Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The snow is finally gone and the temperatures are on the rise as the opening week of track season arrives.

Weather permitting several area teams will open the season this week with every area program scheduled to attend a meet next week.

The state track and field meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines is less than two months away with the coed state meet opening on May 16.

With the start of the season coming up quickly here are a few athletes to keep an eye on this season.

Ainsley Schrock

Junior, Clear Creek Amana

A year after picking up the first state medal of her career with a sixth-place finish in the discus as a freshman Schrock returned to Drake Stadium and left with gold.

Schrock became the second discus state champ in CCA history and first since Caroline Ruppert won back-to-back 2A titles in 01 and 02 with her Class 3A crown last season.

Her state-winning toss of 132-4 was more than four feet better than her previous career best and outdistanced anyone else in the state field by nearly four feet.

Deniz Ince

Senior, West High

Ince established herself as one of the premier distance runners in the state last season with a breakthrough state meet performance.

The Yale recruit earned four top-three finishes at the 4A state meet a year ago finishing runner-up to teammate Bailey Nock in both the 1,500 and 3,000 to help the Women of Troy to a team runner-up finish.

With Nock off to the University of Colorado Ince takes over as the unquestioned leader of the perennially strong West High distance crew.

Last season she clocked the fourth fastest 800 time and fifth fastest 1,500 time in the state.

Emma Cooper/Emma Clark

Seniors, City High

Cooper and Clark were integral parts in a huge turnaround season for City High last spring that ended with a ninth-place finish at the Class 4A state meet.

Both of the senior sprinters were part of a pair of Little Hawk relay teams that earned top-five state finishes as City High followed up back-to-back state meet showings that accounted for one medal and a combined 7.5 points by scoring 27 points last season.

Cooper and Clark made up half of the City High 4×200 squad that placed fifth at state while Cooper ran on the fourth-place finishing sprint medley team and Clark was a member of the distance medley team that placed fourth.

City High returns the pieces to take another significant step forward this spring and Cooper and Clark will again figure to be among the centerpieces.

Erin Kerkhoff

Senior, Solon

The times have dropped and the number of state medals have increased each of the past three seasons for Kerkhoff who has emerged as one of the top performers in Class 3A.

A four-event qualifier each of the past two seasons Kerkhoff had her best season yet last spring earning four state medals for the first time.

Kerkhoff earned a state medal in the 400 for the third consecutive season with a fifth-place finish and helped Solon claim a trip of top-four relay finishes.

The senior was a member of the Spartan’s 4×200 and sprint medley relay teams that placed fourth and anchored the Solon 4×400 relay team to a second consecutive Class 3A runner-up finish in a school-record time of 3:58.37.

Camille Mac

Sophomore, Liberty High

It was a historic debut season for Mac who made school history last spring as the first state Drake Relays qualifier, state qualifier and state medalist in Liberty High history.

Mac capped a strong freshman season with fifth-place finish in the 3,000 at the Class 3A state meet last spring.

She returns this season as the experienced leader of a Liberty High distance group that should quickly establish itself as one of the state’s best.  

Standout freshman Ashlynn Keeney joins Mac to give the Lightning a dynamic distance tandem.

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