Panthers excel at conference track meet

Though the Panthers didn’t come away as one of the top teams at the Hawkeye 10 Conference meet Thursday at home, they put up an impressive 26 personal-best times and marks.

Glenwood and Lewis Central were the top competitors. Glenwood won the girls team race with 141.5, taking second in the boys with 118. LC won the boys with 162 and placed second in the girls, scoring 119.

The Panther girls finished sixth with 82.5 points and the boys placed seventh with 45.

Champions

Leading the way were three individual champions -— sophomore Tom Mikkelsen in the shot put, junior Kadley Bailey in the 100-meter hurdles and senior Brayden Schoon in the discus.

At Atlantic May 5, Mikkelsen threw a personal best and school record of 57-04.5 in shot put. While he didn’t top that Thursday, he was able to meet the 57-feet mark again, throwing 57-01.5.

“We knew that field was going to be tough, so he has to bring that kind of mark each time he competes for the rest of the season,” coach Maggie Arnold said. “He is looking really good. Being a sophomore and two-time Hawkeye 10 Champion speaks volumes to the talent he possesses. He has made taking care of his body a priority this season and has rested when needed and worked when scheduled. It is definitely showing in the later meets of the season.”

Mikkelsen’s best mark of the day came on his last throw, topping second place by nearly three feet. Gavin McLaren of Atlantic took silver with his throw of 54-04.75.

Last year Mikkelsen won the state-qualifying meet with a mark of 54-04.5.

This year, he’s looking at a stronger group of competitors at this week’s qualifier in Glenwood.

“Thursday, seven of the top 24 throwers in class 3A will be in the SQM shot put competition, so he’s going to need to bring it again there as well,” Arnold said.

Though her time of 16.03 wasn’t a season best, Bailey’s clean run over the hurdles led her to her first conference title.

“Kadley taking the 100 meter hurdles was amazing,” Arnold said. “She has gone head-to-head with several of those girls since middle school. She ran a perfectly clean race when others in the field tried to push — this gained her the advantage at about the seventh or eighth hurdle over the rest of the field. When Kadley is clean through her hurdles, there are very few people who can beat her.”

Bailey’s best time of 15.94 sits at 20th in Class 3A.

Though the top-24 qualifying times make the state meet, Bailey has an uphill battle at the SQM, facing six hurdlers with times faster than hers posted this season. Four of the six are from ADM including the top-three times in Class 3A this season. The top two from each SQM will advance to state with the next eight fastest times across Class 3A qualifying at-large.

Schoon continued to show massive improvements in the discus, throwing 170-00, a PR by nearly 10-feet. He outthrew second place by 26-feet.

“The boys sweeping the throws was a big exclamation point on an excellent season they have had,” Arnold said. “Brayden opening up with a 170-foot throw was also huge for him. That was a 10-foot PR. This is no surprise to those of us around him every day because he throws beyond those marks in practice.”

Schoon’s mark moves him up to third in Class 3A. Bishop Heelan’s Carson McInerney sits in second with 174-03.75 and will be at the SQM Thursday.

“His goal from the start of the season is to break the school record,” Arnold said. “He keeps inching closer to it each day. He has two more guaranteed shots at it, and I really want to see him do something big on Thursday night. At the state qualifying meet, it will be a dog fight as five of the top-24 distances recorded in 3A will be at our state qualifying meet.”

Silver and Bronze

Creston posted several highlight events that didn’t take the top place. The first was the girls 4x800m relay.

The team of Maylee Riley, Cora Smith, Hope Henderson and Payton Davis posted a stunning time of 9:50.53, the first sub-10:00 time since 2016. This is the fastest time by a Creston girls 4x800 in 10 years, the 2015 team of Maria (Mostek) Phipps, Lexie (Little) Miller, Taylor (Briley) Tanner and Natalie (Mostek) Pettit running a 9:42.44 at state to place fourth.

Riley got the race started with a quick 2:25.88, a new personal best time. She was the first to hand off the baton. Smith, a freshman, maintained that first-place position, running a 2:26.37.

In the third leg, Henderson was challenged by Glenwood’s Caitlin Hebel who took the lead for a moment on the back stretch of lap two. By the time they made it to the final corner, Henderson had regained a narrow lead, handing it to Davis after running a PR time of 2:27.41.

Davis led the first of her two laps, but Glenwood senior Breckyn Petersen made her move in the final lap, taking over first for a Rams’ win in 9:44.32. Creston came in second after Davis’s 2:30.81.

“The girls 4x800 was an exceptional race. Leading for seven of the eight laps was a hard pill to swallow for the girls, but that’s OK. That gives us something to work toward,” Arnold said. “We expect that time from those four girls and look to see them continue to improve it this week.”

Their time sits at 10th best in Class 3A, and the quartet will have a second shot at the Rams Thursday as they come in as the top-two teams.

Other competitors with sub-10:00 times at the SQM will be Des Moines Christian (9:55.29) and ADM (9:57.19).

“We have never had four girls under 2:30 in a single 4x800 race since we have started coaching — there has always been a leg that could not break that threshold,” Arnold said. “All four girls have gone under 2:30 at some point this season, so that’s definitely the expectation for Thursday.”

Another star performance came from junior Seth Gordon who placed second in the 100-meter dash with a PR of 11.06.

“Seth Gordon’s 100 meter dash performance may be the most overlooked performance of the entire meet, but he threw down a sick time — 11.06 sits him 23rd in 3A in an absolutely loaded sprint field this year,” Arnold said. “He has work ahead of him on Thursday — our state qualifying meet is going to be a miniature state meet. There is a lot of talent in the sprints, so we have to bring our best.”

Gordon brings in the third-best time Thursday, but the field is narrow. ADM freshman Zane Johnson comes in first with 10.94 followed by Atlantic’s Ethan McNeal with 10.97. After Gordon is Tristan Ludwig of Glenwood with 11.07.

McNeal didn’t compete in the event at the conference meet and Ludwig placed fourth.

The girls had two third-place relays: the distance medley and the shuttle hurdle.

The DMR team of Karter Clayton (200m), Bailey (200m), Braylee Pokorny (400m) and Riley (800m) ran 4:27.41, finishing behind St. Albert and Glenwood. Bailey’s 200m time of 24.5 was a new PR.

Riley ran her second sub-2:30 of the day in 2:29.44 on the anchor leg.

The shuttle hurdle relay was comprised of Bailey, Josie Tallmon, Clayton and Henderson. They ran 1:11.21 behind Glenwood and Atlantic.

Field events start at 4 p.m. Thursday in Glenwood with running events to kick off at 4:45. Qualifiers will advance to the 2025 Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships, scheduled for May 22-24 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. There will be no more than 24 qualifiers for any event.

“We are gearing up for a great meet on Thursday,” Arnold said. “The competition will be excellent, and we will have to bring everything we have — there will be no room for mistakes.”

Full conference meet results can be found on blacksquirreltiming.com.