Your Prep Sports Area Girls Track and Field Athletes to Watch This Season
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The track and field season is off and running in the state of Iowa.
Action really begins to pick up this week with teams around the Your Prep Sports area scheduled to open the outdoor portion of their schedules.
As the season gets underway Your Prep Sports takes a look at 10 track and field athletes from the area to watch this season.
Rachel Haack
Senior, City High
One of the top throwers in the state Haack is coming off a strong junior season in which she finished fourth at the Class 4A state meet in both the shot put and the discus.
The City High school record holder in the discus with a throw of 141-6, Haack finished fourth in 4A last season in the discus with a mark of 137-5 and was fourth in the shot put with a distance of 42-3 ½.
Already a three-time state qualifier, Haack placed fifth at the state meet in the discus as a sophomore.
Reese Naeve
Senior, Regina
An Iowa State volleyball recruit that has led the state in kills each of the past two seasons, Naeve will look to conclude a stellar prep track and field career with a strong senior season.
Naeve will be seeking to earn a state medal in the 100 hurdles for the fourth consecutive season after posting a career-best third-place finish in the event last season in a time of 15.09.
A four-event qualifier each of the past two seasons, Naeve was runner-up in the high jump at the Class 2A state meet two seasons ago before placing 16th in the high jump last season.
Naeve was also a member of the state qualifying Regina 4×100 and shuttle hurdle relay teams last season.
Sophia Austen
Junior, West High
An all-state volleyball player committed to Iowa State, Austen will look to add a state track and field medal to her already stellar prep resume.
Austen in a two-time state qualifier in the high jump, placing in the top-11 at the Class 4A meet each of the past two seasons.
Austen cleared 5-0 to finish 11th at the state meet two seasons ago as a freshman and was ninth at the 4A meet last season clearing 5-2.
Elizabeth Timmerman
Senior, Clear Creek Amana
A versatile athlete, Timmerman has been a key part of the Clear Creek Amana lineup each of the past three seasons.
Timmerman has been a four-event qualifier each of the past two seasons and has qualified for the Class 3A long jump each of the past three seasons, finishing seventh in the event as a sophomore in 2024.
Timmerman is also a two-time state qualifier in the 200 and has helped the Clipper 4×200 relay team qualify for the state meet each of the past three seasons highlighted by a ninth-place finish last season.
Jerzey Haluska
Junior, Solon
Haluska is poised for a breakout season this spring after qualifying for the state meet in three events last season.
After earning a state medal on the Solon 4×400 relay team as a freshman in 2024, Haluska was a three-event qualifier at the 3A state meet last season posting an 11th place finish in the 400 in a time of 58.93.
Haluska also helped the Solon 4×400 (10th) and sprint medley (14th) relay teams to top-15 finishes at the state meet.
Alexi Thigpen
Senior, Liberty High
Thigpen will look to close a brilliant prep career with a state long jump title after posting top-four finishes in the event each of her first three seasons.
Thigpen was third in the long jump at the 4A state meet as a freshman (17-5 ¾) and has finished fourth each of the last two seasons including a year ago when she posted a jump of 17-3 ¼.
Last season Thigpen was also a part of the Lightning 4×100 and spring medley relay teams that qualified for the 4A state meet.
Abigail Burns
Senior, City High
Burns is in line for a strong senior after competing in three events at the Class 4A state meet last season as a junior.
Last season Burns placed 14th in the 800 in a time of 2:17.98 and anchored the Little Hawk distance medley relay team to an eighth-place finish while also running on the City High 4×800 relay team that finished 13th at the state meet.
A medalist at the 4A state cross country meet in the fall, Burns has gotten off to an impressive start to the season posting top-10 times in City High history in both the 1,500 (4:48.15) and the 3,000 (10:19.59) at the Dubuque indoor meet earlier this month.
Chelsea VeDepo
Junior, Liberty High
A three-event state qualifier each of the past two seasons VeDepo will look to add to her state medal count this season after placing seventh in the 400 at the 4A state meet two seasons ago as a freshman.
Last season VeDepo was 14th in the 400 in 1:00.34 and was a part of two state qualifying relay teams for the second consecutive season.
VeDepo was a member of the Lightning sprint medley and 4×400 relay teams that qualified for the state meet last season.
Amara MacLagan
Sophomore, West High
MacLagan will look to follow up a strong freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign after qualifying for the Class 4A state meet in three events last spring.
MacLagan qualified for the state meet in the long jump last season and has already posted a jump of 17-2 ¼ in the indoor season this year.
As a freshman MacLagan was also part of the Trojan shuttle hurdle relay team that placed 10th at the 4A state meet in 1:07.31 and was a member of the West High 4×100 relay team that finished 17th.
Grace Hamann
Junior, West Branch
Hamann is already a two-time state medalist and is coming off the best season of her career last spring in which she posted top-11 three individual events at the Class 2A state meet.
A four-event state qualifier last season, Hamann earned a medal in the 800 for the second consecutive season finishing seventh in 2A in a career-best time of 2:17.52.
Hamann also placed ninth in the 400 hurdles and 11th in the 1,500 last season while anchoring the West Branch distance medley relay team to a ninth-place finish at the state meet.
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