Another high school track and field season in the state of Iowa has come and gone after day three of the state meet wrapped up from Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
In the first event of the morning, the Bishop Garrigan girls 800 meter sprint medley set the tone for what would be another day of blazing fast times at the blue oval of Drake Stadium. The quartet of Emmi Bartolo, Ava Roethler, Zoe Montag, and Madelyn Tigges obliterated their previous season best in that relay by over three seconds, posting a time of 1:53.65. Coming in ranked 22nd of the 24 class 1A schools in the race based on times from the state qualifying meets, the Golden Bears competed in the slowest of three heats. Undeterred, they executed a clean race with good handoffs, and got the baton to Tigges on the anchor leg within striking range. Tigges completed her lap around the track in under 60 seconds, moving the Golden Bears into first place, and passing four teams in the final 150 meters of her race. After heat two, the Golden Bears were sitting in third place, but seven of the eight teams in the fastest heat eclipsed Bishop Garrigan’s time, moving them down to tenth place and out of state medal position.
It would be state medal number two of the weekend for Gavin Weber, and his first career state medal in an open event with his 6th place finish in the class 3A 800 meters in 1:56.81. Weber took on a loaded class 3A field, staying out of traffic in the early stages of the race and letting the leaders guide him through the first 400 meters in 56.8. Even when a gap opened up between Weber and the leaders on lap two, the Bulldog junior kept his foot on the gas pedal, bringing home the final lap in 59.9 and holding off a charging pack of runners in the final 100 meters who were threating to knock Weber off of the podium. Six of the top seven and eight of the top ten finishers in the race, including Weber, were juniors.
In the boys class 3A 800 meter sprint medley, Algona’s relay team of Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Ashton Moreno, and Tyler Bradley came in with the 24th seed time out of 24 teams, but were able to beat their projected finish by several places, taking 17th in the timed finals in 1:35.09, which was the best time of the season by any combination of Algona Bulldog runners for the 800 meter medley.
Weichert came back for the 100 meter final in class 3A, and finished in 7th in 10.89 in a tightly bunched race to bring home another state medal for the Algona boys team. The 100 final was another race dominated by juniors, with 6 of the 8 finalists, including Weichert, belonging to the junior class.
In the girls class 1A 100 meter final, West Bend-Mallard’s Maddie Fehr capped off her season by taking 8th in 12.70 seconds, earning her second state medal in that event after placing 7th last season.
In the boys class 3A 200 meter dash, Algona’s Evan Allie took a step forward from last year’s placing. After taking 8th in 2024 as a sophomore, Allie would finish 4th in 21.76, finishing just a one-hundredth of a second off of the state podium, while taking home another medal.
The event of the meet would hands down be the boys class 3A 1600 meters. In a blazing race that electrified the crowd, Western Dubuque’s Quentin Naumann broke the 4 minute barrier, winning in 3:59.60, with Des Moines Christian’s Caleb Ten Pas in 2nd place in 4:03.53. Algona’s Gavin Weber was able to ride the momentum, earning his third medal of the meet with an 8th place finish, clocking in with a time of 4:23.21. Positioned on the inside with hip number two at the start of the race, Weber sprinted out to a lead in the first one hundred meters, avoiding the early traffic jam. His quick early pace did not settle in until after the first lap, coming through the first 400 meter split in fourth place in 60 seconds. For a significant portion of the middle part of the race, Weber found himself in between groups, with the top three runners out in front, and the chase pack of the fifth place runner and beyond trailing the Bulldog junior by several strides. Weber hit the halfway point of the race in 2:07 with a 67 second split, and hit the 1200 meter mark in 3:17 with a 69 second split, finding himself now amongst the pack fighting for a top eight finish. Weber closed strong in 66 seconds for his final lap, holding on for 8th place and running his second fastest time of the season.
In the girls 1500 meter run in class 1A, West Bend-Mallard junior Tyra Schupbach shattered a second school record of the meet. Schupbach dipped below 5 minutes in the event for the first time in her career, finishing the race in 10th place in 4:53.51. Starting on the innermost position on the track, Schupbach worked her way through the early traffic, and positioned herself comfortably in between 10th and 12th position for most of the race. Schupach used even pacing from lap to lap, moving into 9th place with one lap left, but would be unable to move into state medal position. After covering the first 300 meters in 53 seconds, the Wolverine junior’s next three laps were covered in consistent splits of 78, 81, and 80 seconds.
The final event of the day for the Algona Bulldogs was the boys class 3A 4×100 meter relay. The Bulldogs wrapped up their season with one more state medal, placing 6th in 42.89 seconds, with Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tate Garman, and Evan Allie closing out the season.
Algona’s boys team finished off the meet with nine state medals, placing 9th in the final team standings with 31 points scored. The top three boys 3A teams in the final standings were Newton with 60, Pella with 56, and Gilbert and Clear Creek-Amana tied for 3rd with 55.
Athlete Interviews
Bishop Garrigan Girls Class 1A 800 Meter Sprint Medley (Emmi Bartolo, Ava Roethler, Zoe Montag, Madelyn Tigges)
Algona Boys Class 3A 800 Meter Sprint Medley (Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Ashton Moreno, Tyler Bradley)
Macy Knapp – Algona – Girls Class 3A 800 Meter Run
Gavin Weber – Algona – Boys Class 3A 800 Meter Run
Maddie Fehr – West Bend-Mallard – Girls Class 1A 100 Meter Dash
Will Weichert – Algona – Boys Class 3A 100 Meter Dash
Evan Allie – Algona – Boys Class 3A 200 Meter Dash
Tyra Schupbach – West Bend-Mallard – Girls Class 1A 1500 Meter Run
Gavin Weber – Algona – Boys Class 3A 1600 Meter Run
Algona Boys Class 3A 4×100 Meter Relay (Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tate Garman, Evan Allie)
