2026 Iowa High School State Track & Field Championships

Thursday May 21, Drake Stadium, Des Moines, Iowa

DAY ONE ATTENDANCE: 13,602 (Ranks No. 5 for first-day Thursday attendance)

Weather: 9 a.m. —51 degrees, overcast,  east to west crosswinds at 7 mph...11 a.m. —56 degrees, overcast, east to west crosswinds at 10mph with gusts to 17 mph...1 p.m. — 60 degrees, overcast, east to west crosswinds at 9 mph with gusts up to 15 mph

4 p.m. —  63 degrees, overcast,  east to west crosswinds at 9 mph..,. 6 p.m. — 63 degrees, overcast, east to west crosswinds at 7 mph....8 p.m.  — 61 degrees, overcast, east to west crosswinds at 5 mph 

For live results:   https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/73956/live

Team scoring is complete through five events for all classes

Girls Class 1A scoring - thru 5 events entering Friday

Pekin                              20

Madrid                            14

Mount Ayr                       14

CAM, Anita                     13

Edgewood-Colesburg     12

Girls Class 2A scoring - thru 5 events entering Friday

Spirit Lake                      23

Mid-Prairie, Wellman      21

Van Meter                      18

Tipton                            13

Pella Christian               10

Grundy Center              10

Girls Class 3A scoring - thru 5 events entering Friday

Pella                            38

Mount Vernon             26

Sioux Center               22

MOC-Floyd Valley      15

Williamsburg               10

Burlington                   10

Girls Class 4A scoring -  thru 5 events entering Friday

Waukee Northwest 40.5

Cedar Falls 30.5

Ames 19

Iowa City, City High 19

Johnston 12

ALL-TIME STATE BESTS  ESTABLISHED SO FAR

Girls — 1

4x800 Relay – 8:58.01, Waukee Northwest

NATIONAL TOP 10 TIMES

Girls 
Waukee Northwest ran the No. 8 top national high school time this season in the 4x800 relay (8:58.01)

STATE MEET RECORDS: 13

Girls — 8 (3 morning, 5 afternoon session)

—Class 2A 100 Prelims — 11.80, Rachel Kacmarynski, Pella Christian. Old record 11.81, Kelly Grobstich, Davenport Assumption, 2025 prelims

—Class 2A 200 Prelims — 24.31, Rachel Kacmarynski, Pella Christian. Old record 24.49, Hannah Willms, Dike-New Hartford, 2009 prelims

—Class 2A 4x800 Relay – 9:17.25, Grundy Center. Old record 9:24.76, Western Christian, 2019.

—Class 3A 3,000 – 9:27.31, Evelyn Moeller, Mount Vernon. Old record 9:38.82, Paityn Noe, Ballard, 2023.

—Class 3A 4x800 Relay — 9:14.43, Sioux Center. Old record 9:14.60, Gilbert, 2025.

—Class 4A 4x800 Relay – 8:58.01, Waukee Northwest. Old record 8:59.53, Pleasant Valley, 2024.

—Class 4A 100 Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 1:00.11, West Des Moines Valley (prelims). Old record 1:00.40, West Des Moines Valley, 2025 (prelims).

—Class 1A 3,000 – 9:37.39, Chloe Glosser, Pekin. Old record 9:42.04, Lili Denton, Council Bluffs St. Albert, 2025.

REPEAT CHAMPIONS

Girls — 3

—Bailey Vos of Pella Christian won the Class 2A 400 for the third straight year.

 —Kloe Nissen of Cedar Falls won the Class 4A  for the second straight year

—Anna Hadley of Pekin won her second Class 1A title in the shot put, having won her first in 2024

GIRLS AFTERNOON SESSION NOTES

Ferebee Streak Ends In 3,000
Mount Vernon’s Evelyn Moeller ended Marissa Ferebee’s two-year hold on the championship in the Class 2A 3000 and broke the meet record along the way. Moeller broke away from the pack and no one could match her kick as she finished in 9:27.31, putting her at No. 4 on the state’s all-time list. That time shattered the meet record of 9:38.82 that Ballard’s Paityn Noe set in 2023. Pella’s Elsie Brenneman was second in 9:41.48 and Ferebee, also from Pella, finished third in 9:49.14.
 
A Title At Last For Spirit Lake Thrower
Twice a runner-up, Lauren Travis finally can celebrate a state championship. The Spirit Lake senior threw 44-3 ¼ to win the Class 2A shot put title. She took the lead with her first throw and held it throughout the competition, coming up with her best mark on her fifth attempt. Morgan Divis of Hinton was second at 41-1/2. Travis has a career best of 45-6, which ranks 25th on the state’s all-time list.
 
A Hill On The Rise
With two shot put championships already in her collection, Burlington’s Kylee Hill added her first title in the discus. Hill threw 151-3 to win the Class 3A championship and move into a tie for the No. 20 spot on the state’s all-time list. It was a dominant win for the Burlington junior, who will seek her third shot put title on Friday. Pella’s Ireland Bishop was second at 144-9. Hill’s two previous shot put championships came as a 4A competitor.
 
Grundy Center Snaps State’s Longest Relay Streak
There’s a new record holder in the Class 2A 4x800 relay and a new champion after a five-year run by Van Meter. Grundy Center, with a state wrestling champion on the anchor leg, ran away from the competition in the final two carries and won in 9:17.35. That easily beat the old record of 9:24.76 set by Western Christian in 2019. Grace Storjohann, who won the Class 1A wrestling championship at 125 pounds this past season, ran a 2:13.95 anchor for the Spartans to keep them safely in the lead. Van Meter, which had won every title in the event since 2021, finished a distant second in 9:35.84. Van Meter’s run had been the state’s longest current winning streak in a relay.
 

Records Fall In Rachel’s Wake
Pella Christian’s Rachel Kacmarynski was eight-for-eight coming into this meet – eight races, eight first place finishes. So far this week, she’s two-for-two. That’s two races, two meet records. The speedy junior started her day setting a Class 2A meet record in the preliminaries of the 200, winning her heat in 24.31. That puts her at No. 11 on the state’s all-time list.  She returned to the track a short time later and broke her own meet record in the prelims of the 100, winning her heat in 11.80.  Kacmarynski is the two-time defending champion in the 100 and also ran on the winning 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays last year and first-place 4x200, 4x400 and sprint medley relays in 2024.
 
The Long Wait Is Over For Sioux Center      
It’s been a while since Sioux Center won a relay championship – 44 years to be exact. So the Warriors’ victory in the Class 3A 4x800 was especially sweet. And it was accompanied by a meet record. The Sioux Center runners kept building their lead throughout the race and won in 9:14.43 to eclipse the meet record of 9:14.60 that Gilbert set last year. It was the first relay victory for a Sioux Center team since a win in the 4x200 in 1982. Pella was second in 9:28.19.
 
Once, Twice, Three Times A Champion      
Pella Christian senior Bailey Vos is going out as a three-time state champion in the 400. Vos broke out of the blocks quickly and ran away with her three consecutive Class 2A title, finishing in 55.29. It was her eighth title overall and 12th finish among the top five in an event and she’s a long way from being finished. She’ll also run on Pella Christian’s 4x200, 4x400 and sprint medley relay teams. Her winning team in the 400 ranks No. 15 on the state’s all-time list.          
 
Wolves Just Keep Getting Faster
After running the state’s fastest time ever in the 4x800 at the Drake Relays last month, Waukee Northwest ran a couple of ticks faster in winning the Class 4A state championship. The Wolves foursome of Piper Vander Ley, Laney Sundet, Ella Jones and Emee Dani ran 8:58.01 – two-hundredths of a second faster than their time at Drake. That betters the old meet record of 8:59.53 by Pleasant Valley in 2024. Johnston was second in 9:07.30, which goes in at No. 5 on the all-time list. Northwest’s time is No. 7 nationally this spring.

Chloe Claims A Title And A Record
Pekin’s Chloe Glosser outran two-champion Lili Denton of Council Bluffs St. Albert to win the Class 1A 3000 and set a meet record in the process. Glosser pulled away from the University of Texas recruit with a little more than two laps remaining and claimed her first state championship, finishing in 9:37.39 to break the meet record of 9:42.04 that Denton set last year. She’s the first Pekin runner to win that event and the first individual champion from her school since Kaylee Linder won the 100 in 2017. Glosser continued to pull away over the final two laps, covering her final 400 meters in 1:17 as she lapped several runners on her way to the finish line.

This Kloe Is Pretty Good, Too
Kloe Nissen of Cedar Falls repeated her title in the Class 4A 400 and did it with the second-fastest time in state history. Nissen, a junior, sped to a 53.93-second clocking to continue her success on Drake Stadium’s Blue Oval. She also won the 400 at the Drake Relays last month. The only faster time in the state was the 52.90 run by Southeast Polk’s Sydney Milani in 2018. Ankeny sophomore Morgan Fisher was second in 54.23, which is fifth on the all-time list. 

Don’t Mess With Charlee
Challenged for the lead in the Class 4A 3000, Charlee Gall of Cedar Fallspromptly answered. Waukee Northwest freshman Emmy Stubbendeck edged ahead as the two started the final lap, but her lead lasted barely a second. Gall, a sophomore, charged back in front and sprinted through the final 400 meters to win the race in 9:37.85. Her victory comes 29 years after her mother, Sarah Gray, won the same event, also for Cedar Falls. Gall was the runner-up at last year’s state meet and has won the 3000 twice at the Drake Relays, something her mother did three times. Stubbendeck was second in 9:43.91, her best time so far.

Another Year, Another Title For Anna
Pekin’s Anna Hadley is closing out her high school career with at least one state championship in each of her four years of competition. She claimed her second Class 1A title in the shot put with a throw of 43-9 3/4, adding to the championship she won in that event in 2024. She also has won discus titles in 2023 and 2025 and will try for a third championship in that event on Friday.

Saints Go Marching In – Again 
Saint Ansgar didn’t have to wait long to win at another championship in the 4x800 relay. The Saints won the Class 1A race two years ago and now they’ve done it again. With freshman Ava Witt on the anchor, Saint Ansgar easily outran the field to win in 9:42.64. Jacey Johnston led off for the Saints and was followed by Jaeda Mayer and Lila Powers before Witt finished up. Powers also ran on the 2024 championship team. Madrid was second in 9:48.58.

Katie Is Comfortable On The Blue Oval
Waukee Northwest’s Katie Willits is off to a good start in her final high school meet. Willits sped to a 23.94-second clock in the preliminaries of the Class 4A 200, which moves her to No. 2 on the state’s all-time list. Later, she turned in the fastest time in the prelims of the 100, running 11.70. No one else in the field of 24 was under 12 seconds. Willits will run the preliminaries of the 100 hurdles and 4x100 relay on Friday. She won the 100 at the Drake Relays last month and ran on three winning relay teams.

Let’s Give Hansen A Hand
CAM High School now has three state championships in the girls track and Ada Hansen owns two of them. Hansen became a two-time champion when she won the Class 1A 400 in 56.90. This comes after she won the 400 hurdles as a sophomore last year. The school’s other state champ was Marne Harris in the 400 hurdles in 1993. Hansen will defend her 400 hurdles title on Friday.