On day two of the Iowa Boys and Girls State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Algona junior Max Nevitt turned an already very good weekend into a great one. Nevitt, who placed 6th in the boys class 3A discus on Thursday, one-upped himself on Friday with a podium finish in the shot put, taking third place with a best throw of 57-03. Nevitt’s mark eclipsed his previous best by three feet. Coming into the meet ranked ninth based on state qualifying meet marks, Nevitt vaulted himself into second place with his second throw of the day, remaining there until Western Dubuque’s Garret Kluesner went over 58 feet on his 6th and final throw of the day. Nevitt improved his placing from last year by 9 spots, as he was 12th one year ago in his sophomore campaign.
Perhaps the wildest race of the day would be the boys class 3A 1600 meter medley timed finals. Algona, who came in with the third best time in the state for class 3A, went up against a stacked field that included last year’s class 2A state champion Des Moines Christian, now in 3A, as well as defending 3A state champion Western Dubuque. The Bulldogs would chop two seconds off of their previous best time of the season, finishing in 3:29.49, a time that would have won a state title in plenty of previous seasons. However, Algona found themselves outside of the state podium, placing fourth. All of the top four teams ran top 25 times in the nation, led by Western Dubuque with the seventh best time in the U.S. at 3:24.52, getting a 1:47 anchor on the 800 meter leg from Quenton Nauman. In spite of not ending up on the podium, the race proved to be a smooth operation for Algona, with Tate Garman and Tyler Bradley running strong on the 200 meter legs and putting Evan Allie in a good spot. Allie moved Algona from second place into first on his relay leg, before handing the baton to Gavin Weber. Weber, who has a personal best of 1:58 in the open 800, split a 1:55 on the anchor leg for Algona with a 54 second first lap and 61 second closing lap.
A couple school records were re-written for the Algona girls sprint crew. The Bulldogs continued their steady progression in both the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays, with the 4×100 placing 18th in 50.17 with the relay team of Lilly Allie, Kaitlyn Burns, Summer Thompson, and Natalie Johnson. In the 4×200, it was the relay team of Allie, Burns, Maya Lentz, and Johnson placing 16th in 1:45.29, finishing in the same place they did last season in spite of running over one second faster. Burns is the only senior on either of those Bulldog relays.
In the boys 4×100 meter relay, it was all about surviving and advancing for Algona, who came into the meet with the third fastest time in class 3A on the season. The Bulldogs kept their state title hopes alive in the event, placing fourth in the preliminaries in 42.71, as the relay team of Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tate Garman, and Evan Allie will run on Saturday in the final.
The Algona boys 4×200 meter relay brought home the second relay medal of the morning for Algona, coming in sixth place in 1:28.79, narrowly missing out on their season best time, with Weichert, Garman, Bradley, and Allie on the relay.
The Bulldog sprinters would get a rest eventually, but not before racing in the 4×400 meter preliminaries to wrap up the morning session. The relay team of Weber, Moreno, Walker, and Bradley placed 16th in 3:27.90, the fastest time of the season by that lineup. Bradley’s time on the anchor leg was the fastest of the Bulldog quarter, with a split of 50.9, in spite of Bradley being on his third event of the day.
In the girls long jump, Maya Lentz placed 13th, with her best mark of the day 16-02.
Moving into the afternoon 1A/4A session, in the girls discus the Bishop Garrigan duo of senior Brooke Ludwig and freshman Jenna Peterson competed together one last time. Ludwig narrowly missed out on finals, finishing 10th place in class 1A with her third throw of 110-08 being her best of the day. Peterson would also miss out on the finals, fouling on her three attempts.
Making his second state appearance in the boys class 1A discus, Bishop Garrigan junior Amaury Thomas finished the day in 11th place with a mark of 148-08. The meet started out in shaky fashion for the Golden Bear junior, as he fouled on his first attempt, and only recorded a mark of 108-03 on his second, which left him sitting in 23rd place, well outside of the top nine needed to advance to finals. On his third throw, Thomas stepped up with his best throw of the meet, and moved into 9th place, briefly putting himself into position to move into the finals. However, two athletes who threw after Thomas were able to eclipse his mark and bump him out of the finals and into 11th.
Back on the blue oval, the day of season best times continued with the Bishop Garrigan girls 4×200 meter relay of Zoe Montag, Ava Roethler, Cate Birkey, and Madelyn Tigges. The Golden Bears chopped nearly two seconds off of their previous season best as a relay, taking home 15th place in the timed finals in 1:49.86.
The West Bend-Mallard girls team made the most of their only event of the day, recording a new season best time in the 4×100 meter preliminaries for class 1A in 51.97 seconds, which placed them 16th. The relay team of Lilly Morey, Payton Akridge, Allie Fehr, and Maddie Fehr continued their big progression from recent weeks. After previously holding a season best of 53.10, the Wolverines dropped over a second at last weeks state qualifying meet with a 52.06, then added another season best on Friday at Drake’s Blue Oval, executing nearly perfect handoffs to help sneak under 52 seconds.
The Bishop Garrigan boys 4×400 meter relay put a wrap on day two with the class 1A preliminaries. The Golden Bears clocked a time of 3:32.49 to place 21st with Tate Foertsch, Andrew Lichter, Trayton Cink, and Owen Murphy on the relay team. Three of the four relay members are seniors, with Lichter, Cink, and Murphy all running their last lap on the blue oval wearing a Golden Bear uniform.
Athlete Interviews
Max Nevitt – Algona – Boys Class 3A Shot Put
Maya Lentz – Algona – Girls Class 3A Long Jump
Reagan Haynes – Algona – Girls Class 3A Shot Put
Algona Girls Class 3A 4×100 Meter Relay (Lilly Allie, Kaitlyn Burns, Summer Thompson, Natalie Johnson)
Algona Girls Class 3A 4×200 Meter Relay (Lilly Allie, Kaitlyn Burns, Maya Lentz, Natalie Johnson)
Algona Boys Class 3A 1600 Meter Medley Relay (Tate Garman, Tyler Bradley, Evan Allie, Gavin Weber)
Algona Boys Class 3A 4×200 Meter Relay (Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tyler Bradley, Evan Allie)
Algona Boys Class 3A 4×100 Meter Relay (Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tate Garman, Evan Allie)
Algona Boys Class 3A 4×400 Meter Relay (Gavin Weber, Ashton Moreno, Levi Walker, Tyler Bradley)
Brooke Ludwig – Bishop Garrigan – Girls Class 1A Discus
Jenna Peterson – Bishop Garrigan – Girls Class 1A Discus
Amaury Thomas – Bishop Garrigan – Boys Class 1A Discus
Bishop Garrigan Girls Class 1A 4×200 Meter Relay (Zoe Montag, Ava Roethler, Cate Birkey, Madelyn Tigges)
West Bend-Mallard Girls Class 1A 4×100 Meter Relay (Lilly Morey, Payton Akridge, Allie Fehr, Maddie Fehr)
Bishop Garrigan Boys Class 1A 4×400 Meter Relay (Tate Foertsch, Andrew Lichter, Owen Murphy, Trayton Cink)
