Funk sweeps hurdles gold

DES MOINES — The Gabe Funk era ended in grand style on the Drake Stadium blue oval last weekend.

The Lenox senior repeated as Class 1A state champion in the 110-meter high hurdles Saturday afternoon in a school-record 14.20, just .03 in front of Lamar Ceant of Columbus Junction.

One day earlier, Funk reached the top of the podium in the 400-meter hurdles after placing third and second in the previous years behind area rival Ryce Reynolds of Mount Ayr, now running at Stanford University. Funk won this year’s race in a time of 53.43. Tate Fever of ACGC was second in 54.25.

Lenox teammate Jordan Martin-England, a four-event state participant as a senior, finished 12th in 57.07 and also ran 19th in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.86. They were both part of a Tiger shuttle hurdle relay team that just missed the finals by .25 of a second, finishing ninth in the prelims in 1:02.28.

Funk nearly pulled off the three-event hat trick at state, taking second in the 400 meters behind South Hamilton repeat champion Kolby Hodnefeld (48.13). Funk edged AHSTW’s Luke Sternberg for the silver medal, 49.33 to 49.63.

“An absolutely special career,” Lenox boys track coach Michael Nardini said. “You don’t get a kid like that very often. Me and some of the other coaches were talking, like coach Elliott at Mount Ayr after having Ryce. You just don’t get that many opportunities to see those special moments on the biggest stage and you try to enjoy it. He will do great things at UNI. He certainly left his mark on Lenox. Lenox track is a thing that some of the younger kids look up to and want to be a part of now.”

Finals improvement

Funk said his state runner-up finish in the 400 meters, his third-best event, on Thursday afternoon gave him a boost of confidence for his hurdles races on Friday and Saturday. Still, there was work to do in the 110 highs after he was seeded third in the preliminaries in a time of 14.78. He shaved .58 of a second off that time in his finals victory, outsprinting Ceant to the finish line after their feet landed simultaneously coming off the last hurdle.

“I knew I could run better (than preliminaries),” Funk said after his final high school race Saturday afternoon. “I got in there (warm-up area) early and got my rhythm. At the start line I just felt like, today could be something special. I feel like hitting every hurdle perfect and just be extra fast. I felt the one guy with me through the seventh or eighth hurdle, but he clipped a hurdle and I pulled ahead. I thought, let’s just go win it and go out on top.”

“Gabe will just outsprint you in that final 15 meters,” Nardini said. “That’s how he beat Follman the year before. (CAM’s Jack Follman now runs at Northwest Missouri State.) In the 400 lows I saw that he had to switch his legs a couple of times on the backstretch, but he’s gifted enough to be able to get his steps back in rhythm. The ACGC kid has been cutting his times all year, and the Sloan kid is tough, so I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Gabe just out-wills you.”

Martin-England also ended his stellar career as one of the more versatile Lenox track athletes in history, making state in two individual races and two relays. He anchored the 4x400 relay that ran 3:33.77 at state, just a second off their own school record.

The 4x800 unit of Wylie Brokaw, Patton Adams, Owen Grundman and Caden Kaufman ran a school record 8:37.44 in placing 16th on Thursday. All four are football players, a rarity in distance relays filled with cross country standouts.

“We had a good mixture of people at state this year, with 10 different kids running,” Nardini said. “Our 4x800 relay was our first distance event at state since Gabe ran on that relay as a freshman in 2022. We were disappointed in how the shuttle hurdles turned out, but that’s the nature of track. There’s no additional time to change things like in some sports. You have that one chance. Kudos to the other eight (finalist) teams for running well.”

For the Lenox girls, McKinzie Menefee and Sadie Cox each ran in two events, including the 11th-place sprint medley relay and the 400 meters individual race.

MOUNT AYR

Mount Ayr junior Aubree Shields made her third trip to the top-three podium in the high jump Friday, after tying Rowan Jacobi of Springville for third place at 5-02. Shields was state runner-up her freshman and sophomore seasons. Shields also ran on three relays at state, including the sixth place sprint medley and the 4x100 relay that ran eighth in the finals.

Shields required stitches in her head after a nasty accident jumping in the Pride of Iowa Conference meet this season, one week after setting her school record of 5-6. Coach Brad Elliott said a third podium appearance after coming back from that mishap is a significant achievement.

“For Aubree, overcoming adversity was her best victory in getting back on the podium,” Elliott said. “She was able to gather her confidence in an event that’s already a mental challenge. You either pass or fail on every attempt. It’s all about confidence, and she was able to put it together today to place in the top three.”

Ema Roberts of HLV-TC set a 1A state record in winning the high jump at 5-09.5.

Another emerging star for the Mount Ayr girls is freshman Emma Reynolds, who started her state career by qualifying sixth in the 200 meters in 25.93, the exact time of her sister Addy Reynolds in her final race at state. Addy is now a softball player at the University of Northern Iowa. Emma ended up fifth in the finals in 26.11.

Reynolds also ran on the 4x100 relay that set a school record of 50.66 in the prelims. The team that also included Brittlyn Nickle, Jaxy Knight and Shields placed eighth in the finals in 51.33. Knight had been a member of the previous record team as a freshman in 2022.

The 4x400 relay of Shields, Tatum Friedrich, Ashlyn Murphy and Reynolds set a school record of 4:10.49. The sprint medley team of NIckle, Knight, Shields and Reynolds placed sixth in a school-record time of 1:51.75.

“In a lot of cases we ran better than we had in past years when we placed higher at state,” Elliott said. “It’s just one of those years where it’s especially stout and competitive in all of those events. This year was unbelievably fast. Our 4x400 time would have made the finals the previous three years, but this year we were 11th.”

While the Mount Ayr boys didn’t score at state, the Raiders qualified in six relays. The 4x200 unit of Drayden Thompson, Trevin Victor, Garrett Walter and Jackson Ruggles was ninth in the prelims in 1:31.66, missing the last finals spot by .42 of a second.

Willie Baker had a memorable state meet in his senior season in the para ambulatory events. Baker placed second in the shot put (29-08.5), fourth in both the ambulatory 100 (16.0-5) and 200 meters (33.50) as well as fifth in the ambulatory 400 meters (1:21.26). He set personal records in the shot put and 400.

“Willie had an amazing year,” Elliott said. “Saturday was his lifetime best in the shot put and he was excited.”

EAST UNION

East Union junior Morgan Cooley rallied from a ninth-place finish in the shot put on Thursday by making the podium in the discus on Friday with a third-place throw of 157-01.

“It was the sixth round, my last throw,” Cooley said. “I was in seventh place at the time. I was just more patient with my lower body and let loose on the final throw. I just didn’t feel good in the shot yesterday. I was a little off the whole time. So it was great to be on the podium today.”

Tristan Lear ran 17.09 in the 100-meter hurdles on Friday for the Eagles, finishing 17th in the prelims.

SOUTHWEST VALLEY

Southwest Valley sophomore Brody Crozier set a school record in the 100 meters Thursday, running 11.22 in the prelims. His time ranked ninth, missing one of the eight spots in the finals by just .02 of a second.

Crozier also participated in the long jump at state. Wyatt Mendenhall scored two team points by placing seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.11, the race won by Funk.

Mendenhall was also part of the state-qualifying shuttle hurdle relay that included Riley Hartman, Walker Bissell and Gavin Wetzel that owns the school record from earlier this season. It was the first Southwest Valley relay at state since 2017. Wetzel and Bissell tied for 17th in the high jump at 5-09.

NODAWAY VALLEY

Trenton Warner won the Class 1A shot put for Nodaway Valley on Thursday at 53-11.75 and placed fifth in the discus on Friday at 156-05.

Gabe Winklemann took 18th in the 3200 meters as a freshman. Maddie Weston ran on three events at state as a senior, led by her ninth-place finish in the 100 meters in 12.83. She was only .01 of a second from making the finals.

Weston and Izzy Eisbach ran on the 23rd-place distance medley and Eisbach also took 16th in the 1500 meters in 5:04.22. Lili Denton of St. Albert won that event in 4:30.63.

ORIENT-MACKSBURG

Junior Emma Boswell closed out Orient-Macksburg’s athletic history by participating in two events at the state meet. O-M dismissed students for the final time on Friday, during the state meet.

Boswell tied for 17th in the high jump after clearing the 4-10 opening height, and was 18th in the long jump on Thursday with a best jump of 15-04.5. Wayne’s Ella Whitney had a winning jump of 17-05.5.

“Emma was really close on her first jump at 5-foot,” said O-M coach Becca Ross. “We didn’t hit 5-foot this year until state qualifying, so we knew it was going to be right on that line. Her best was 5-1 at state qualifying last year. She got her PR in the long jump this year of 16-10 at the state qualifier. This is an all-around athlete for Orient-Macksburg who has been phenomenal in everything she’s done. So, to end Orient athletics with Emma Boswell at the state meet, that just shows the kind of talent that Orient-Macksburg has produced to its last days.”

CLASS 1A GIRLS

High jump — 3. (tie) Aubree Shields, Mount Ayr, 5-02, and Rowan Jacobi, Springville, 5-02; 17. (tie) Emma Boswell, Orient-Macksburg, 4-10.

Long jump — 18. Emma Boswell, Orient-Macksburg, 15-04.5.

4 x 800 relay — 24. Mount Ayr (Tatum Friedrich, Kate Newton, Ava England, Addison Doolittle), 10:39.67.

100 meters — 9. Maddie Weston, Nodaway Valley, 12.73.

Distance medley relay — 23. Nodaway Valley (M. Weston, H. Zoubek, A. Cornelison, I. Eisbach), 4:29.56.

400 meters — 13. McKinzie Menefee, Lenox, 1:01.34; 18. Sadie Cox, Lenox, 1:02.13; 23. Tatum Friedrich, Mount Ayr, 1:04.29.

100 hurdles — 17. Tristan Lear, East Union, 17.09.

200 meters — 5. Emma Reynolds, Mount Ayr, 26.11 (Sixth in prelims in 25.93); 19. Maddie Weston, Nodaway Valley, 26.80.

Sprint medley relay — 6. Mount Ayr (Brittlyn Nickle, Emma Reynolds, Jaxy Knight, Aubree Shields),1:51.75; 11. Lenox (Bentley Petersen, Zoey Reed, Sadie Cox, McKinzie Menefee), 1:53.81.

1,500 meters — 16. Izzy Eisbach, 5:04.22.

4 x 100 relay — 8. Mount Ayr (Brittlyn NIckle, Emma Reynolds, Jaxy Knight, Aubree Shields), 51.33.

4 x 400 relay — 11. Mount Ayr (Aubree Shields, Tatum Friedrich, Ashlyn Murphy, Emma Reynolds), 4:10.49.

BOYS RESULTS

Discus — 3. Morgan Cooley, East Union, 157-01; 5. Trenton Warner, Nodaway Valley, 156-05.

Shot put — 1. Trenton Warner, Nodaway Valley, 53-11.75; 9. Morgan Cooley, East Union, 48-01.25.

High jump — 17. (tie) Walker Bisell, Southwest Valley, 5-09; Gavin Wetzel, Southwest Valley, 5-09; Carter Hohertz, Earlham, 5-09.

Long jump — 18. Brody Crozier, Southwest Valley, 19-07.

Sprint medley relay — 23. Mount Ayr (Drayden Thompson, Trevin Victor, Jackson Ruggles, Garrett Walter), 1:37.91.

3,200 meters — 18. Gabe Winkelmann, Nodaway Valley, 10:19.14.

4 x 800 relay — 16. Lenox (Wylie Brokaw, PattonAdams, Owen Grundman, Caden Kaufman), 8:37.44.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 9. Lenox (Jordan Martin-England, Kolben Robinson, Dawson Evans, Gabe Funk), 1:02.28; 23. Mount Ayr (Manny Hyde, Adler Reed, Isac Dugan, Jackson Ruggles), 1:05.16; 24. Southwest Valley (Wyatt Mendenhall, Riley Hartman, Walker Bissell, Gavin Wetzel), 1:05.66.

100 meters — 9. Brody Crozier, Southwest Valley, 11.22.

400 meters — 2. Gabe Funk, Lenox, 49.33.

4 x 200 relay — 9. Mount Ayr (Drayden Thompson, Trevin Victor, Garrett Walter, Jackson Ruggles), 1:31.66.

110 high hurdles — 1. Gabe Funk, Lenox, 14.20; 19. Jordan Martin-England, Lenox, 15.86.

400 low hurdles — 1. Gabe Funk, Lenox, 53.43; 7. Wyatt Mendenhall, Southwest Valley, 56.11; 12. Jordan Martin-England, Lenox, 57.07.

1,600 medley relay — 22. Mount Ayr (Trevin Victor, Tyler Martin, Tegan Hill, Adan Trujillo), 3:46.84.

4 x 100 relay — Mount Ayr (Drayden Thompson, Garrett Walter, Trevin Victor, Tate Dugan), DQ.

4 x 400 relay — 16. Mount Ayr (Jackson Ruggles, Drayden Thompson, Garrett Walter, Adan Trujillo), 3:29.79; 23. Lenox (Laramie Stoaks, Caden Kaufman, Brody Brokaw, Jordan Martin-England), 33:33.77.

Para ambulatory 100 meters — 4. Willie Baker, Mount Ayr, 16.05.

Para ambulatory 200 meters — 4. Willie Baker, Mount Ayr, 33.50.

Para ambulatory 400 meters — 5. Willie Baker, Mount Ayr, 1:21.26.

Para ambulatory shot put — 2. Willie Baker, Mount Ayr, 29-08.5.