Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Here we go.

The track postseason shifts into high gear on Thursday as conference meets jump start a three-week stretch that concludes with the State Track and Field Meet May 20-22 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Next Thursday at state qualifying meets the focus is on earning spots at state but first comes the quest for conference hardware.

The Mississippi Valley Conference runs divisional meets while the WAMAC and River Valley Conference have super meet setups with all teams at one location.

Here is a quick breakdown of all the conference meets featuring Your Prep Sports area schools.

MVC Mississippi Divisional

When: Thursday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Loras College

Teams: City High; Liberty High; Cedar Falls; Dubuque Wahlert; Linn-Mar; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Cedar Rapids Washington; Western Dubuque

Team Title Chase: Cedar Falls is talented from top to bottom deep in most spots, top-seeded in 11 events, second in four others and the favorite to pull away from top contenders City High and Cedar Rapids Prairie.

City High has shown this season is can compete with the best in the state and Cedar Rapids Prairie has the firepower to make a run of its own but the Tigers appear to be a step above.

Athlete to Watch: City High senior Isaac Rohret will look to make a splash in his MVC Divisional debut.

A transfer from Independence, Rohret enters with the second fastest time in both the 100 and 200 and will be a key cog in the City High relay lineup.

Rohret (10.99) trails only Miles Thompson (10.82) of Cedar Rapids Washington in the 100 and enters with the second fastest 200 time at 22.47 behind Prairie senior Ceondae Adams who leads at 22.07.

Event to Watch: Simply put – the 800 field is loaded. Four of the top seven fastest 800 runners in Class 4A this season reside in the Mississippi Division, including the top two, making the open 800 one of the most anticipated events at any conference meet on Thursday.

Cedar Falls standout senior TJ Tomlyanovich has the top time in the state at 1:54.61 while Liberty High senior Bowen Gryp owns the second fastest time at 1:55.36.

Liberty High’s Jack Kinzer has run 1:57.79 this season, sixth fastest in 4A and right behind him is City High sophomore Ammon Smith who has clocked a 1:57.89.

Breakdown: City High has already proven to be a different type of team this season and would like nothing more than to make a statement in the first leg of the postseason.

The Little Hawks have top-three qualifying performances in 13 events including six relays.

City High has the second fastest time in the shuttle hurdle, distance medley, sprint medley and 4×100 relays while senior Raph Hamilton enters top-seeded in the shot put.

Liberty High is out to make its own statement on Thursday.

The Lightning have easily their most complete team in program history and have the horses across the lineup to make some serious noise in the postseason.

Gryp and Kinzer are both top-three seeds in both the 800 and 1,500, Luke Meyers has top-five qualifying times in the 100 and 200 and five Liberty High relay teams are seeded in the top four.

It starts with Gryp and Kinzer.

Gryp has the top time in the Mississippi Division in the 1,600 at 4:21.44 while Kinzer is third in both the 1,600 (4:24.74) and 3,000 (9:39.55).

MVC Valley Divisional 

When: Thursday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Dalzell Field in Dubuque

Teams: West High; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Xavier; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Waterloo East; Waterloo West

Team Title Chase: With three teams separated by what appears to be the thinnest of margins this has all the makings of the most closely contested team races among area teams.

West High, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Dubuque Senior appear to be nearly even entering competition on Thursday with the Cougars field event prowess perhaps providing the slimmest of edges to Kennedy.

Athlete to Watch: How can it not be Mason Applegate?

The West High senior is one of the most uniquely talented track and field athletes around entering as the top-seed in both the 100 and the shot put.

Applegate is tops among Valley Division competitors with a mark of 48-8 in the shot put and is tied for the fastest 100 time with Dubuque Senior’s David Williams at 11.28.

For good measure Applegate also ranks fourth in the 200 with a time of 23.01 and runs the sprint relays.

Event to Watch: The longest event on the track will likely be one of the most entertaining with distance aces Alex McKane and Ryan Winger going head to head.

McKane owns the sixth-fastest time in 4A this season at 9:32.38 while Winger ranks ninth in 4A with a top time of 9:38.11.

Both runners clocked their season-best times at the Drake Relays last month as McKane finished 11^th, five spots in front of Winger.

Breakdown: Every point could matter in this meet with the team title expect to come down to the wire.

West High enters top-seeded in five events (100, shot put, 3,200, 4×800 relay and 4×100 relay) and has top-three seeds in 11 different events.

The Trojans will need to be close to their best on Thursday to come away with a team title.

Junior Caden Noeller has the second fastest time in the 800 at 1:59.15 and senior Jason Lu is seeded third in both the 110 and 400 hurdles.

WAMAC Conference Meet

When: Thursday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Independence High School

Teams: Clear Creek Amana; Solon; Dyersville Beckman; Benton Community; Center Point-Urbana; Independence; Maquoketa; Marion; Mount Vernon; Vinton-Shellsburg; West Delaware; Williamsburg; South Tama

Team Title Chase: In the most recent running of the WAMAC Super Meet in 2019 it was Marion that emerged from a tight lead pack edging Clear Creek Amana and Mount Vernon for the title.

Once again it is Marion and Clear Creek Amana that enter as favorites with the Clippers seeking the first conference title in program history.

Clear Creek Amana has the depth and talent to get the job done but will need a strong showing to edge a Marion squad that is top-seeded in four events.

Athlete to Watch: It sounds a little strange to say an athlete without a top-three individual seed is a major key but that is the case with Clear Creek Amana senior sprinter Alex Figueroa.

Figueroa had his regular season workload limited while battling compartment syndrome but a big night from the senior could provide a major boost for the Clippers in the team race.

Figueroa enters with the fourth fastest time in the 200 at 22.92 and is seeded seventh in the 100 with a time of 11.3 but has yet to lose in that race this season.

Expect Figueroa to also be key in relays where he has run on the Clippers’ 4×100 team that enters with the fastest time and the second-seeded sprint medley team.

Event to Watch: If the team race is as tight as expect the champion could be determined by a few points. That magnifies the importance of a race like the 4×100 where mistakes can be costly.

Adding to the intrigue of the shortest and most exciting of the relay events is the fact that contenders Clear Creek Amana and Marion are the top two seeds and separated by just .25.

Clear Creek Amana’s foursome of Harrison Rosenberg, Ben Swails, Gage Freeman and Figueroa owns the top time at 43.95 while Marion is second with a 44.2.

Solon’s group of Trin Eidahl, Blake Timmons, Brady Jeworrek and Colton Hoffman are contenders as well entering with the fourth fastest time at 44.7.

Breakdown: Expect to the team race to come down to Marion and Clear Creek Amana and it likely won’t be decided until the final few races.

Marion junior Shane Erb has the top times in the 1,600 and 3,200 and senior Garret Wagner is favored to sweep the throws.

Clear Creek Amana has the top seeds in both hurdle events with Rosenberg (15.13) in the 110 hurdles and Gavin Zillyette (56.07) in the 400 hurdles.

The key for the Clippers will be the relays where they have three teams seeded first (4×100, distance medley and shuttle hurdle) and three others (sprint medley, 4×800 and 4×400) with the second fastest times.

Solon is poised to push for a top three spot behind seniors Colton Hoffman and Zach Harp and a strong relay group.

Hoffman is seeded third in the 100 and high jump while Harp owns the second-best toss in the discus and enters fourth in the shot out.

Solon has the top time in the 4×200 and owns top-four qualifying times in all seven relay events.

River Valley Conference Meet

When: Thursday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Anamosa High School

Teams: Regina; West Branch; Anamosa; Bellevue; Camanche; Cascade; Durant; Mid-Prairie; Monticello; North Cedar; Northeast; Tipton; West Liberty; Wilton

Team Title Chase: Perhaps the most difficult team race to predict in any of the area conference meets as many as five teams could challenge for the top spot in a wide-open RVC meet.

Bellevue is top-seeded in three relays and enters as the slightest of favorites with Monticello and Anamosa fully capable of catching the Comets.

Don’t discount Tipton or Camanche which both feature stellar distance runners and enough talent across the board to make a run at the top three.

Athlete to Watch: Regina junior Carson Jensen enters with the second fastest time in the 400 trailing only Camanche senior Dylan Darsidan who ranks fourth in 2A this season with a time of 50.21.

Jensen clocked a 51.77 at Williamsburg last month good for the 14^th fastest time in 2A this spring.

Event to Watch: Regina junior Josh Gaffey enters with the fifth best mark in the shot put among River Valley Conference competitors this season and will attempt to move up in a field that features three throwers that rank in the top-15 in 2A this season.

Gaffey has a season best mark of 46-4 ¼ and will be attempt to close the gap between Northeast senior Sam Moraetes who enters as the favorite with a mark of 49-0 which ranks ninth in 2A.

Breakdown: The field is as balanced from top to bottom as any conference meet around making the River Valley Conference one of the toughest to predict.

Regina and West Branch will each look to improve on their finishes from 2019 and will need to have some success in the relays to make that jump.

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