Mid-Prairie, after a week off from track & field affairs, made their way back to Tipton for the Class 2A state qualifying meet on Thursday, May 11.

The Mid-Prairie girls team easily claimed the championship banner for the third consecutive year, earning 181 points, 64 points ahead of the Tipton team in second. 16 athletes qualified for state in 14 different events.

The boys squad tied Cardinal for a fourth-place finish at 65 points. Seven athletes qualified for state in eight events.

All athletes who qualify for state will make their way to Des Moines from May 18-20 at Drake Stadium, where many already coalesced on Apr. 27-29 for the Drake Relays. Here, they will have a chance to place their name in the record books.

Mid-Prairie Girls

Following in suit with their dominant first place finish, Mid-Prairie qualified for state in 14 events. Junior, Danielle Hostetler, qualified for the 800m, 1500m, 3000m, and the distance medley along with seniors, Amara Jones, Madeline Schrader and freshman, Jovi Evans. With Hostetler anchoring the distance medley, the Hawks won by a considerable margin with a 4:18.69 time, 11 seconds ahead of the rest.

Hostetler’s four qualifying events matched Jones (4x100 shuttle hurdle, 4x100m,4x200m, distance medley), Schrader (4x100m, 4x200m, 800m sprint medley, distance medley), Jovi Evans (4x100m, 4x200m, 800m sprint medley, distance medley) and senior, Tabitha Evans (200m, 4x100m, 4x200m, 800m sprint medley), for most.

Qualifying with three events under their belt was junior Greta Sieren (400m, 800m, 4x800m).

With two were juniors, Neveah Decker (100m, 800m sprint medley) and Abby Fleming (1500m, 3000m).

The final qualifiers were freshmen, Olivia Schlabach (4x100m), Sophie Miller (4x100m), Rebekah Wallington (4x800m). Juniors, Behla Schmidt (4x100 shuttle hurdle), Kali Miller (4x800m), Annika Poll (4x800m), Emma Lueck (long jump). And senior, Ella Groenewold (high jump).

A highlight for the girls was during the 3000m race. Hostetler, who has been a force during this event all season, would eventually break from the pack for a first-place finish. It was Fleming who stayed close to Hostetler the whole time, at one point running side-by-side with Hostetler before falling behind Tipton’s Laura Owen on the final lap. 

After Hostetler crossed the finish line unmatched, Fleming pushed extremely hard, surpassing Owen once more to finish in second and qualify for state. Hostetler’s time was 11:06.80 and Fleming’s was 11:09.13, Owen finished 11:09.57, showing how tight the race really was. Fleming secured two personal records in her two races, the 1500m and 3000m.

Groenewold continued her streak of first-place finishes in the high jump, a feat she has become accustomed to over the season. She cleared a five-foot-one jump, two inches shorter than last week in Tipton but still good enough for the first-place finish as the only girl to clear five feet yet again.

Tabitha Evans also continues a streak. Scoring a personal record in the 200m with a time of 26.03, she has done an extremely good job this season helping the relay teams continue to be dominant and placing first in individual races as well, a good season for the senior.

Despite the dominant showing by the Hawks yet again, head coach, Mark Hostetler, believed there was still more the team could do to be better. He especially pointed out that they need to do a better job of handoffs during their relays. Despite this issue, five such teams qualified for state.

Mid-Prairie Boys

The Mid-Prairie boys track & field team had a good year overall. Their efforts garnered six individual state qualifiers. The most by sophomore, Jayden Stafford, qualifying for the 100, 200, 400, and 800m wheelchair.

Sophomore, Jayse Yoder, qualified for two events, the 800m and 1600m. He ranked fourth and third in these two events in Tipton.

Junior, Landon Sullivan, qualified alongside senior, Cain Brown, for the long jump. If Brown wasn’t dealing with a hamstring issue, he would have likely qualified for the high jump as well, an event he has excelled at this season.

The high jump of the day was a six-foot-one jump. Brown’s best this season was at six-foot-nine, ranking third at the Drake Relays.

Brown tried hard to rank in the high jump, hobbling on one leg, avoiding placing pressure on his taped up right leg, attempting the jump. It was an unfortunate way to end his senior year, still qualifying for the long jump. It is unclear if he’ll be able to compete at state with his current injury, however.

Senior, Blake Creed, qualified for the 1600m and senior, Emmett Swartzentruber, qualified for the 3200m. Creed took a fourth place finish behind Yoder in the 1600m.

The highlight of the night was Swartzentruber’s dominating first-place finish in the 3200m with a time of 10:27.7. Second place belonged to Van Buren’s Lincoln Bainbridge at 10:53.18. Swartzentruber lapped the last-placed runners and created a massive distance between him and the pack, securing first.

These 22 athletes will get one more chance this season to prove their efforts on the track and field. The seniors will especially be looking to make some noise as the high school chapter of life sets.

Girls Results

100m: 1, Iva Senio, West Branch, 12.84; 4, Nevaeh Decker, Mid-Prairie, 13.23; 10, Lanee Duwa, MP, 14.41.

200m: 1, Tabitha Evans, MP, 26.03; 4, Neveah Decker, MP, 27.55.

400m: 1, Greta Sieren, MP, 1:01.84; 8, Laurin Fay, MP, 1:09.42.

800m: 1, Danielle Hostetler, MP, 2:22.11; 3, Greta Sieren, MP, 2:29.81.

1500m: 1, Danielle Hostetler, MP, 4:55.32; 2, Abby Fleming, MP, 5:12.26.

3000m: 1, Danielle Hostetler, MP, 11:06.8; 2, Abby Fleming, MP, 11.09.13.

100m HURDLES: 1, Carlie Jo Fusco, Durant, 14.95; 7, Emily Schlabach, MP, 17.97; 8, Ashlee Farrier, MP, 18.03.

400m HURDLES: 1, Carlie Jo Fusco, Durant, 1:06.23, 5, Dessa Poll, MP, 1:15.08; 9, Ashlee Farrier, MP, 1:18.82.

4x100 RELAY: 1, MP, 50.36 (Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Jovi Evans, Tabitha Evans).

4x200 RELAY: 1, MP, 1:46.00 (Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Jovi Evans, Tabitha Evans).

4x400 RELAY: 4, MP, 4:30.83 (Greta Sieren, Hannah Rodgers, Grace Conway, Lanee Duwa).

4x800 RELAY: 2, MP, 10:30.83 (Annika Poll, Rebekah Wallington, Kali Miller, Greta Sieren).

800m SMR: 1, MP, 1:51.64 (Madeline Schrader, Neveah Decker, Jovi Evans, Tabitha Evans).

1600m SMR: 1, MP, 4:18.69 (Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Jovi Evans, Danielle Hostetler).

4x100 HURDLES: 2, MP, 1:09.37 (Amara Jones, Olivia Schlabach, Behla Schmidt, Sophie Miller).

SHOT PUT: 1, Elian Dzangue, Tipton, 38-05.5; 7, Ashley Harmsen, MP, 31-11.

DISCUS: 1, Morgan Stecher, Louisa-Muscatine, 115-09; 4, Dessa Poll, MP, 101-03.

HIGH JUMP: 1, Ella Groenewold, MP, 5-01.

LONG JUMP: 1, Catie Hook, Wilton, 16-04.5; 2, Emma Lueck, MP, 16-00.5; 7, Sophia Schwartz, MP, 15-03.

Boys Results

100m: 1, Ethan Schultz, Camanche, 11.29; 20, Shay Myers, Mid-Prairie, 12.75.

100m WHEELCHAIR: 1, Jayden Stafford, MP, 18.56.

200m: 1, Evan Striegel, West Branch, 22.68; 19, Shay Myers, MP, 26.08.

200m WHEELCHAIR: Jayden Stafford, MP, 34.31.

400m: 1, Anthony Duncan, Van Buren, 50.32; 14, Kaden Meader, MP, 57.92; 16, Jacob Donaldson, MP, 58.19.

400m WHEELCHAIR: 1, Jayden Stafford, MP,1:06.55.

800m: 1, Clay Bohlmann, Tipton, 1:58.9; 4, Jayse Yoder, MP, 2:02.09; 7, Blake Creed, MP, 2:04.1.

800m WHEELCHAIR: 1, Jayden Stafford, MP, 2:23.14.

1600m: 1, Solomon Zaugg, Mediapolis, 4:30.25; 3, Jayse Yoder, MP, 4:43.25; 4, Blake Creed, MP, 4:44.38.

3200m: 1, Emmett Swartzentruber, MP, 10:27.71; 9, Thomas Flynn, MP, 11:46.3.

SHOT PUT: 1, Spencer Kessel, Louisa-Muscatine, 63-05; 6, Jack Zahradnek, MP, 43-02; 7, Burke Berry, MP, 41-04.5.

DISCUS: 1, Spencer Kessel, Louisa-Muscatine, 174-09; 5, Jack Zahradnek, MP, 131-10; 8, Burke Berry, MP, 122-11.

HIGH JUMP: 1, Tyson Seeser, Camanche, 6-01; 8, Josh Turner, MP, 5-06; 8, Cain Brown, MP, 5-06.

LONG JUMP: 1, Wyatt Mertens, Van Buren, 22-03.5; 3, Landon Sullivan, MP, 20-10.25; 4, Cain Brown, MP, 20-08.5.