Nine Panther events headed to state

GLENWOOD — For the second year in a row, the Creston Panthers qualified nine events for the Iowa High School State Track and Field meet that begins Thursday.

Five of the events auto-qualified by placing first or second Thursday at the state qualifying meet in Glenwood, but four more events earned an at-large berth.

Auto qualifiers

In an incredible personal record of more than 3-feet, Creston senior Jaycee Hanson let it fly on her first shot put attempt, setting a new best mark of 37-03.75. It was the best throw of the meet going into finals.

“It being on my first throw helps me so that I can just focus on throwing hard, and I don’t have to worry about where I’m at and placing and being stressed about it,” Hanson explained.

Hanson came into the event seeded third with a best mark of 34-09. She was behind Glenwood’s Ava Hernandez (35-06.5) and ADM’s Lauren Hagedorn (39-06.5).

Throwing coach Brian Morrison said Hanson had a good week of practice going into the meet.

“She’s capable when she puts everything together to be consistently in the 35s and who knows after she did that today,” he said. “37 is phenomenal.”

In the finals, Hagedorn threw a 38-05.5 to take the district win but Hanson’s first throw was enough for second place, automatically giving her a spot at the state meet, her first time qualifying.

“I’m pretty excited,” she said. “I actually didn’t expect it at all, but I’m happy I qualified.”

She is Creston’s first female thrower to qualify for state since Doryn Paup in 2023. Hanson will compete on the Drake blue oval Thursday at 2 p.m. where she comes in as the 16 seed. She will be the ninth thrower in the first flight.

In Creston’s first running event to qualify, the boys 4x800m relay of Wyatt Goodenberger, Jace Hanson, Matthew Warner and Ryder Baird came across in a season-best time of 8:29.19, placing second behind ADM.

Hanson had an unofficial two-second PR in his leg of the race, running the team’s fastest split of 2:04.1.

The quartet comes in to the state meet as the 22nd seed and will run Thursday at 6:10 p.m. in heat one, lane six.

Sophomore Cora Smith continued to dominate the sprints, ultimately qualifying in the maximum of four events. As a freshman she qualified in three events.

In the 400m dash, Smith came in as the three seed with a fastest time of 58.51. Glenwood’s Caitlin Hebel was the favorite with a 58.47 and Julia Heslink of Harlan was right behind them with a 58.71. All three times were top 15 in Class 3A.

With a stiff headwind facing the runners on the home stretch, times weren’t as fast as normal, but Smith still managed a 58.73, winning the event out of lane five. Hebel was runner up with a 59.25 while Heslink dropped to a 1:02.03 in third. She still ended up qualifying at large.

Later, Smith ran the 200m dash where she came in seeded fourth. ADM’s Isabelle Book had the fastest mark followed by Kyia Clark of Denison-Schleswig and Stellah Van Aernam of Atlantic.

Book brought home the win in 25.97 but it was Smith who placed second in 26.19, taking the second auto qualifying spot. In a display of how tough the competition was in Glenwood, the next three spots all ended up qualifying at large.

Smith will run the 200m dash prelims Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in heat one, lane two. She comes in as the 13 seed. The 400m dash is just a few hours later, at 7:10 p.m., where she comes in seeded seventh. She will compete in the third and final heat out of lane one. The top eight medal.

The final auto qualifier for the Panthers was junior Tom Mikkelsen in the shot put. Mikkelsen’s day came down to the wire as the 2025 state medalist was sitting outside the top two heading into the final throw.

As he let the shot put fly on the final throw, the mark looked to be far enough for second. As the distance was announced to be 53-10, a cheer went up among the Creston fans as Mikkelsen punched his ticket to state.

“Tom’s been through it before,” Morrison said. “He’s competed at a high level going to Drake a couple times, in the state meet and at the Hawkeye 10. So he’s just a little bit off and to get back into almost 54 on that last throw. So we’ve got some work to do next week, but he’s sitting in a good spot.”

Tom will compete Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in the second flight as the number three thrower. His mark brings him in as the 10 seed.

When looking just at everyone’s season-best marks, Mikkelsen comes in with the sixth best. He threw 55-9.75 at the Chariton meet in April. Last season, Mikkelsen medaled at state, finishing seventh with a throw of 53-02.75. His all-time best mark is 57-04.5.

At-large qualifiers

After all auto qualifiers are determined at each meet, the next eight best marks or times in each class qualify “at large.” This helps to even out discrepancies with more challenging districts. Creston had four events earn at-large qualification.

Despite Mikkelsen’s experience at state and Drake in the shot put, this will be his first time competing outside the track in the discus circle.

Mikkelsen came in as the third seed behind two Glenwood throwers — Lincoln Skarnulis and Todd Schmitt. Schmitt won the event, throwing 153-10. Nick Subbert of ADM threw a PR of nearly 4 feet to place second in 151-09.

Mikkelsen finished third, throwing 150-11, just 6 inches shy of his personal best. He earned at at-large berth based on the distance. He will compete Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the first of two flights as the number eight thrower.

The relay competition at the meet was some of the toughest in Class 3A. The girls’ 4x800m relay team of Hope Henderson, Nevaeh Adamson, Reese Strunk and Maylee Riley ran a blazing time of 9:52.55, the 10th fastest time at any 3A state-qualifying meet Thursday, but they placed fourth in Glenwood.

Glenwood won the event in 9:46.76, ADM in second with 9:48.94 and Des Moines Christian placed third in 9:51.75. Last year, Riley and Henderson were on the 4x800m team that medaled at state, running 9:47.24 and placing eighth.

The 4x800m relay will run Thursday at 5:25 p.m. where the Panthers will compete in heat two from lane six.

A quartet of girls — seniors Avery Staver, Kadley Bailey and Braylee Pokorny along with Smith — qualified in two relays, the sprint medley and the 4x100m.

This is the same group that competed at Drake in April in the 4x100m. The girls placed third in each event. In the sprint medley, they ran 1:51.66. Only Kadley is returning from the team that ran at state last year, but she has moved from a 100m leg to the 200m leg. Staver and Pokorny each run 100m while Smith anchors with the 400m leg.

The sprint medley relay runs first thing Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The girls are seeded 21st and will run in heat one, lane two.

In the 4x100, the girls broke their own school record, running a 49.99. ADM won the meet in the top ranked 3A time of 48.48. Atlantic placed second in 49.24, seeded eighth at state.

Creston is seeded 17th and will run in the prelims Friday at 6:30 p.m. They will be in heat two, lane seven. The top eight qualify for finals which take place Saturday at 3:45 p.m.

For tickets or more information, visit the IHSAA and IGHSAU websites. A full list of area qualifiers can be found on Pages 6A and 7A in the CNA.