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Nodaway Valley junior Trent Warner will be competing at the 2024 state track meet this week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. This is after he won both the shot put and placed fourth in the discus field events in a state qualifying meet Tuesday, May 9 in Mount Ayr.
It will be the second state event for Warner after he qualified for the 2024 state wrestling tournament where he placed third at 285 in 1A.
Warner captured a school record in the shot put with a winning throw of 53 feet, 1 1/2 inches. All three of Warner’s throws broke the school record previously held by Levi Morris, whose record was set in 2006 with a throw of 50 feet, 10 1/4 inches.
Warner had throws inof 52, 51, and 53 feet in his three throws. He also won the discus, placing fourth with a throw of 136 feet, 10. That was good to qualify as one of the next best distances in the state.
Warner will throw the shot put 4:30 p.m. this Thursday. Warner is in the second flight and is the 11th of 12 throwers in the flight. East Union sophomore Morgan Cooley is also in the event and will also throw in the second flight. Cooley is the thrower before Warner on the second flight.
Warner will throw the discus 4:30 p.m. Friday. He is in the first flight of the event and will be the sixth thrower. Two other POI throwers are at the meet, including Southeast Warren senior Tate Dierking and East Union sophomore Morgan Cooley, who will both throw in the second flight.
“I wasn’t sure he would make it in the discus, but he’s going in two events. He has been going at 50s [in shot put] in practice and in meets there is a lot of waiting, so by the time it gets to him, he’s coming off the bench cold. So he is not throwing warm,” Nodaway Valley head coach Chase Green said. “At the state qualifying meet he was eighth in the second flight and he was loose and ready to go.”
Green said the approach will be the same for Warner in the shot put as it is in discus.
“Whatever the circumstnaces are, the key will be to keep him warm and ready to throw,” Green said. “He is calm and relaxed when he throws, but he did let out a ‘yeah’ at the school record.”
Sophomore Ashton Honnold also collected a pair of top-10 finishes in the shot put and discus. He was fifth in the discus with a best throw of 125 feet, 6 inches and placed ninth in the shot put with a season-best throw of 38 feet, 2 1/2 inches. Freshman Avery Lewis was 10th in the long jump.
In track events, freshman Luke Kading collected the top Nodaway Valley finish, taking third in the 1,600-meter run in a season-best time of 4:55.60.
Eli Harris was next with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 1:02.63.
Haden Colton had a pair of top-10 finishes. Colton ran a season-best time in the 800-meter run in 2:16.58 and added an eighth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run.
Kaden Stonehocker also added a ninth-place finish in the 200-meter dash in 29.01.
Nodaway Valley’s best relay finishes came from their 4X800-meter relay and their 4x200-meter relay events. Both turned in season-best times at the meet.
The 4x800-meter relay team of Colton, Honnold, Harris and Kading placed third in a time of 8:59.67. The 4x200-meter relay team of Colton, Kading, Stonehocker and Lewis placed seventh in a time of 1:50.50.
The Wolverines were young this season but Green praised his team for the way they took time off of races, increased distances in field events and learned how to run and approach events.
“I’m overall proud of how hard the boys worked this year to get as far as they did,” Green said. “They listened, were coachable and did the things that would help them get better.”
Mount Ayr won the state qualifying meet, scoring 134 points. Wayne was second with 121 points and SE Warren was third with 78 points. Other POI schools at the meet were Martensdale-St. Mary’s, and East Union.
The 2024 state track and field meet is this Thursday, May 16-Saturday, May 18 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.