Iowa High School State Track & Field Championships
May 23, Drake Stadium, Des Moines, Iowa
Weather: 9am —54 degrees, partly sunny, winds from northwest at 5 mph...11 am—62 degrees, sunny skies, winds from northwest at 6 mph....1 pm— 68 degrees, partly sunny, winds from west at 2 mph.
FRIDAY RECORDS: 3...TWO-DAY TOTAL ENTERING THURSDAY AFTERNOON 1A & 4A SESSION: 12 (including 9 Thursday)
—Class 3A shot – 47-6 ¼, Charlee Morton, Hampton-Dumont/CAL. Old record 47-5 ½, Jaden Brumbaugh, Mount Pleasant, 2022.
—Class 1A 4x100 – 48.23, Pella Christian. Old record 48.97, Okoboji, 2024
—Wheelchair 800 — 2:50.10, Ally Darter, Dubuque Hempstead. Old record 2:55.22, Darter, 2024
TOP TEN ALL-TIME
—Pella Christian, No. 6 4x200 relay, 1:40.61
REPEATING
—Tipton won the Class 2A distance medley relay for the second straight year
—Gilbert won the Class 3A distance medley relay for the second straight year
—Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL won the Class 3A shot put for the third straight year.
—Pella Christian won the Class 2A 4x200 relay for the second straight year.
—Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake won the Class 3A 400 hurdles and long jump for the second straight year. It was her third long jump title.
—Rachel Schany of Emmetsburg won the Class 2A high jump for the second straight year.
MULTIPLE WINNERS
Three Titles
—Reese Brownlee, Clear Lake, Class 3A 400, 400 hurdles, long jump
Two Titles
—Noelle Steines, Tipton, Class 2A 3000, DMR
—Sarah Feddersen, Gilbert, Class 3A 4x800, DMR
—Keira Anderson, Gilbert, Class 3A 4x800, DMR
NOTES
These Tigers Have Plenty In Their Tank
Year in and year out, you can count on Tipton for winning relay teams. The Tigers picked up their 23rd state championship in a relay with their victory in the Class 2A distance medley. With Noelle Steines anchoring in 2:15.1, Tipton ran 4:07.30 out of the second section to claim its sixth state title in the DMR. It’s the second title of the weekend for Steines and 10th overall. She won the 3000 on Thursday.
Tigers Also Rule in 3A DMR
With its victory in the Class 3A distance medley, Gilbert became the first school to collect two relay titles this weekend. The Tigers ran 4:06.86 for their second straight victory in the event after winning the 4x800 relay on Thursday. Sarah Feddersen anchored both winning quartets, finishing the medley with a 2:12.16 800. Keira Anderson, who ran the 400 leg, handled the opening carry in the 4x800. Sioux Center was second in 4:06.53.
Make It A Three-Peat For Morton
Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL topped off her high school throwing career with another championship and a record to boot. Morton threw 47-6 ¼ to break the Class 3A shot put record and win her third consecutive title in the event, just the seventh athlete to accomplish that feat. She finishes her career with five throwing titles at both the state meet and Drake Relays.
Eagles Are Flying High
Pella Christian continues to collect titles in the sprint relays. The Eagles won the Class 2A 4x200 for the second straight year, running three members of last year’s winning unit. They finished in 1:40.61, which ranks No. 6 on the state’s all-time list. Rachel Kacmarynski, Amaia Agre and Meredith Van Wyk ran on both winning units. They were joined this year by Lexi Terpstra. Pella Christian also won the 4x400 and sprint medley a year ago.
Marion won the Class 3A 4x200 in 1:41.03, which ranks No. 13 all-time. It’s Marion’s first relay victory at state since 2008 and third overall.
It’s Those Eagles Again
Not content with their victory in the Class 2A 4x200, the Pella Christian team of Lexi Terpstra, Amaia Agre, Claire Westerkamp and Rachel Kacmarynski broke the meet record in the preliminaries of the 4x100. The Eagles ran 48.23 in their heat to take down the record of 48.97 that Okoboji set last year. The two other heat winners also ran under or matched the old record – Spirit Lake (48.60) and Mid-Prairie (48.97).
Big Day For Brownlee
Clear Lake’s Reese Brownlee added two more state championships to her collection, one by a decisive margin, the other with a clutch performance late in the competition. Brownlee won the Class 3A 400 hurdles for the second straight year, running 59.98 to win by more than 3 seconds. Then she tacked on her three titles in four years in the long jump. Brownlee took the lead in that competition with her fifth jump, then went 19-1/2 on her final attempt to notch her winning mark. Grinnell’s Aiden Gosselink, one of just two jumpers in state history to go past 20 feet, was second at 18-6 ¼.
Brownlee, who’s headed to Kansas State for her collegiate career, now has eight state championships in her career. She’ll compete on the Blue Oval for the last time as a high school athlete when she anchors the sprint medley on Saturday.
