Day one of the Iowa High School Athletic Association/Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state track meet is in the books, as Thursday’s action saw two Algona Bulldogs win state medals, while two Algona and one Bishop Garrigan school record was broken.
In the boys class 3A discus, Algona junior Will Limbaugh stole the show, landing on the state podium with a third place finish and career best throw of 169-01. Limbaugh got on the board with tosses of 157-07 and 159-05 in his first two attempts, before fouling on his third attempt, as that wiped out a throw which would have gone over 173 feet. Limbaugh rebounded from the scratch in the finals, as he vaulted from 6th place to 2nd place on his 5th throw of the meet, before being knocked down one spot to third place.
Senior Max Nevitt placed 6th for the second season in a row to earn a state medal, as Nevitt’s best throw was his fourth of the meet, 164-05. Nevitt has been a discus state qualifier all four seasons of his high school career.
In the girls class 1A 3000 meter run, Bishop Garrigan sophomore Julia Swift returned to state for the 2nd season in a row, and started the morning session by improving her placing one spot from last year by taking 12th in 10 minutes and 54 seconds, a personal best by 20 seconds for Swift, helping her break 11 minutes for the first time. The time also marked a new Bishop Garrigan school record. Swift executed the race by gradually moving up, going from as far back as 17th place up to 12th, passing four people in the final mile, along with closing the race in an 83 second last lap.
Another school record went down in the afternoon session, as the Algona girls 4×800 meter relay of Charli Dodds, Rose Kitzinger, Regan Jensen, and Macy Knapp placed 9th in class 3A in 9:43.24. After the relay team dealt with injuries earlier in the season, the Bulldogs broke 10 minutes for the first time last week at the state qualifying meet hosted by MOC-Floyd Valley, then chopped 10 more seconds off of their season best time at state. In spite of setting the school record, Algona missed out on a state medal by just .19 seconds, the second time in the past three seasons Algona has placed 9th in the girls 4×800.
Dodds lead off the relay, leading the first lap, and eventually splitting 2:26 for the opening split. Kitzinger followed with a 2:30 split, Jensen recorded a 2:29 relay leg, while Knapp finished strong in 2:17, faster than her best open 800 meter time (2:20), and with splits of 63/74. Knapp’s first lap split was within one second of her 400 meter personal record. 2026 marks the 5th straight season Algona has sent their girls 4×800 meter relay to state, with Knapp competing on the relay each of the past four.
Algona senior Natalie Johnson had a busy start to the weekend, competing in both the 100 and 200 meter preliminaries in class 3A. In the 200 meters, Johnson recorded a new personal best of 25.58 seconds, placing 14th. Johnson’s final time in the 200 meters broke a school record that had stood for over 30 years. In the 100 meters, Johnson left no doubt, qualifying for Saturday’s finals with a fourth place finish in 12.28 seconds. Johnson had finished 10th last season in the 100 meter dash preliminaries, missing finals by .03 seconds, but would not be denied this year.
In the boys class 3A 200 meter preliminaries, Algona had a pair of seniors competing, with Tate Garman taking 11th, clocking in with a time of 22.09, while Evan Allie was 23rd in 23.22.
In the boys class 3A 100 meter preliminaries, Algona senior Will Weichert narrowly missed qualifying for finals for the 2nd year in a row, finishing 11th in 11.12, and missing out on a top eight spot by .02 seconds.
Bishop Garrigan freshman Avery Culbertson finished 16th place in the girls class 1A shot put, as her best throw of the competition was 34 feet, 5 and a half inches.
In her first of two events on the day, Bishop Garrigan sophomore Madelyn Tigges notched a new personal best in the girls class 1A 200 meter dash preliminaries, taking 19th in 26.74 seconds, marking a .02 second improvement on her previous personal best from last week’s state qualifying meet at Saint Ansgar. It was the first state appearance in the 200 meter dash for the Golden Bear sophomore, who had not broken 27 seconds prior to last week’s state qualifying meet.
Tigges doubled back in the girls class 1A 400 meter dash a couple hours later, looking to secure a state medal after a 9th place finish last season. It would be another near miss for Tigges, finishing just 0.64 seconds out of medal position, placing 12th in 59.71.
In the girls class 1A 100 meter preliminaries, it was another Bishop Garrigan sophomore, Cate Birkey, coming in 14th place in 13.19 seconds.
The lone running event to qualify for state from the Bishop Garrigan boys team was the 4×800 meter relay, as the team of Carter Cink, Carter McGregor, Brad Meister, and CJ McGregor came into the meet ranked 22nd based on their time from the state qualifying meet last week, but beat the projections by finishing 17th place in a season best time of 8:35.24. Cink, who only began running in the 4×800 late in the season with the suggestion of his teammates, recoded the fastest split of the day for the Golden Bears, making a big push with 250 meters left to go to split a 2:04. Carter McGregor followed him with a 2:07, Meister ran the third leg in 2:08, while CJ McGregor capped off the relay with a 2:15 split.
The only competitor on day one for West Bend-Mallard was senior Maddie Fehr, appearing at state for the fourth straight year, but first time in the girls class 1A long jump. Fehr finished her career as a Wolverine with a 24th place finish with a mark of 14-08.75.
North Union’s boys shuttle hurdle relay team placed 21st in class 1A in 1:04.63, with Greyson Colegrove, Carson Crouch, Max Heinen, and Casey Rezac on the relay. With two juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman in the Warriors lineup, North Union is one of just five class 1A shuttle hurdle teams with all four relay members returning next season.
Algona’s Reagan Haynes narrowly missed out on finishing inside of the top 9 and advancing to finals in the girls class 3A discus. Haynes placed 11th with her first throw, 125-02, standing as her best mark of the day, as the cutoff line to advance to finals was 128-04.
It was also a near miss for Algona high jumper Jada Roberts, who finished one spot out of a state medal by clearing a bar of 5-02 for 9th place. Roberts cleared her first attempt at 4-10 and 5-00. She would miss her first two tries at 5-02 before nailing the third try, and eventually bowing out of the competition after not getting over 5-04.
Day two of state track and field resumes on Friday morning at 9am with the class 1A/4A session.
Athlete Interviews
Avery Culbertson (Bishop Garrigan) – Girls Class 1A Shot Put
Julia Swift (Bishop Garrigan) – Girls Class 1A 3000 Meters
Madelyn Tigges (Bishop Garrigan) – Girls Class 1A 200 Meters
Cate Birkey (Bishop Garrigan) – Girls Class 1A 100 Meters
Bishop Garrigan Boys Class 1A 4×800 Meter Relay (Carter Cink, Carter McGregor, Brad Meister, CJ McGregor)
Madelyn Tigges (Bishop Garrigan) – Girls Class 1A 400 Meters
Maddie Fehr (West Bend-Mallard) – Girls Class 1A Long Jump
North Union Boys Class 1A Shuttle Hurdle Relay (Greyson Colegrove, Carson Crouch, Max Heinen, Casey Rezac)
Reagan Haynes (Algona) – Girls Class 3A Discus
Jada Roberts (Algona) – Girls Class 3A High Jump
Will Limbaugh (Algona) – Boys Class 3A Discus
Max Nevitt (Algona) – Boys Class 3A Discus
Tate Garman (Algona) – Boys Class 3A 200 Meters
Will Weichert (Algona) – Boys Class 3A 100 Meters
Natalie Johnson (Algona) – Girls Class 3A 200 Meters
Natalie Johnson (Algona) – Girls Class 3A 100 Meters
Algona Girls Class 3A 4×800 Meter Relay (Charli Dodds, Rose Kitzinger, Regan Jensen, Macy Knapp)
