Six Mid-Prairie athletes qualified for the state track meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Unfortunately, senior Cain Brown was unable to compete in the long jump after a hamstring injury halted his season. The best jump at qualifiers in Tipton was a six-foot-one leap. Brown’s season best was six-foot-nine at the Drake Relays. Brown still qualified for the long jump but didn’t make the trip to Des Moines.

It was sophomore Jayden Stafford who took home the gold for the Mid-Prairie team, ranking first place in the 100, 200, and 400m wheelchair races Saturday afternoon. Stafford also competed in the 800m wheelchair race but had complications, falling down during a turn in the track and not finishing. It was likely that he would take the gold in this event too.

“I was projected to win the 800 and I was projected to just sweep this track meet, [that’s] clearly not how the track had it planned out for me,” Stafford said with a chuckle during an interview after his three finishes on Saturday. 

In each of Stafford’s races, he was the clear cut best, racing far ahead of competition. In the 100, Stafford got a 17.56 time. The 200 garnered a 32.81 time. In the 400, Stafford got a 1:05.12 time, all personal bests for the sophomore. He consistently ranked second place last year at state. In each race Stafford competed in, he easily outmatched the competition. He was appreciative of the opportunity to do so.

“The coaches for our track team, they’re amazing. Staying after practice, making sure I’m okay with every meet, giving me opportunities to do the ice bath, everything like that, [just] showing me I’m part of the team and part of the school and just including me,” Stafford said.

Sophomore Jayse Yoder qualified for the 800 and 1600 races and got an 8th place finish in the 800 with a personal best 1:58.68. His 4:37.03 finish in the 1600m was also a personal best, finishing 19th in the state.

Senior Blake Creed also ran in the 1600m, ranking 14th place with a 4:35.25 time, a personal record. It is a major trend for athletes to get personal bests at state, competing with the best will brew the best results.

Senior Emmett Swartzentruber, after finishing first place at the state qualifiers in Tipton, ranked tenth during the 3200m race with a personal best time of 10:08.22.

Junior Landon Sullivan ranked tenth place in the long jump with a 20-foot-11.75-inch leap that was yet again, a personal best.

Each finish for the Mid-Prairie boys’ team was a personal best. It is a day that the team can look back on and be proud of. With such a young pool of athletes in the program, it is only an inevitability that they will return to state refreshed and ready to get their personal bests once again.