Your Prep Sports Area Boys Track and Field Athletes to Watch This Season
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The opening day of the 2022 state track and field meet is just eight weeks away.
On May 19 the 2022 edition of the three-day state track and field meet gets underway at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Between now and then the Your Prep Sports area figures to be home to some of the most exciting individual performers in the state this season.
Here is a list of 10 Your Prep Sports area track and field athletes to keep any eye on this season all the way to the state meet in May.
Jovan Harris
Senior, City High
A three-sport standout Harris is perhaps at his best on the track where his explosive skill set makes him a centerpiece for a City High team with state title hopes.
Last season Harris helped City High earn a trio of top-seven relay finishes at the 4A state meet.
Harris was a member of the Little Hawk’s school-record setting sprint medley team that finished third in 1:32.61 and helped the distance medley team to a fourth-place finish and was on the 4×100 squad that placed seventh.
Alex McKane
Senior, West High
Coming off a stellar senior cross country season McKane will look to cap an impressive prep running career with another strong season on the track.
The runner-up at the Class 4A state cross country meet in the fall McKane earned a pair of individual medals at the state track meet last season.
An Iowa State recruit, McKane was fifth in the 3,200 last season in 9:37.8 and placed seventh in the 1,600 in 4:25.88 and was also a part of the West High 4×800 team that finished 12th.
Luke Meyers
Senior, Liberty High
Meyers capped a breakthrough junior season with a pair of state medals as he established himself as one of the top up and coming sprinters in the state.
Meyers finished seventh in the 200 at the 4A state meet in a time of 22.77 and was a part of a pair of Liberty High state qualifying relay teams helping the Lightning to an eighth-place finish in the 4×400.
Harrison Rosenberg
Senior, Clear Creek Amana
One of several Clear Creek Amana athletes with breakthrough seasons a year ago Rosenberg returns for his senior season as a legit state title contender following a third-place finish in the 110 hurdles last May in a time of 15.17.
Rosenberg will be key for the Clippers across the lineup after helping Clear Creek Amana to a third-place finish in the sprint medley and running on shuttle hurdle relay team that placed ninth at the 3A state meet last season.
Carson Jensen
Senior, Regina
The lone state qualifier for the Regals last spring Jensen made the most of his trip to Drake Stadium earning a state medal with a seventh-place finish in the 400 in 50.81.
Jensen closed the season strong, earning a trio of medals at the River Valley Conference meet with top-eight finishes in the 100, 200 and 400 before earning his state meet medal.
Jensen will look to build on the strong finish to last season as he takes on an expanded role both as a competitor and a leader for a Regina team that should be on the rise.
Matt Schaeckenbach
Junior, City High
One of the most intriguing athletes on a loaded City High roster Schaeckenbach showed his versatility in winning the 2021 Iowa Association of Track Coaches state pentathlon championship.
Schaeckenbach flashed his potential last season as a sophomore finishing seventh in the high jump and ninth in the 400 hurdles at the 4A state meet while running on the City High shuttle hurdle relay team that was 14th.
Gavin Zillyette
Senior, Clear Creek Amana
Another key returner with state title aspirations in a strong Clipper lineup Zillyette emerged last season with a standout junior year.
Zillyette finished runner-up in the 400 hurdles in a time of 55.88 on his way to a four-medal effort at the 3A state meet last spring.
An Illinois State recruit, Zillyette was part of the Clippers third-place 4×800 squad and ran on the 4×400 and distance medley teams that finished sixth.
Cash Woody
Senior, West Branch
One of only a handful of seniors on a young West Branch roster Woody will be looked to for leadership on and off the track this season as the Bears seek to take a big step forward as a program.
Woody will be a key piece in the West Branch lineup with the ability to compete well in a number of events but should excel in the high jump and 110 hurdles.
Adam Smith
Junior, Solon
It wouldn’t feel like track season without Solon having a strong competitor in the throws and Smith appears to be the latest in a long line of success Spartans.
Smith finished 11th in the discus at the 3A state meet as a sophomore last season and has put together several impressive indoor performances to kick off the 2022 season.
Look for another strong season for the Spartan throws program.
Ammon Smith
Junior, City High
The next in line of an impressive string of middle-distance runners at City High Smith showed last season he was poised to become one of the best in the state.
Smith finished third in the 800 at the Class 4A state meet as a sophomore last May clocking a time of 1:55.39.
He was also a member of the City High 4×800 relay team that placed fourth in 7:56.3 and joins classmates Truman Thompson and Ford Washburn as returning members of that squad.
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