prelims, Kirchhoff ran the seventh fastest time in the field when he posted an 11.21.

Red Oak

Red Oak once again had athletes competing in multiple events this year. 

Kate Walker was the lone placewinner for the Tigers as she finished fifth in the 2A 800-meter race. Walker ran a time of 2:19.39, setting a new school record. The senior set the previous record of 2:21.40 at the Treynor state qualifying meet.

Walker stayed tight with the leaders during the first lap. Walker fell back, but made a late rally to ensure her spot in the top five. Walker was edged out at the finish line by Ashley Stevens of Des Moines Christian.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” she said. “That girl got me at the end, but I was excited to be running with them.”

Walker originally wasn’t going to compete in the 800 because of the scheduled regional tennis final versus Shenandoah.

The meet however was postponed because of an injury for Shenandoah and re-scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

“I was excited just to relax, get to watch my teammates and now I was hoping [Shenandoah] would push it back a few hours, but with them pushing it back a couple of days, I’m excited to have a few more days to practice tennis,” Walker said.

Walker also ran the 1,500 later in the afternoon, but finished 12th, running 5:01.60, which is her best time of the season.

In addition, Walker ran the anchor for the distance medley team as they just missed out on placewinner spots. The team of Hannah Vial, Nikki Graber, Juhi Boeye and Walker finished ninth with a time of 4:19.04.

Logan LeRette was one of the competitors for the boys team.

In his final race for Red Oak, LeRette took 17th in the 2A boys 1,600-meter race with a personal best of 4:38.01.

Going into the race, LeRette had hoped to break 4:40.

“I ran my race smart, tried to keep the splits all even,” he said. “I was a little fast in the first 800, but I ended up catching the kids I needed to and I broke 4:40.”

The winner of the race was Erik Lenz of Tipton (4:18.47), who was two seconds shy of breaking the 2A state record.

The other race for LeRette was the 3,200 as he finished 19th with a time of 10:20.62.

Gabe Nelson also competed at state in the 2A high jump. However, he didn’t record a height for the meet.

Stanton

The lone placewinner for Stanton was Alex Becthold. The junior finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 154’10”. Becthold finished about two feet ahead of Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Zach Pierce.

Becthold didn’t fare as well in the shot put as he finished 16th with a throw of 45’5”.

Stanton’s other individual qualifier was Chelsea Weis, who finished 11th in the long jump with a mark of 15’8.5”

The Viqueens also had a shuttle hurdle team at state, but the team of Logan Wagg, Abbi Adams, Lauren Stephens and Weis took 18th in prelims with a time of 1:12.87.

Southwest Valley

The lone state qualifier for Southwest Valley left the state track meet as a placewinner. Tony Klocke took seventh in the 110-meter high hurdles when he ran a time of 15.53.

“I’m extremely happy. I’m glad with how the results turned out,” Klocke said. “It wasn’t my fastest race, but it got me up there.”

All eight hurdlers were within a second of each other as West Burlington Notre Dame’s Jacob Smith took first with 14.86.

To reach the finals, Klocke posted the eighth fastest time of 15.10 during the prelims Friday.

Klocke, a junior, is still relatively new to hurdles, starting late last season. With the success Klocke has had this season, he’ll be focused on working out in the weight room during the summer.

“One of my hardest things to do in hurdles, I can’t get off the starting blocks fast enough,” he said. “I’m always one of the last ones to that first hurdle. So that’s definitely a big thing I’m going to be working on.”

Essex

Both Essex teams competed at the state track meet over the weekend.

The lone boys track athlete for the Trojans competing was Cody McClintock, who ran in the 1,600-meter race.

McClintock took 16th in the race with a time of 4:45.69. The junior finished less than a second ahead of Maharshi-Fairfield’s Ross Emmanuel.

The Trojanettes meanwhile had multiple qualifiers, including two relay teams.

The 4x200 team of Daiton Martin, Amber Ohnmacht, Bethany Johnson and Kym Graham finished 22nd with a time of 1:52.47.

The same team also competed in the 4x100 as they finished 16th in the prelims with a time of 53.48.

Martin, a freshman, was an individual qualifier in the 100-meter dash. She finished 23rd in the prelims Thursday with a time of 13.31.

East Mills

The lone qualifier for the Wolverines was Sam Rew, who narrowly missed out on a top-eight finish.

Rew tied for ninth in the high jump with 5’11”. The senior was tied with North Mahaska’s Cole Rozendaal and Midland’s Alex Martens.