Iowa State Track and Field Overall Recap — Day One

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

Waukee Northwest 40.5

Cedar Falls 30.5

Ames 19

Iowa City, City High 19

Johnston 12

Boys Class 1A scoring – thru 5 events entering Friday

Lisbon                             15

Riverside,Oakland           15

Lake Mills                         13

Baxter                             10

New London                    10

East Union                       10

Van Buren County            10

Boys Class 2A scoring – thru 5 events entering Friday

Alburnett                        23

Grundy Center                20

Pella Christian                15

Cherokee, Washington   10

Chariton                         9

Boys Class 3A scoring – thru 5 events entering Friday

Pekin                              20

Madrid                            14

Boys Class 4A scoring –  thru 5 events entering Friday

Bettendorf                      21

Cedar Falls                    19

Cedar Rapids Kennedy  14

Indianola                        12

West Des Moines Valley  11

Waukee Northwest         11

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

Boys — 3

—Riverside won the Class 1A 4×800 relay for the second straight year

—Eli Patterson of Benton won the Class 3A high jump for the second straight year.

—Kobly Honefield won a 400 for the second straight year. Class 3A this year, Class 1A last year.

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 4×800 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 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 relays last year and first-place 4×200, 4×400 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 4×800 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 4×200 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 4×200, 4×400 and sprint medley relay teams. Her winning team in the 400 ranks No. 15 on the state’s all-time list.   

BOYS AFTERNOON SESSION NOTES

We’ve Seen This Before

Quentin Nauman did what he does in winning yet another state championship. The Western Dubuque senior was content to run with Pella’s Canaan Dunham and Gilbert’s Logan Bleich until the final lap in the Class 3A 3200. Then he turned on the jets and sped away with a kick that neither could match, a move track fans in Iowa have seen time and time again. Nauman finished in 8:54.00 for his third title in the 3200 and ninth overall. He also has won seven Drake Relays championships and two in cross country in his star-studded career and has a chance to win three more this weekend. He’ll anchor the distance medley relay on Friday and run in the 800 and 1600 on Saturday.  Dunham was second in 8:59.18 and Bleich took third in 9:10.98.

This Record Didn’t Last Long

Gilbert’s celebration if its meet record in the Class 3A 4×800 was short lived. Or about as long as it took Pella to run the race in the next section. Gilbert won its second in 7:47.21, beating the meet record of 7:49.07 that Spirit Lake put up back in 2011. Then Pella turns around and runs 7:45.53 behind Canaan Dunham’s brilliant anchor. Dunham, who finished second in the 3200 earlier in the afternoon, ran the final 800 in 1:53.69 to get the Dutch to the finish fast enough to beat Gilbert’s time.

Eli’s Coming           

Benton’s Eli Patterson won a duel of former champions in repeating his title in the Class 3A high jump. Patterson cleared 6-7 to beat 2024 champion Eli Zillman of Fairfield.  Zillman, the runner-up last year, also cleared 6-7, but Patterson got over on his first attempt while Zillman missed twice before his clearance. The competition ended with both missing three times at 6-9, Zillman barely grazing the bar on his final attempt.

They Run Fast In The Prelims, Too

The preliminaries in the 200 produced some fast times, including a meet record. Treynor’s Cauy Konz broke the Class 2A record when he won his heat in 21.31, eclipsing the 21.33 that Isaiah Trousil ran for West Burlington/ND in 2016. In the 3A prelims, Keokuk’s Ryan Bair ran 21.28 for the No. 7 spot on the state’s all-time list and Pella’s Harrison Mullens ran 21.35, which goes in at No. 11.

It’s All A Matter Of Timing

Blake Lovell’s timing was perfect. The Cherokee senior came up with his best throw of the competition on this final attempt and walked away with the championship in the Class 2A shot put. Lovell was in second place before entering the ring for his sixth and final throw. It measured 57-7 and gave him the title. Keaton Mennen of Van Meter, who had been leading the competition with a throw of 55-11, finished second.

Same Race, Different Class, Same Result

Kolby Hodnefield went up two classes with his move from South Hamilton to Clear Lake, but it made no difference. He’s still a state champion in the 400. Hodnefield added the Class 3A title to his trophy haul with a record-breaking performance, running 47.48 to eclipse the record of 47.88 that Center Point-Urbana’s Nathan Miller set last year. That effort lifts Hodnefield into the No. 7 spot on the state’s all-time list. Hodnefield won the Class 1A title at South Hamilton last year. He also won the 200 at the 2025 state meet and ran on three state championship relay teams during his time at South Hamilton.