The Raccoon Valley Radio listening area is well represented today as Class 2A and 3A athletes take to the track and the field at Drake Stadium for day one of the Iowa High School Coed State Championships.

ACGC sophomore Kate Crawford nearly stunned the sun bathed crowd of thousands in the first girls’ 2A race on the track late Thursday afternoon. The Chargers’ sophomore took charge of the 3,000 meter race early and led throughout until sophomore Marie Hostetler of Mid-Prairie (Wellman) caught her with less than 30 meters to go. Hostetler was timed in 10:25.78 and Crawford 10:26.61. Marie’s older sister, Anna, was third. As it was, the performance by Crawford was impressive, in 83 degree heat. Panorama freshman Ella Waddle was fifth in 10:55.73, and ACGC senior Emma Swanson was also in the race and was eighth in 11:11.42.

ACGC senior Caden Warden was eighth in the 2A boys’ long jump with a best leap of 20′ 5-1/4″. Colby Kafer of Greene County was 20th at 19′ 2-3/4″, with Mike Barker of Woodward Academy 23rd at 17′ 9-3/4″. West Central Valley’s Brock Wolfe did not start.

Noah Nelsen of ACGC kept things going for the Chargers by finishing fourth in the 2A 3,200 meters race in 9:57.37. That was the fourth top eight finish in the first few 2A events of the meet.

The ACGC Chargers had their boys on the track for the shuttle hurdle relay prelims in Class 2A which was the first event on the track for that class. Cole Boyer, Gabe Rowley, Caden Warden, and Grady Laabs make up that quartet. They were in fourth place when the anchor fell over a hurdle and ACGC’s race went sideways. The Chargers ran 1:08.00 and were 22nd, ahead of two teams that were disqualified.

Winterset’s boys were in the 3A shuttle hurdle prelims and were fourth in their heat. Carson Fulcher, Ethan Simon, Tyler Brown, and Carter Tryon were clocked in 1:02.50 and the Huskies were 19th.

The girls’ shot put had three area athletes in the 2A field. Madison McDermott of ACGC was tenth at 37′ 1-3/4″. Grace Dupuy of West Central Valley placed thirteenth at 36′ 2″, and Laurin Lyons of Greene County was 21st with a best toss of 33′ 6″.

The 2A 200 meter dash for girls had Greene County senior Megan Durbin finished second in her preliminary heat in 26.51 seconds and she qualified for the finals on Saturday with the fifth fastest time.

In 3A, 2017 100 and 200 meter State champion Keaton Kester of ADM was in the 200 prelims. She won her heat in 25.69 and qualified seventh for Saturday’s final as the Drake University recruit tries to make it two titles in a row in this event.

The prelims of the boys’ 2A 200 saw Colby Kafer of Greene County run in lane 8 and finished sixth in his heat in 22.98. He will not make the finals but finished 11th after entering in 24th. Spencer Hunt of Panorama was scheduled for lane 7 in heat three, but did not run. Trey Volz of ADM was seventh in his heat of the 3A boys’ 200 in 23.16 and he finished eighteenth.

Three area teams were in the 2A girls’ 4 x 800 meter relay. ACGC was timed in 10:35.65 in the first (slower) of two sections with Audrey Stowe, Sophie Danker, Rylee Sloss, and Lauryn Emblazon, and place 21st overall. Woodward-Granger and Panorama both ran in the fast section. The Hawks had Emma Drake, Katelyn Peters, Ava Petersen, and Anna Tague, and the Panthers ran Gwen Steffen, Brianna Hoffman, Olivia Steffen, Lydia Lindstrom. W-G placed tenth in 10:05.95 and Panorama was eleventh in 10:07.36.

The ADM girls were timed in 10:24.15 with Hannah Welch, Julia Case, Abby Gonzalez, and Kerilyn Schmidt. They placed 23rd in the 3A 4 X 800.

The 2A girls’ long jump had four area girls in the field. Greene County freshman Brianna Osterson scored a point for the Rams by placing eighth in 16′ 5-1/2″. Bailey Beckman of Panorama was twelfth in 16′ 1/4″, with Panorama’s Kassidy Bremer fifteenth in 15′ 8-3/4″, followed by Greene County’s Lilly Muir, seventeenth, in 15′ 5-1/2″.

ADM’s Kester won the 100 meters in 3A last year, but did not run the prelims Thursday night.

In 2A for girls, Beverly McKenna of West Central Valley ran 13.51 seconds, was sixth in her heat and did not make the final. Carson Fisher of Panorama did not make the final either after running :13.55 and finishing eighth in her heat.

Spencer Hunt of Panorama and D’Angelo Dampier of Woodward Academy were both scheduled for the 2A boys’ 100 prelims, but Hunt did not run. Dampier made the final by running :11.26 and he is the seventh fastest qualifier to Saturday’s final.

In 3A, Perry’s Kato Dougan and Kaden Shawn of Winterset both ran the 100 prelims, but neither made the final. Dougan was seventh in his heat in 11.81 seconds and Shaw was eighth in his heat in 11.78.

The 400 meter dash was run as a final. For 2A girls, Devyn Kemble of Panorama placed seventh in 59.74 seconds. Jenna Merical of West Central Valley was 21st in 1:04.11. For 3A girls, Sadie Juergens of ADM just missed medaling. She was ninth in 1:00.22. Perry’s Sidney Vancil was fourteenth in 1:01.28.

Cole Arnburg of the West Central Valley boys was seventeenth in 51.50. Spencer Hunt of Panorama qualified, but did not start. In 3A, Reece Dunlap of Perry was fifteenth in 51.57 after suffering a serious knee injury during the basketball season.

All that’s left is the prelims of the 2A and 3A girls’ shuttle hurdle relay. In 2A Panorama ran Shey Storesund, Maddie Knapp, Maggie Woodbine, and Morgan Johnk. Greene County went with Melanie Doran, Sydney Schiltz, Izzy Bravard, and Lilly Muir.  The Panthers qualified for the finals in 1:08.48 with the fifth fastest qualifying time, but the Rams did not qualify with a time of 1:11.09, putting them fifteenth.

ADM was in the 3A shuttle hurdle prelims with Kristen Baier, Abigail Calligan, Holland Swank, and Sami Schepers. The Tigers ran 1:09.48 and were third in their heat, but did not make the finals.

All three Raccoon Valley Radio Network stations will have updates tomorrow and Saturday, as will this website.