What to Watch on Saturday on the Final Day of the State Track and Field Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Two days of the state track and field meet are in the history books.
The biggest day of the three-day meet remains.
After splitting time between the track and the field events for the first two days the focus on Saturday is solely on the Blue Oval inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
There are nine event titles up for grabs in all four classes on both the sides and girls sides on Saturday with team titles in all four classes yet to be sorted out.
Unlike past years Saturday will be run in two sessions with Class 3A and 2A in the morning and Classes 4A and 1A in the afternoon.
Here are a look at a few things to keep an eye on Saturday involving Your Prep Sports area teams.
Solon Chasing Team Trophy
Solon did everything necessary to put itself in position to compete for a state title heading into Saturday.
The Spartans won relays on Thursday and Friday and enter the final day of the three-day meet locked in a three-way tie with Carlisle and Dubuque Wahlert atop the 3A standings with 26 points.
Solon will need another huge day to fend off Dubuque Wahlert but Spartans have plenty of potential to tack on points.
Junior standouts Emma Bock and Kaia Holtkamp own the second and fifth fastest times in 3A this season in the 800, the Spartan shuttle hurdle, 4×100 and sprint medley relays all compete in finals as does senior Kiersten Conway in the 1,500.
Solon is favored to repeat in the 4×400 after clocking the fastest qualifying time in prelims by more than three seconds with a 3:58.56.
Clear Creek Amana Shuttle Hurdle Going Wire to Wire
Clear Creek Amana has not officially held the fastest time in the shuttle hurdle relay all season but it certainly seems like the Clippers have been the state title favorites in the event from the start of season.
The foursome of Emma Mathis, Cileigh Smiddy, Kayla Jiras and Silvana Kabolo established themselves early as the 3A favorite and backed it up with a fourth-place Drake Relays finish behind three 4A teams.
Clear Creek Amana entered with the fastest time in 3A this season by nearly two seconds and solidified itself as the favorite by clocking a season-best time of 1:05.78 in prelims which is more than two seconds faster than Spencer.
Salute to Liberty High Seniors
Jack Kinzer and Bowen Gryp have been cornerstone pieces in the building of the Liberty High track program.
The senior duo helped the Lightning make history on Thursday as part of the 4×800 relay team that won the first state title in program history.
On Saturday Kinzer and Gryp get a final chance to add to their individual legacy.
Gryp is the top seed in the 1,600 from state qualifiers and owns the fourth fastest time in 4A this season at 4:21.16 which is less than a second of the top time from Sioux City North sophomore Gabe Nash.
Kinzer isn’t far back ranking 10th on the season in 4A with a top time of 4:23.79.
Keeney’s Quest for Number 3
Ashlyn Keeney just missed out on a third individual state title on Thursday finishing runner-up in the 4A 3,000.
The Liberty High junior will have two more chances at capturing individual title number three on Saturday entering with top five times in both the 800 and 1,500.
Keeney has the fifth fastest time in 4A in the 800 this season at 2:18.13 three seconds off the pace of 4A season leader Kathryn Vortherms of Ankeny Centennial (2:15.5).
The defending 5A champion in the 1,500, Keeney has the top time in 4A this season at 4:39.24 which is more than five seconds faster than Linn-Mar senior Micah Poellet (4:44.69) while 3,000 champion Lauren McMahon has the fourth fastest time at 4:45.39
Regina Takes Its Shot at Shuttle Hurdle Gold
Regina has been in the conversation as the top shuttle hurdle team in Class 2A throughout the season.
The Regals qualified for the Drake Relays, were runner-up to Cascade at the River Valley Conference meet and won the title at the state qualifying meet last week.
Now comes the big one for the Regals.
The Regina squad of Peyton Naeve, Alli Clark, Abby Clark and Annie Gahan ran a 1:08.62 in the state prelims on Thursday and enters the finals with the third fastest time.
River Valley Conference rival Cascade has the top time from prelims at 1:07.57 while Osage is second at 1:07.83.
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