2024 Iowa High School COED State Track & Field Championships

May 16

Drake Stadium, Des Moines, Iowa

Weather: 9 am 64 degrees, winds from northwest at 6 mph.Temperature reached high of 74 degrees at 2 pm with wind from northwest @ 9mph

Thursday Attendance: 13,718

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the final report for Thursday's opening session of the Iowa High School COED State Track & Field Championships from Drake Stadium

Team scoring is complete through five events for all four classes 

Girls Class 1A team scoring
AGWSR 14
St. Edmond, Fort Dodge 14
Pekin 12
Wayne, Corydon 10
St. Albert Council Bluffs 10
Panorama 10
Saint Ansgar 10
Southwest Valley 8
North Linn 8
Nashua-Plainfield 8

Girls Class 2A team scoring
Tipton 17
Van Meter 15
Estherville-LC  14
Albia  14
Aplington -Parkersburg 10
Hinton 10
West Lyon,Inwood 10
Pella Christian  10
Manson, Northwest Webster 9
Emmetsburg  9

Girls Class 3A team scoring
Mount Vernon 20
 Gilbert 18
Pella  16
ADM, Adel 13
Charles City  12
Clear Lake  11
Hampton-Dumont 10
Knoxville  8
Dubuque Wahlert  8
Sioux Center 8

Girls Class 4A team scoring
Pleasant Valley 24
Johnston 19
Valley West Des Moines 18
Ankeny 14
Dubuque Hempstead 13
Ankeny Centennial 11
Waukee 11
Waukee Northwest 11
Linn-Mar 10
North Scott 10
Ottumwa 10

THURSDAY GIRLS NOTES
RECORDS - FOUR
Class 4A 4x800 – 9:59.53, Pleasant Valley. Old record 9:09.34, Waukee, 2018.
Class 1A 100 – 12.05, Jaidyn Sellers, Panorama. Old record 12.25, Katie Maschmann, Montezuma, 2015.
Class 1A 400 – 55.44, Jaidyn Sellers, Panorama. Old record 55.75, Ellie Herzberg, Manson-Northwest Webster, 2013.
Class 3A 100 – 12.07,  Jessica Kyne, Des Moines Hoover (prelims). Old record 12.08, Keaton Kester, ADM, 2017.

REPEATING
Addison Dorenkamp, West Des Moines Valley, won the Class 4A 3000 for the third straight year.
Noelle Steines, Tipton, won the Class 2A 3000 after winning two straight titles in Class 1A.
Charlee Morton, Hampton-Dumont/CAL, won the Class 3A discus for the second straight year.
Jana Ter Wee, West Lyon, won the Class 2A shot put for the second straight year.
Van Meter won the Class 2A 4x800 relay for the fourth straight year.
Gilbert won the Class 3A 4x800 relay for the second straight year.
London Warmuth, ADM, won the Class 3A high jump for the second straight year.
Reese Brownlee, Clear Lake, won the Class 3A 400 for the second straight year.

TOP 25 ALL-TIME
Pleasant Valley, No. 1 in the 4x800 relay, 8:59.53.
Johnston, No. 15 in the 4x800 relay, 9:15.09.
Ankeny, No. 20 in the 4x800 relay, 9:16.24
Jaidyn Sellers, Panorama, No. 14 in the 400, 55.44
Waukee Northwest, No. 14 in the shuttle hurdle relay, 1:02.54

NOTES
Pleasant Valley Runs A 4x800 For The Ages
Pleasant Valley set out to do something no relay team in Iowa had accomplished and the Spartans got it done. They’re the first to go under 9 minutes in the 4x800. Already the state’s all-time leader in the event, Pleasant Valley went even faster in winning the Class 4A race, finishing in 9:58.53 to rank eighth in the country this year. Ani Wedemeyer got the Spartans off to a fast start and Aerielle Johnson, Kaylee Mowen and Grace Boleyn finished the job. All four are juniors. That same group ran the previous all-time best of 9:01.47 at the Drake Relays last month. Johnston finished second in 9:15.09, which ranks 15th, and Ankeny was third in 9:16.24, which is No. 20 on the all-time list. Until this Pleasant Valley foursome came along, the all-time best had been 9:09.09, run by Iowa City West 23 years ago. The Spartans also shattered the meet record of 9:09.34 set by Waukee in 2018. 

Another Dominating Run For Dorenkamp
West Des Moines Valley’s Addison Dorenkamp showed once again – not that there really was any doubt – thatshe is far and away the state’s best distance runner. And that’s just how she finished in the Class 4A 3000 – far away from any competitors. Dorenkamp, the state’s all-time leader in the event, raced to the front at the start and led by more than 200 meters before coasting to the finish in 9:30.64 for her third consecutive state championship. Dubuque Hempstead’s Julia Gehl won a good race for second, finishing in 10:01.54 to edge Johnston’s Olivia Verde, who ran 10:02.34. Dorenkamp, who has signed with Alabama, also is the defending champion in the 1500. She’ll go for her third title in that event on Saturday. 

Denton Shows Speed Early And Late in 1A 3000
Two fast laps out of eight were enough to make Lili Denton a state champion. Denton, a sophomore at Council Bluffs St. Albert, went out fast to open a big lead, then settled into a steady pace before turning it back on in the last lap to win the Class 1A 3000 in 10:18.60.  North Linn’s Meghan Wheatley pulled up to Denton with 600 to go but never got the lead and Denton eventually pulled away to end any doubt. Wheatley ran 10:27.88 for second and Claire Zweibohmer of Riceville finished third at 10:42.39. Denton became the first St. Albert runner to win an individual event since Abby Schlater won the 2A 1500 and 3000.

Sellers Shows Her Speed Again
Panorama speedster Jaidyn Sellers leaves the first day of competition on the Blue Oval with two records and an impressive ran in her third race. Sellers, last year’s Class 2A champion in the 400, won the 1A race against a strong field in 55.44, a meet record and No. 14 on the state’s all-time list. That came after she set a record of 12.05 in the preliminaries of the 100 and ran the fastest time in the 200 prelims (24.68). Sellers won those two races in Class 2A in each of the last three years. 

Nashua-Plainfield’s Kadence Huck, the defending champion, finished second in the 400 in 55.78 and Kloe Nissen, a promising freshman at Don Bosco, was third in 57.65.

Waukee’s Anjelena Carder, the Drake Relays champion, won the 4A race in 55.52, just a shade off her personal best of 55.45.

My, My, My Delilah
Ottumwa has its first state champion in a field event thanks to a big throw from Delilah Subsin in the Class 4A discus. A sophomore, Subsin threw 141-1 on her second attempt and that stood up for the title. Pleasant Valley throwers claimed the next two spots – Gabriella Ragins at 140-2 and defending champion Reese Goodlet at 138-11.

A Gathering Of Saintes
Leadoff runner Amelia Porisch took Saint Ansgar into the lead at the start and the Saintes stayed there in winning the Class 1A 4x800 relay. Lila Powers, Natalie Bork and Kinsey Anderson followed and brought the team home in 9:45.06. It’s the second state relay title for the school, following a win in the 2A sprint medley in 2015. AGWSR finished second in 9:47.46 and a strong 2:19 anchor by sophomore Anna Lursen pulled Fort Dodge St Edmnd into third in 9:48.35.

A Freshman Produces A First For Wayne
Wayne has its first state champion in track and the school can thank a freshman for making it happen. Ella Whitney went 16-7 ¼ in the long jump to win the Class 1A title. And she did it in dramatic fashion. Whitney was languishing in eighth place until hitting her big jump on her last attempt. Emma Cooper of Southwest Valley, the leader until then, finished second at 16-6 ½.