Breaking Down the Your Prep Sports Area Teams at the Class 4A State Track and Field Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The high school track and field season has hit the home stretch.
The three-day state track and field meet gets underway at 9 a.m. on Thursday at Drake Stadium and concludes on Saturday afternoon.
Before the action gets rolling in and around the track at Drake Stadium Your Prep Sports will take a look at every area team competing in Des Moines this week.
We start with a look at the teams taking part in the Class 2A meet.
Boys
City High
Individual event entries qualified: Eight (110 hurdles; 400 hurdles; high jump; long jump; discus; shot put)
Relays qualified: Four (4×200; 4×800; shuttle hurdle; sprint medley)
Athlete to watch: Senior Jeremiah Madlock will be busy this week at Drake Stadium after qualifying in three events.
Madlock qualified in the high jump (6-0) and will be a key part of the City High relay teams this week.
The senior anchored the City High 4×200 relay team that enters with the 23rd fastest qualifying time and was one the anchor of the sprint medley squad that has the 24th fastest qualifying time.
Relay to watch: City High qualified for the 4×800 relay for the 14th consecutive season and did it without a senior among its four runners.
Juniors Adam Schaefer and George Karr, sophomore Maxwell McDowell and freshman Emmett Palmberg have the 19th fastest qualifying time in the 4×800 at 8:10.93.
Last year’s 4A 4×800 champion, City High likely won’t be at the front of the 4×800 pack but the Little Hawks can gain experience, build confidence and push into medal conversation with a strong effort on Thursday.
Outlook: City High qualified eight individuals across six events with double qualifiers in both the 110 hurdles (Dominic Roe and Isaac Washpun) and high jump (Bernard Grant, Madlock).
Keep an eye on the field events where City High has qualifiers in all four events.
Jalyn Ford is 16th in the shot put (48-5 ½), Raphael Etuma is 13th in the discus (149-3) and Washpun in 15th in the long jump (21-0 ½).
City High has four relays qualified with the 4×200, shuttle hurdle and sprint medley joining the 4×800 team.
West High
Individual event entries qualified: 17 (100; 200; 400; 800; 1,600; 110 hurdles; 400 hurdles; long jump; discus; shot put)
Relays qualified: Six (4×100; 4×200; 4×800; distance medley; shuttle hurdle; sprint medley)
Athlete to watch: West High is led by a trio of standouts all with a different area of expertise, in senior sprinter Izaiah Loveless, senior Aidan Jacobsen (long jump, hurdles) and junior middle distance ace Moustafa Tiea.
If West High is to challenge for a trophy this weekend it will likely be behind Loveless and Jacobsen.
Loveless has the third fastest qualifying time in the 100, the second fastest time in the 200 and anchors the Trojans’ 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams that each have top-two qualifying times.
Jacobsen has the fastest 400 hurdle time in the state this season, has the ninth fastest qualifying time in the 400 and the 12th best qualifying mark in the long jump.
Relay to watch: West High won the 4×100 last season to cap a state meet that saw the Trojans claim four relay titles.
Led by returning team members Todd Rent and Loveless the Trojans are back to defend their title and enter with the second fastest qualifying time at 42.04.
West High should be in the title conversation until the final event making this race a little more exciting as the Trojans try to tack on team points.
Outlook: West High was fifth last season, its best state meet finish since a runner-up performance in 2018.
The Trojans have their sights set even higher this season and should be in the state title mix all weekend along with Ankeny and Cedar Falls.
Tiea is a top-eight seed in the 400, 800 and 1,600 and Colin Whitters has top-six qualifying marks in both the shot put and discus as the Trojans have top-10 seeds from 11 individuals.
West High will once again look to excel in the relays where it has top eight qualifying time in four different relays.
The sprint medley is fifth and the distance medley is eight for West High.
Liberty High
Individual event entries qualified: Eight (400; 1,600; 3,200; high jump; discus; shot put)
Relays qualified: Three (4×400; 4×800; distance medley)
Athlete to watch: Senior Aidan Decker will look to put the finishing touches on a strong career with a strong state meet performance.
Decker as the 15th best qualifying time in the 1,600 (4:25.14) and has run 4:19.48 in the event this season.
The senior also anchored the Lightning 4×800 relay team which has the 17th fastest qualifying time and distance medley relay team which enters with the 10th fastest time from state qualifiers.
Relay to watch: The Liberty High distance medley relay team of Jackson Burnes, Trey Schweitzer, Sutton Koller and Decker have the 10th fastest qualifying time after running 3:37.14 at the state qualifying meet last week at Kingston Stadium.
This is the relay to watch for Liberty High which ran 3:34.9 at the Forwald/Coleman Relays with a different foursome.
With a strong effort on Friday the Lightning could push into medal contention.
Outlook: Liberty High has double entries in a pair of individual events including the 400 where Carter Meyers enters with the sixth fastest qualifying time at 49.8.
Freshman Keegan Decker ran the second fastest 3,200 time at state qualifiers last week at 9:22.81 which ranks as the 12th fastest in 4A this season.
Liberty High has an opportunity to make noise in the field events where senior Cael Schramm is seeded 12th in the discus (149-5) and 19th in the high jump (6-0) and Brady Cannon is 11th in the shot put (49-8).
Girls
City High
Individual event entries qualified: Five (3,000; 100 hurdles; long jump; discus; shot put)
Relays qualified: Three (4×400; 4×800; sprint medley)
Athlete to watch: Sophomore Rachel Haack returns to the state meet for the second time and this time will look to leave with some hardware.
Haack was 17th in the discus in her state meet debut last spring and enters with the ninth best qualifying mark at 120-3.
Haack has shown she is among the best in the state this season posting the third best throw in 4A this spring at 138-2.
Look for a breakthrough weekend from the sophomore who has the 13th best qualifying mark in the shot put at 36-11 ½.
Relay to watch: The City High 4×800 team of Naomi Downing-Sherer, Claire Locher, Lucy Sherburne and Abigail Burns finished runner-up to state leader Pleasant Valley at the state qualifying meet last week and enters with the 15th fastest qualifying time at 9:55.33.
Freshmen Downing-Sherer and Sherburne will make their state meet debuts on Thursday alongside sophomores Locher and Burns as City High looks to push into medal contention.
Outlook: Behind Haack and sophomore Hannah Braun (12th in the discus) the field events should be a strength for City High as Ruth Cloyd is also a qualifier in the long jump.
Keep an eye on Sierra Pruessner in the 100 hurdles as the senior enters with the 16th fastest qualifying time (15.61).
City High qualified four relays led by the 4×800 and 4×400 which has the 18th fastest qualifying time.
West High
Individual event entries qualified: Five (100 hurdles; 400 hurdles; high jump; shot put)
Relays qualified: Three (4×400; shuttle hurdle; distance medley)
Athlete to watch: Senior Erinn Varga is once again a four-event qualifier and will look to leave her final state meet with some hardware.
Varga has the 23th fastest time in the 400 hurdles and will run on all three qualifying relay teams for the Trojans.
The senior is the leadoff leg on the West High shuttle hurdle team that has the seventh fastest qualifying time (1:05.29) and is also on the West High 4×400 and distance medley teams.
Relay to watch: The West High shuttle hurdle squad is seeking to add to its recent run of success that includes a fourth-place finish at the state meet last season and a third-place finish at the Drake Relays last month.
Varga, Eriniah Carter, Sophia Olivo and Jaylin Herring ran 1:04.87 in the Drake Relays finals last month and enter with the seventh-fastest qualifying time at 1:05.29.
That foursome is capable of once again pushing into the finals and securing a state medal.
Outlook: Just as it has all season the hurdlers will lead the Trojans this week in Des Moines.
Senior Eriniah Carter and junior Sophia Olivo have the 10th and 11th fastest qualifying times in the 100 hurdles and Varga has the 23rd fastest time in the 400 hurdles to go with the shuttle hurdle squad.
Keep an eye on the field events where senior Helen Penning has the ninth best qualifying mark in the shot put at 38-10 ¾ and freshman Sophia Austen is eighth-seeded in the high jump at 5-2.
West High also qualified its 4×400 and distance medley relay teams.
Liberty High
Individual event entries qualified: Nine (400; 800; 1,500; 3,000; 110 hurdles; 400 hurdles; long jump; shot put)
Relays qualified: Five (4×400; 4×800; shuttle hurdle; sprint medley; distance medley)
Athlete to watch: Senior Cori Mac has already had a stellar career and will look to add to that with a strong performance in her final appearance at the state meet.
Mac has the ninth fastest qualifying times in both the 1,500 (4:47.21) and the 3,000 (10:15.32) and ran the 800-meter anchor leg on the distance medley relay team at the state qualifying meet.
Look for Mac to put together a solid farewell performance in her final state meet appearance.
Relay to watch: The Liberty High sprint medley foursome of Alexi Thigpen, Brynlee Slockett, Chelsea VeDepo and Natalie Ramsey ran the ninth fastest qualifying time last week at 1:49.15.
That squad has an opportunity to make noise at state and should be in medal contention with the potential to push much higher.
Outlook: The Lightning quietly put together a stellar season capped by an outstanding effort at the state qualifier last week.
Liberty High has nine individual event qualifiers across eight events with Chelsea VeDepo (6th) and Natalie Ramsey (8th) both top-eight seeds in the 400.
Alexi Thigpen (long jump) and Jolie Nordell (shot put) are both top-14 seeds and return to the state meet with experience while Ivy Nuro Gyina is a qualifier in both the 100 and 400 hurdles.
The Lightning qualified five relays for the state meet highlighted by the sprint medley and the 4×400 squads which both enter with top-15 qualifying times.
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