(Area) Abbey Meyer of Cascade, Clayton Ridge’s Jasmine Staebler and Griswold’s Rebekah Topham are the 2023 inductees into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Track and Field Hall of Fame. The trio will be inducted at noon Saturday at the Co-Ed State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium May 20.
Meyer ran for Cascade High School from 2011-14 and collected 15 state medals. She accumulated 10 state titles and three second place finishes for the Cougars, all of them in relays. She was a part of Cascade’s 4×200 relay team that won four consecutive titles and anchored the sprint medley team that placed first or second three straight years. Meyer was also a part of Cascade’s 4×400 relay team that placed second or third three straight years. She qualified for the Drake Relays all four years of high school, running in 11 events. An all-state basketball player, Meyer played college basketball at the University of Dubuque.
Staebler ran for Clayton Ridge from 2012-2015. She finished her career with nine titles, four second place finishes and was a 16-time medalist. She won the Class 2A 800 meters three-straight years with one second place finish (.12 seconds behind fellow hall-of-famer Rebekah Topham). Staebler won the 200 and 400 two-straight years, placing second or third twice. During her Drake Relays competition she was one of three athletes to win the 200, 400 and 800 in the same meet and is the only runner to do it twice. Staebler went on to star at Iowa State, where she was a four-time All-American. She ran on the distance medley relay team that won the Big 12 indoor title in 2018. She was the Big 12 indoor runner-up in the 800 in 2017 and ‘18, and anchored the second place distance medley relay in 2019. She finished sixth in the NCAA indoor 800 in 2017, and ninth in 2018. She finished eighth in the 800 at the 2016 USA Junior Championships.
Topham (Pictured) had an outstanding career at Griswold from 2012-15. She finished with 11 state titles, four second place finishes, and was a 16-time state medalist. Topham’s specialty was in the distance events, claiming titles in the 1500 all four years. She is just one of five runners to win the 800, 1500 and 3000 in the same meet twice, and one of just two runners to win the 800, 1500, 3000 and 400 Hurdles in the same meet. She is the only female runner to win four state championships in cross country. Topham also left her mark at the Drake Relays, claiming titles in the 1500 and 3000 as a freshman. She competed collegiately at Wichita State, where she won seven indoor Missouri Valley Conference championships with three outdoor titles. She won the Drake relays University-College 1500 in 2016 and 2019, and finished second in the steeplechase in 2018. She ranks second on the Shockers’ all-time list in the indoor 3,000 meters while ranking third in the indoor mile and 5,000 meters.
Rebekah Topham:
