Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The postseason for prep track is here.

Things start moving quickly from now on – both with performances on the track and in terms of time line.

By Friday the fields for the 2022 State Track and Field meet will be set.

By the afternoon on May 21 teams will be holding state championship trophies on the infield at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Before the hardware is hoisted in Des Moines athletes need to secure spots at state at state qualifying meets on Thursday.

Here is a quick look at the state qualifiers that feature Your Prep Sports area squads.

Class 4A State Qualifier #1 

When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

Where: Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids

Teams: Liberty High; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Linn-Mar; Marshalltown; Ottumwa; Cedar Rapids Prairie

Athlete to watch: Liberty High senior Ashlyn Keeney has loads of postseason experience, state titles to her credit and is one of the top distance runners in the state.

Keeney will face a unique challenge in the final state qualifying meet of her career as she presumably attempts to secure spots at the state meet in three individual events on an evening where high heat could be a factor.

The senior standout has the top qualifying time in both the 1,500 (4:43.31) and 3,000 (10:12.09) and has the second fastest time in the 800 (2:15.06).

Event to watch: Isabelle Woody has had a strong season in the high jump and can give Liberty High a boost to start the meet with a win in the event.

Woody has the top qualifying mark this season clearing 5-3 ¼ while teammate Elizabeth Jaeger is the only other athlete in the field to have cleared 5-1.

A one-two finish in the high jump with a pair of automatic qualifiers would be great start to the night for the Lightning.

Breakdown: Liberty High had its best state finish last season placing seventh with 35 points and will attempt to improve on that next week.

In order to move up the Lightning will need a strong showing on Thursday in Cedar Rapids.

The field events will be important for Liberty High as Draya Acas has the second-best qualifying mark in both the shot put (36-7 ¼) and discus (128-9) to go with the high jumpers.

Liberty High has the third fastest qualifying time in both the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400 and sprint medley relays and has the second fastest time in the shuttle hurdle relay and 4×800.

Class 4A State Qualifier No. 2

When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

Where: Dalzell Field in Dubuque

Teams: City High, West High; Cedar Falls; Clinton; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Waterloo East; Waterloo West

Athlete to watch: Ani Wedemeyer isn’t just one of the best, and fastest athletes, in the state qualifying field but the City High freshman is also one of the most intriguing.

Wedemeyer has the top qualifying time in the 400 (57.21) and 800 (2:12.16) ranking in the top four in Class 4A in both.

In addition, Wedemeyer also has top-three qualifying times in both the 100 (12.79) and 200 (26.68).

Wedemeyer will likely be a part of at least a few City High relays on Thursday but the skill set and range of events the freshman possess makes for interesting lineup possibilities for the Little Hawks.

Event to watch: City High and West High are used to going head-to-head in the postseason and the two perennial powers should matchup for the shuttle hurdle relay title.

The City High foursome of Sierra Pruessner, Te’Nia Ansley, Martha Hamilton and Mia DePrenger have the top qualifying time at 1:04.7 while the West High foursome of Hebah War, Erinah Carter, Sophia Olivo and senior standout Ella Woods are second at 1:06.6.

City High ranks third in 4A this season, West High is fourth.

Breakdown: West High and City High are both accustomed to strong postseason finishes and both sides are geared up for strong state meet showings this season.

The Trojans are fresh off a MVC Divisional title last week and enter with top two qualifying marks in three individual events.

West High is led by Woods and sophomore Erinn Varga in the hurdles.

Woods has the top qualifying time in the 100 hurdles (15.2) while Varga has the top qualifying mark in the 400 hurdles (1:05.51).

City High will look for a big day from its relays.

The Little Hawks have the top qualifying time in the 4×400, sprint medley and distance medley relays to go with their top time in the shuttle hurdle.

City High is also second in the 4×200 and third in the 4×800.

Class 3A State Qualifier No. 2

When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

Where: Benton Community High School

Teams: Solon; Benton Community; Central DeWitt; Maquoketa; Marion; Mount Vernon; Solon; Vinton-Shellsburg; Cedar Rapids Xavier

Athlete to watch: On a roster loaded with talent from top to bottom much of the Solon postseason lineup posturing revolves around senior standouts Emma Bock and Kaia Holtkamp.

Bock has top-four times in Class 3A this season in both the 400 (57.31) and 800 (2:14.33) while Holtkamp has the fourth fastest time in the 800 (2:19.2).

Both Bock and Holtkamp have been heavily involved in the Solon relay success in recent seasons and will be relied upon to help the Spartans rack up points in those events.

Event to watch: As Solon attempts to send a program record number of qualifiers to the state meet next week keep an eye on the Spartans in the distance events.

Junior Kayla Young has followed up a stellar cross country season with a strong year on the track and enters with top-two qualifying times in both the 1,500 (5:14.18) and the 3,000 (10:57.03).

Young has the fastest time in the 3,000 by more than 20 seconds and is a strong bet to qualifying in both but keep an eye on a pair of Solon sophomores as the Spartans attempt to double qualify in both events.

Ashlyn Williams has the third fastest time in the 3,000 at 11:56.38 and Anna Quillin has the fifth fastest qualifying time in the 1,500.

Breakdown: With every passing meet Solon seems to become a bigger favorite to win the Class 3A state title next week.

The Spartans continue to flex their muscle with impressive top-end talent and depth and enter the state qualifying meet with the top qualifying time in 14 events including all seven relays.

Solon has the top two qualifying times in four individual events and should send an all-time number of athletes to the state meet.

Along with Bock and Young, Aly Stahle has the top time in both the 100 and 200, Sophia Stahle has the top time in the 100 hurdles and Makinley Levin has the top qualifying mark in the long jump.

Class 3A State Qualifier No. 8

When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

Where: Mount Pleasant

Teams: Clear Creek Amana; Davenport Assumption; Fairfield; Fort Madison; Keokuk; Mount Pleasant; Washington; West Burlington/Notre Dame

Athlete to watch: Silvana Kabolo got valuable postseason experience last season as a freshman when she helped Clear Creek Amana win a state title in the shuttle hurdle relay.

Now the Clear Creek Amana sophomore standout is ready for a big-time breakthrough.

Kabolo enters the state qualifier with the seventh-fastest time in Class 3A this season in the 110 hurdles at 15.79 and has anchored the Clipper shuttle hurdle relay team to the third-fastest time in 3A this season at 1:06.92.

On Thursday Kabolo will likely also be a key piece of the relay puzzle for the Clippers on Thursday as they look to push several other relays through to the state meet.

Event to watch: The distance events will be worth monitoring at every qualifier across the state on Thursday as temperatures soar into the 90s creating a challenge for competitors.

In Mount Pleasant the 1,500 should definitely be worth a watch with the top five competitors separated by less than 10 seconds.

Mount Pleasant senior Abby Blint has the top qualifying time at 5:16.79 which is more than five seconds faster than any other competitor.

However, the next four fastest times are separated by just more than four seconds and a pair of Clear Creek Amana athletes could be in the mix for a top-two auto-qualifying spot.

Freshman Kira Barker has the third fastest qualifying time at 5:23.76 and senior Kalin Rotzoll has the fourth-fastest time at 5:24.7.

Breakdown: A week after a strong performance at the WAMAC Conference meet Clear Creek Amana heads south for its state qualifier with an entirely new field of competitors.

Clear Creek Amana will look to push some field events through to state with sophomore Bliss Beck third in the high jump qualifying marks (5-3) and junior Emma Descourouez second (16-9 ¾) and Bailey Olerich (16-1 ½) third in the long jump.

Clear Creek Amana has the top-two qualifying times in four relays and has the top time entering Thursday’s meet in the shuttle hurdle, distance medley and 4×800 relays.

Class 2A State Qualifier No. 4

When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

Where: Monticello

Teams: West Branch; Regina; Anamosa; Dyersville Beckman; Camanche; Cascade; Durant; Monticello; Northeast; Tipton; West Liberty; Wilton

Athlete to watch: Regina senior Natalie Franklin had a busy yet productive day at the River Valley Conference meet last week posting top-eight finishes in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000.

At a state qualifier that features much of the same field minus distance standout Danielle Hostetler and Sydney Yoder of Mid-Prairie, Franklin will look to improve her performances and secure a spot at the state meet.

Franklin enters with top-four qualifying times in both the 1,500 and 3,000.

She has the third fastest time in the 3,200 at 11:23.28 trailing only the Monticello duo of Emma Althoff and Ava Capron.

In the 1,500 Franklin has the fourth-fastest time at 5:22.67 and is less than 10 seconds off the top time held by Monticello freshman Leah Koehler.

Event to watch: The battle for the top two spots is always intense in relay competition but the 4×200 may be one of the tightest events of the evening.

Northeast is the favorite and enters with the top qualifying time at 1:50.21 but Wilton won the event at the RVC meet last week in a season-best time of 1:51.72.
The West Branch foursome of Ava Finley, Iva Senio, JaLynn Falco and Avery Schultes was third at the RVC meet in 1:52.47 which is the third fastest qualifying mark.

Cascade is right in the mix as well with a top time of 1:52.73 this season making it a potential four-way race for the top two spots.

Breakdown: West Branch and Regina are among 11 River Valley Conference teams in the 12-team field making a return trip to Monticello after the RVC meet last week.

The Bears and Regals both performed well last Thursday at the RVC and will look to keep that momentum going this week.

West Branch freshman Alyssa Pierce was runner-up at the RVC meet in the shot put and enters with the second-best qualifying mark at 34-8 behind Camanche senior Allison Kenneavy (36-7).

Regina senior Peyton Naeve has top-five qualifying marks in both the 400 and 400 hurdles.

The same West Branch foursome that ranks third in the 4×200 relay has the fourth fastest 4×100 time at 52.81.

Regina enters with the fifth fastest time in the 4×800 relay this season.

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