Friday marked Day 2 of the 2023 Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Friday proved to be a more active day than Thursday, with numerous athletes competing in events for all 5 KQRadio schools.
Action began at 9 AM this morning as South Hamilton’s Dayton Ferrie competed in the 1A Girls Discus, placing 20th with a best throw of 100′ 9″. That would start a busy morning for the Hawks, as the South Hamilton Boys Distance Medley team placed 16th in a loaded 1A field in a time of 3:43.60 with the team of Hodnefield-Ricke-Koehnk-Severseike. The girls would follow in the 4×200, placing 8th in Class 1A in a season-best time of 1:48.03 with the team of Barkema-Erickson-Flaugh-Thompson, soon followed by the Hawks boys 4×200 relay, which placed 6th in 1A in a season-best time of 1:31.98 with the quartet of Hodnefield-Ricke-Severseike-Koehnk.
South Hamilton would wrap up the day with Carter Balvanz placing 9th in the 1A Boys Discus with a throw of 139′, which would then be followed by the Hawks qualifying for the finals in the Girls 4×100, placing 5th in the preliminaries in a season-best time of 51.28 with the squad of Thompson-Flaugh-Erickson-Barkema. South Hamilton ended their Friday session by qualifying for the finals of the Boys 4×400 with the 2nd-best time of 3:27.17 with the team of Kohenk-Ricke-Severseike-Hodnefield, as well as Isabel Swenson competing in the 1A Girls High Jump, but not clearing opening height.
The afternoon session kicked off with Roland-Story placing 10th in the 2A Boys Distance Medley in a time of 3:40.08 with the team of McIlrath-Lettow-Johnson-Greenfield, before the Norsemen girls placed 4th in the 2A Girls 4×200 relay in a school-record time of 1:45.89 with the quartet of Sporleder-Petersen-Kilstofte-Lande. Sandwiched in between was the first of three events on the day for Clarion-Goldfield-Dows sophomore Mikayla Beisel, who placed 16th in the 2A Girls 100m hurdles in a time of 16.21.
Field events then heated up with Clarion-Goldfield-Dows junior Mason Allen placing 6th in a loaded 2A Boys Discus field with a throw of 164′ 11″. Inside the stadium, Webster City’s Jaxon Cherry placed 12th in the 3A Boys Shot Put with a throw of 49′ 6.25″, while CGD’s Mikayla Beisel tied for 7th in the 2A Girls High Jump, clearing 5′ 2″.
Focus then steadily returned to the track as Webster City’s boys 4×200 relay would place 20th in Class 3A in a time of 1:33.29 with the team of Weinzetl-K. Hisler-Estlund-C. Hisler, while CGD’s Mikayla Beisel interrupted her high jump competition to compete in the 2A Girls 400m Hurdles, placing 17th in a time of 1:09.55. Roland-Story would be next up on the track, placing 20th in the Girls 4×100 Relay in a time of 52.37 with the team of Sporleder-Petersen-Faber-Kilstofte.
To wrap-up the day, Webster City placed 9th in the 3A Boys 4×100 Relay, narrowly missing the finals with a time of 43.43 with the team of Weinzetl-K. Hisler-C. Hisler-Cherry, before Roland-Story shined in the 2A Boys 4×400 Relay preliminaries, qualifying 6th in Class 2A with a time of 3:27.12 with the team of McIlrath-Johnson-Greenfield-Lande.
Action picks up again Saturday morning at 9 AM with the 1A Girls Sprint Medley, as South Hamilton will contend for the title.