Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

A wild and weather-altered weekend at the state track and field meet concludes on Saturday with a full day of track action.

The warmest opening day ever for a co-ed state meet brought temperatures in the 90s on Thursday afternoon and gave way to thunderstorms and steady ran that caused delays and schedule changes on Thursday evening and Friday.

With field events completed the focus moves squarely to the track inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines with nine running event finals on Saturday.

Also up for grabs on Saturday are state team titles across all four classes.

Here are the top storylines entering the final day of the 2019 state track and field meet.

Possibility of Storms Shifts Schedule

A late thunderstorm Thursday forced a few scheduling changes on the first two days of the state track and field meet.

The final day of the meet will get started a little early with the hopes of avoiding any more weather related moves on Saturday.

Action will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday rather than the originally schedule 9 a.m. start with the meet operating on a rolling schedule meaning that start times will be moved up if the meet runs ahead of schedule.

The forecast calls for possible thunderstorms across the state late Saturday afternoon and into the evening.
Gates at Drake Stadium open at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

Shuttle Hurdle Shakeup

Thursday evening’s thunderstorms forced the cancellation of the preliminary heats in the Class 1A and 4A girls shuttle hurdle relay and turned Saturday into a winner-take-all timed final in the event.

All three area 4A teams figure to be in the thick of the shuttle hurdle title race.

The West High foursome of Ella Woods, Amy Liao, Matayia Tellis and ace anchor Peyton Steva have the third fastest time in 4A this season at 1:04.17 while City High has the fifth best time (1:04.87) and Liberty High the ninth fastest (1:06.9)

Before the ran came on Thursday West Branch and Solon each earned spots in the shuttle hurdle relay finals.

The West Branch squad of Kaiya Luneckas, Aubrey Baylor, Sasha Koenig and Jaylen Votroubek ran the fifth fastest time in the 2A prelims at 1:08.58 while the Solon foursome of Peyton Sands, Jada Buffington, Rachael Nelson and Gabbi Bullard reached the 3A finals with the sixth fastest prelim time at 1:07.56.

Can’t Miss Hurdle Final

Part of what makes the state meet special is the atmosphere in and around Drake Stadium.

The food, the meeting of friends the walks around the stadium.

Take it all in on Saturday but make sure you’ve got your eyes on the final 100 meters of the Blue Oval when the gun sounds to start the Class 4A 100 hurdles.

The top talent in a loaded 4A field has battled all season and promises to put on one final can’t miss show on the final day of the season.

Four runners in the 4A field already own spots in the top-24 all-time best performances in the event and those are in jeopardy again on Saturday.

West High senior and Northern Iowa recruit Peyton Steva clocked the fastest time in the prelims at 14.408 and ran the ninth fastest time in state history at 14.33 in a Drake Relays runner-up finish last month.

Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln senior and Nebraska signee Darby Thomas is the only person to beat Steva this spring, clocking a 14.3 in the Drake Relays final, good for sixth-best all-time.

Thomas ran a 14.409 in the prelims on Friday and their isn’t likely to be much separation between the two on Saturday.

Liberty High junior Taylor Cannon is capable of being in the title mix as well.

Cannon ran a career-best 14.45 in Thursday’s prelims, good for 13th best in state history.

Ankeny Centennial senior cracked the top-25 all-time with a 14.7 earlier this year and has the fourth-best time from prelims while City High junior and 400 hurdle champ Caroline Schaeckenbach is also a finalist.

Keeney Ends With Busy Day

Liberty High freshman Ashlyn Keeney has already had an impressive state meet debut with an individual title and a relay runner-up finish.

The distance standout will attempt to add another title or two to her already impressive resume on Saturday.

Keeney has the top time in Class 4A in the 1,500 this season at 4:32.98, more than 12 seconds faster than any other competitor.

Her top time of 2:09.99 in the 800 is second in 4A to Cedar Falls junior Mackenzie Michael who edged Keeney by .11 in the Drake Relays 800. 

Solon 4×400 Seeks Happy Ending

The Solon 4×400 relay team has been close to ending the season with a win each of the past two seasons, finishing second to Decorah at back-to-back state meets.

Solon seniors Erin Kerkhoff, Taylor Ryan and Abby Smith get one final shot at 4×400 gold in their final race in a Spartan uniform.

The senior trio joined freshman standout Emma Bock in clocking a season-best time of 4:00.65 in the prelims on Thursday, tops among 3A teams.

Glenwood had the second-best preliminary time at 4:02.83 while Sioux City Heelan boasts the top time among 3A schools from the regular season at 4:01.39 and was sixth in preliminary heats.