Breaking Down the Your Prep Sports Area Teams at the Class 3A and 2A Boys State Track and Field Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
After enduring a spring without track and field last year the state track meet is back.
The coronavirus pandemic cancelled the entire spring sports season a year ago but the state track and field meet is ready to return to Drake Stadium in Des Moines this week starting on Thursday and running through Saturday.
Large crowds are expected for the event after the announcement on Tuesday that attendance restrictions had been lifted.
Before the meet gets rolling on Thursday morning here is a quick breakdown of the Class 3A and 2A boys teams from the Your Prep Sports area.
Class 3A
Clear Creek Amana
Individual events qualified: Ten (100; 200; 400; 1,600; 3,200; 110 hurdles; 400 hurdles; high jump)
Relays qualified: Six (4×200, 4×400, 4×800; sprint medley; shuttle hurdle; distance medley)
Athlete to watch: Despite battling injury for the duration of the season Alex Figueroa has put together a strong senior season.
Now Figueroa will attempt to put the finishing touches on what has already been a stellar prep career.
Figueroa hasn’t put up eye-popping times this season but has been almost impossible to beat in the 100 and enters with the fourth fasted qualifying time in the event at 11.24.
The senior sprinter has the 11th best 200 qualifying time at 22.88 and is a remember of the Clippers’ sprint medley team that holds the fourth fastest time from qualifying meets.
Relay team to watch: The Clear Creek Amana distance medley relay team gave a glimpse into what it could do last month with a third-place finish at the Drake Relays and the Clippers haven’t backed off since.
The foursome of Gage Freeman, Ben Swails, Gavin Zillyette and Tom Johnson backed up the Drake Relays showing with conference and state qualifying titles and hold the fastest time in 3A this season at 3:35.28.
Clear Creek Amana will have challengers.
Dallas Center-Grimes has clocked a 3:35.84 and Newton ran a 3:35.88 at the state qualifying meet but the Clippers have proven to have a team capable of claiming a state title.
Outlook: Clear Creek Amana finished 23rd with 12 points at the state meet in 2019 and at the time that seemed about right for where the program sat.
Head coach Ben Robison and the Clippers have come a long way since then and enter the 2021 state meet with much higher expectations.
Clear Creek Amana qualified 10 individual entries across eight events and sends six relays to state including four that enter with top-seven seed times.
Figueroa and senior distance ace Brandon Barker are both multi-event individual qualifiers with state meet experience.
Barker is a three-time qualifier in the 3,200 and finished 10th in 2019 while Figueroa was 10th in the 100 two years ago.
Zillyette enters with the third fastest time in the 400 hurdles in 3A this season at 56.23 while Harrison Rosenberg has the fourth fastest time in 3A this season in the 110 hurdles at 15.13.
Four Clipper relay teams have top-seven seed times with the distance medley, sprint medley and shuttle hurdle relay team all holding top-five times in 3A this season.
The shuttle hurdle team of Swails, Andrew Schlemme, Zaid Rachman and Rosenberg has the fifth fastest time in 3A this sprint while the sprint medley team of Rosenberg, Figueroa, Freeman and Johnson has the fourth fastest time in 3A.
Solon
Individual events qualified: Nine (100; 400; 800; 1,600; 110 hurdles; high jump; discus)
Relays qualified: Five (4×400; 4×800; sprint medley; distance medley; shuttle hurdle)
Athlete to watch: Senior Colton Hoffman has been a stalwart for the Spartans across the lineup all spring and will attempt to put the finishing touches on a strong season at the state meet.
Hoffman enters with a pair of top-10 qualifying marks in individual events, ranking sixth in the 100 (11.27) and ninth in the high jump (6-1) following state qualifiers.
The versatile Hoffman is also a member of the Solon sprint medley relay team that enters with the eighth best time in 3A this season at 1:35.71.
Relay team to watch: Solon sends five relay teams to Drake Stadium this week but it is the sprint medley squad that has been a consistently strong group for the Spartans this season.
Trin Eidahl, Hoffman, Brayden Rickertsen and Blake Timmons clocked a season-best time of 1:35.71 at the state qualifier last week, good for eighth best in 3A this season.
Solon is less than half a second off the third-place time in 3A this season in the event and is familiar with some of the best teams in the state finishing third at the WAMAC meet behind Benton Community (3rd in 3A) and Clear Creek Amana (4th in 3A) and was runner-up to Central DeWitt at the state qualifier when the Sabers ran the second fastest time in 3A this season at 1:34.83.
Outlook: It has been a resurgent season for the Solon boys track and field program.
The Spartans followed up a third-place finish at the WAMAC Conference meet with a team title at the state qualifier using its depth to edge Marion for the team title.
As a result of a strong effort at the state qualifying meet the Spartans return to Drake Stadium with its biggest group of qualifiers in recent history.
Solon qualified nine individual entries across seven events and spends five relay teams to the state meet.
The state meet doesn’t reward team depth the way the regular season does but the Spartans are capable of capping a strong season with a solid state meet showing.
In addition to Hoffman senior Brayden Rickertsen had a top six seed time in the 400 at 51.23 while Ben DeValk ranks 14th in the 1,600 and Brady Mullen 16th in the 110 hurdles from state qualifying times.
The Solon 4×400 relay team enters with the 12th fastest time from state qualifiers while the Spartans’ shuttle hurdle relay team is seeded 13th.
Class 2A
Regina
Individual events qualified: One (400)
Relays qualified: None.
Athlete to watch: Junior Carson Jensen is the lone qualifier for the Regals this season after securing a spot in the 400 meters.
Jensen isn’t just along for the ride this week, the Regina junior is capable of pushing for a medal in his state meet debut.
Jensen enters with the 13th fastest time in Class 2A this season at 51.32 and holds the ninth fastest time from state qualifying meets after posting a 52.07 at the 2A qualifier at Tipton last week.
Outlook: The medal hopes for the Regina boys program rest solely with Jensen who has finished the season strong especially in the 400.
Jensen is capable of pushing for a medal in the event running in lane four in the second of three heats in timed finals in the 400 which is set for Thursday at 1:40 p.m.
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