Breaking Down the Your Prep Sports Area Teams at the Class 1A State Track and Field Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The state track and field meet has arrived.
The three-day meet gets underway at 9 a.m. on Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines with Classes 1A and 4A starting this off in the early session.
Classes 2A and 3A will get rolling on Thursday afternoon.
Before the action heats up on the track and in the throwing areas at Drake Stadium we take a look at the teams from the Your Prep Sports area that will be competing in the 1A meet this week.
BOYS
Regina
Individual events qualified: Four (200; 400; 800; discus)
Relays qualified: One (4×100)
Athlete to watch: Junior Alex Jensen will be busy this week in Des Moines.
A three event qualifier Jensen will compete in the 200 and 400 and will run a leg on the Regal 4×100 relay.
Jensen enters with the 19th fastest qualifying time in the 200 at 23.38 and has the 22nd fastest time from qualifiers in the 400 at 52.25.
Relay team to watch: The lone Regina relay entry is a pretty good one as the Regal 4×100 team of Levi Daniel, Edwin Gangba, Colin Olney and Jensen posting the 14th fastest qualifying time last week with a 45.14.
Regina has run 44.93 in the 4×100 this season which ranks as the 14th best in 1A this spring.
If Regina can put it all together at the right time the Regals have a shot to advance to the finals on Saturday.
Outlook: Regina qualified three individuals across four events as part of five total entries this season with Samuel Welter and Drew Streb joining Jensen as individual qualifiers.
Welter and Streb are both capable of pushing for individual medals this week.
Streb enters with the seventh best qualifying mark in the discus at 141-9 and has the 13th best throw in 1A this season.
Welter has the 10th best qualifying time in the 800 at 2:03.47.
GIRLS
Regina
Individual events qualified: Three (3,000; 100 hurdles; discus)
Relays qualified: Three (4×100; 4×400; shuttle hurdle)
Athlete to watch: Freshman Reese Naeve is a three-event qualifier for the Regals advancing to the state meet in the 100 hurdles and helping the Regals qualify in a pair of relays.
Naeve has the 12th fastest qualifying time in the 100 hurdles at 16.55 and her season best time of 16.23 is the 10th fastest in 1A this spring.
The freshman is also a member of the Regina 4×100 and shuttle hurdle relay teams that both enter with top 10 qualifying times.
Relay team to watch: The Regina shuttle hurdle relay team should be in the thick of the medal hunt this week.
The team of Alli Clark, Morgan Miller, Ella Keune and Naeve enters with the eighth fastest qualifying time after clocking a 1:10.26 at the state qualifying meet last week.
Stanton has the fastest time in 1A this season at 1:06.96 and just one other team, Fremont Mills (1:07.58) has run under 1:08.25 this season.
Outlook: Regina had a strong showing at the state qualifier, sending four individuals across three events and three relay teams to the state meet.
Now the Regals will look to build on that momentum this week in Des Moines.
Alli Clark joins Naeve in the 100 hurdles while Mya Whitaker is a qualifier in the 3,000 and Sydney Wagner in the discus.
The Regina 4×100 relay team of Naeve, Avery Kies, Avery Recker and Dani Laughlin enters with the 10th fastest qualifying time of 51.85 and is capable of pushing for a top-eight finish.
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