Final Day of State Track Brings Two School Records, Three State Medals For Area Athletes

The 2026 Iowa high school track and field season is in the books, as day three of the meet from Drake Stadium saw two area school records go down, and three area events take home state medals.

In the first event of the morning, the Bishop Garrigan 800 meter sprint medley of Cate Birkey, Brooklyn Berte, Ava Roethler, and Madelyn Tigges earned a long-awaited state medal placing 7th in class 1A. The quartet had to sweat out one final heat of the medley, as the Golden Bears won heat two of three, but had to wait to see if their time would be better than any of the eight teams in the third and final heat, which it ultimately was, with two teams in the final heat unable to match Bishop Garrigan’s time. Birkey, Berte, Roethler, and Tigges also become the first girls 800 medley in school history to go under 1:53, finishing in 1:52.19 seconds. Last season, Bishop Garrigan’s 800 meter medley narrowly missed out on a state medal by finishing 10th, and the Golden Bear girls track and field team was also still looking for their first state medal of the meet prior to the 7th place finish.

In the boys class 3A 800 meter medley, four Algona Bulldog seniors who had accomplished everything from school records, to placing at Drake, to winning state medals, ran their final race at the Blue Oval, as Will Weichert, Levi Walker, Tate Garman, and Evan Allie finished in state medal position in 6th in 1:32.71. Battling through injury, Allie ran an aggressive anchor leg, going for the win and taking the lead before being overcome by some of the other teams in the final 100 meters of the race to finish 6th.

In the girls class 3A 800 meter run, Algona senior Macy Knapp accomplished a goal she had been chasing for a long time, becoming the first Bulldog girl to ever break 2:20 in the 800. Knapp finished in 2:19.41, placing 16th. Knapp prioritized getting into a good position early in the race, with an aggressive first 400 in 64.85 seconds. In the second lap, it looked like Knapp had started to fade, but the Algona senior found one more gear change in the home straightaway, kicking it in hard to sneak under the 2:20 barrier.

In her final race in an Algona uniform, senior Natalie Johnson brought home her first career state medal, placing 4th in the class 3A 100 meters in 12.16 seconds, missing a top three finish by just .04 seconds. Johnson’s time would have been enough to finish 3rd place in class 4A, 2nd in 2A, or first in 1A. Class 3A had the fastest 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place time in any of the four classes.

Algona senior Gavin Weber’s first event of the day would be the boys class 3A 800 meter run, an event Weber medaled in during the 2025 state meet. This year, Weber placed 13th in 1:57.49, going out in a 56.63 second first lap and coming back with a 1:00.86 second lap.

In the 1600, Weber put himself in solid position early, leading the chase pack in 4th place at the 800 meter mark, but would fade back to 14th place by race end with a final time of 4:26.92. Weber’s lap by lap splits were 63.8, 64.8, 67.8, 70.9. Weber finishes his Algona career with four state appearances in the 1600, three in the 800, four in the 1600 meter medley relay, and one in the 3200 meters.

In the girls class 1A 1500 meters, Bishop Garrigan sophomore Julia Swift finished in 18th place in 5:04.82. Swift got out to an aggressive start, covering the first 300 meters in 53.5 seconds, and the second lap in 79.34, moving her up to 5th place with two laps two go, as Swift positioned herself near the front of a large chase pack. Swift’s final two laps were 84.9 and 87.4 as the early pace took a toll.

The Algona boys/girls teams ended the meet by bringing in a combined five state medals in class 3A, with one apiece from Bishop Garrigan, North Union, and West Bend-Mallard in class 1A.

Athlete Interviews

Bishop Garrigan Girls Class 1A 800 Meter Medley Relay (Cate Birkey, Brooklyn Berte, Ava Roethler, Madelyn Tigges)