Breaking Down the Boys Conference Track and Field Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The postseason portion of the track and field season gets underway this week with conference and divisional meets for teams in the Your Prep Sports area.
Next week bring state qualifying meets with the goal a spot at the state track and field meet scheduled for May 16-18 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
As the postseason gets rolling Your Prep Sports takes a quick look at the conference and divisional meets scheduled for this week featuring area teams.
MVC Valley Divisional
When: Friday, Noon
Where: Trojan Field at West High
Teams: City High; West High; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Dubuque Hempstead; Linn-Mar; Waterloo West; Western Dubuque
Team title chase: West High is a state champion caliber squad and enters as the favorite though Western Dubuque could push the Trojans with Cedar Rapids Kennedy and City High heading up the top pack.
Athlete to watch: West High senior Aidan Jacobsen is coming off an impressive Drake Relays performance in which he earned most outstanding athlete honors.
The Drake Relays champion in the 400 hurdles Jacobsen owns the top time in the state this spring at 52.03 but also has top-four efforts amongst Valley Division competitors in the 200, 400 and long jump.
Jacobsen is also a key relay member of the Trojans and will likely shoulder a sizable workload on Friday.
Event to watch: How West High constructs its lineup will obviously determine the strength of a few races but the discus competition should be among the most hotly contested of the day.
Led by top-seeded West High sophomore Colin Whitters (149-10 ½) the top three competitors are separated by less than 14 inches.
City High junior Tyler Rindels has thrown 149-10 this season and Linn-Mar senior Sam Watts, who was the Drake Relays runner-up in the shot put, has thrown 148-9.
West High senior Winner Ndjibu (144-9) could be in the mix as well.
Breakdown: West High was already the favorite and a late venue switch now has the Trojans hosting on their home track.
The Trojans do much of their damage in the relays and enter with a top-two seed in all seven relay events.
West High is the top seed in the 4×200 (1:27.42), 4×400 (3:24.35), sprint medley (1:33.5) and distance medley (3:27.83).
Junior Moustafa Tiea has the top time in the 400 (49.5) and the second fastest time in both the 800 and 1,600 while senior Iziah Loveless has the best time in the 200 (21.78) and second fastest time in the 100 (10.65).
City High senior Jeremiah Madlock is seeded third in the high jump (6-3) and fifth in the 400 (51.94) and Miles Parlet is fourth in the long jump (22-0).
City High has the second fastest time in the sprint medley and 4×200 relays and is seeded fourth in the 4×100 and 4×800.
MVC Mississippi Divisional
When: Friday, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Cedar Falls High School
Teams: Liberty High; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Dubuque Senior; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Dubuque Wahlert; Cedar Rapids Xavier
Team title chase: Call now host Cedar Falls a slight favorite with defending champion Cedar Rapids Prairie, Liberty High and Dubuque Senior all in the mix.
Athlete to watch: Liberty High senior Cael Schramm has spent the season pulling double duty in the field events and enters the divisional meet with top-four qualifying marks in both the high jump and discus.
Schramm has the fourth best mark in the discus (148-6 ½) and is the second seed in the high jump (6-1).
Event to watch: Cedar Falls sophomore standout Jaden Merrick has quickly emerged as one of the top distance runners in the state and won the 3,200 title at the Drake Relays last week.
While Merrick is the top seed in both the 1,600 and 3,200 both events should be entertaining on Friday as the Liberty High sibling duo of Aidan and Keegan Decker should be in the mix in both events.
Aidan Decker is seeded third in the 1,600 (4:19.48) and fifth in the 3,200 (9:40.55) while Keegan Decker is fifth in the 1,600 (4:24.43) third in the 3,200 (9:28.89).
Breakdown: Host Cedar Falls is top-seeded in 11 events while Cedar Rapids Prairie has the top qualifying mark in six events.
Those two teams are the favorites but Liberty High has the ability to push toward the front behind the Decker brothers in the distance events and Schramm and senior Brady Cannon in the field events.
Aidan Decker has the fourth fastest time in the 800 (1:59.18) and senior Carter Meyers is seeded fifth in the 400 (49.99).
The Lightning have top-five times in five relays including the top time in the distance medley (3:34.9).
WAMAC Conference Meet
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Where: Marion High School
Teams: Clear Creek Amana; Solon; Benton Community; Center Point-Urbana; Grinnell; Independence; Marion; Mount Vernon; South Tama; Vinton-Shellsburg; West Delaware; Williamsburg
Team title chase: Solon is the defending champion and is the favorite to repeat with Clear Creek Amana and Center Point-Urbana leading the list of top challengers along with last year’s runner-up Williamsburg.
Athlete to watch: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Aren Schlemme has enjoyed a breakthrough season and enters the WAMAC meet as one of only two individuals to be top seeded in two events and is in the top six in 3A in both events.
Schlemme has the top time in the 110 hurdles (14.97) by more than half a second and also owns the third fastest time in the 400 hurdles (56.17).
Schlemme is also top-seeded in the long jump (22-1) where he has the best jump among WAMAC competitors by nearly a foot.
Adding to his impressive resume is the fact Schlemme also owns the fourth fastest 100 time (11.3) and second fastest 200 time (22.62) among WAMAC competitors this season.
Event to watch: In a meet filled with a strong individual event fields keep an eye on the discus which features two of the best in the state in Solon senior Ben Kampman and Williamsburg senior Derek Weisskopf.
Kampman has the top throw in the state this season at 200-5 while Weisskopf ranks seventh state-wide with a mark of 181-9.
Weisskopf was fourth at the Drake Relays last week while Kampman was eighth.
Breakdown: If Solon is to defend its WAMAC title it will likely be balance that rules for the Spartans who have a top-five qualifying mark in 16 of 19 events.
The Spartans are a top-three seed in six relays and enter the top seed in the 4×400 (3:24.25), 4×800 (8:09.3) and shuttle hurdle (1:00.9).
Senior Brick Kabela is top-seeded in both the 1,600 (4:24.83) and 3,200 (9:25.62) joining Kampman as an individual top seed while Kampman is also seeded second in the shot put (54-10).
Schlemme leads Clear Creek Amana which also has top-five seeded individuals in Isaac Sorensen (4th in the 800), Tay Seals (third in the 110 hurdles), Thomas Stiltner (2nd in 400 hurdles) and Landon Prince (5th in discus).
The Clippers are the top seed in the 4×100 (43.26) and second in the shuttle hurdle and have top-five qualifying times in five relays.
River Valley Conference Meet
When: Friday, 11 a.m.
Where: Monticello High School
Teams: Regina; West Branch; Anamosa; Dyersville Beckman; Bellevue; Camanche; Cascade; Durant; Maquoketa; Mid-Prairie; Monticello; Northeast; Tipton; West Liberty; Wilton
Team title chase: Mid-Prairie was sixth last season and Bellevue was 10th in the 15-team meet but those two should battle for the top spot along with host Monticello.
Athlete to watch: If Regina is to climb the standings at the RVC meet senior Jackson Naeve will likely be a key part of that success.
Naeve has the fifth fastest qualifying time in the 200 at 23.23 but should be a major factor in the relays where he has helped Regina post top-four qualifying times in four different relays.
Event to watch: The long jump has the potential to be a showdown between two of the best jumper in their respective classes in Regina freshman Savion Miller and Maquoketa senior Ty Hinz.
Hinz is the top seed and ranks fifth in 3A this season with a leap of 21-10 ½ while Miller has the sixth-best mark in 2A this spring at 21-9 ¼.
Five jumpers in the field have gone over 20 feet this season making it an interesting and potentially exciting field.
Breakdown: West Branch made a sizable leap last season going from 11th to sixth while scoring 51 points.
Could Regina be the big mover in the team standings this season?
It’s possible as Regina has eight top-five qualifying marks entering the meet and should easily surpass its 14th place finish from last season.
Sophomore Edwin Gangba is seeded third in the 200 (22.78) and senior Drew Streb is seeded fourth in the discus (143-0) joining Naeve and Miller as top-five seeded Regals in individual events.
Regina third in the 4×100 (44.03) and sprint medley (1:36.95) and fourth in 4×200 (1:32.81) and 4×400 (3:32.04).
West Branch is fifth in distance medley (3:45.78)
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