The Mid-Prairie girls will take 17 entries to the state track & field meet, where the Golden Hawks will be seeking a fourth straight 2A state championship. 

The state-qualifying meet champions were led individually by senior Mitzi Evans, who won gold in the 200, 400, and 800-meter races. Danielle Hostetler won the 1500 and 3000, with Sydney Yoder finishing second in both events.

“I don’t know where to begin, it’s been a great night,” Mid-Prairie coach Chris Tyler said as his team continued to celebrate with the banner. “We’ve got one or two on the bubble, but everything else is in the top two, those we figured we’d get in.”

Mid-Prairie had three qualifiers in the field events, including Ella Groenewold, who finished second in the high jump with  new PR of 5-4. First-time qualifiers include Emma Lueck, who won the long jump by a quarter of an inch with a leap of 15-10.25 and Maddie Nonnenmann, who was second in the discus with a throw of 106-6. 

“Emma Lueck in the long jump would be probably one of the top highlights of the night,” Tyler said, “for me personally, that's the first long jumper that I've ever been able to get into the state meet. She's put in tremendous work in the offseason, getting stronger, lifting. She put in some good training up at Iowa Speed in the winter.”

Nonnenmann joined the track team for the first time this season. 

“It’s her senior year, she decided to give it a go and qualifies for state in the discus, and missed state in the shot put by a couple inches,” Tyler said.  “That’s testament to her strength and coachability.”

The Golden Hawks qualified in six of the seven relays, taking first place in the 4x100, 4x200, sprint medley, distance medley and shuttle hurdle relay. 

Junior Madeline Schrader, a first-time state qualifier, ran the leadoff leg for four first-place relays. 

“Madeline Schrader just has been a rock star as of late, coming out of the blocks,” Tyler said. “I mean, I don't recall a race in the last several weeks where she hasn't made up the stagger already by the first hand off on her 100s or her 200s. 

“Tonight, I think two of her 200s, the 4x200 and d-med, she was in that high 25s, low 26s out of the blocks, so just phenomenal splits.”

The Golden Hawk 4x200 of Schrader, Amara Jones, Groenewold and Tabitha Evans took nearly three seconds off of their best time to beat Davis County by a third of a second. 

The  4x100 of Schrader, Alyssa McDowell, Tabitha Evans and Jones took over a second off of its time from the conference meet a week ago. 

“We put Amara at anchor tonight in the 4x100, just trying something a little bit different seeing if we can get that time to drop,”Tyler said. “And we moved Tabitha to the three spot and she was able to run a really good curve, we had a really good split on Tabitha. 

“This group's been persistent throughout the season. They've just been chipping away at it. We weren't able to get her into relays this year, but Dakota (Mitchell) has real promise for next year. She's going to be a solid one next year to replace some of the sprinters that we're losing as seniors.”

Jones, Nora Pennington, Emily Schlabach, and Behla Schmidt beat Central Decatur for first place in the shuttle hurdle relay. 

Abby Fleming had the seventh fastest 3000-meter time in 2A entering the state-qualifying meet, but schools are limited to just entries per event.

Fleming and Phoebe Shetler, who had the 18th fastest 3000-meter time in 2A, still had a chance to qualify for state in the 4x800 which finished third on Thursday with a time of 10:34.55. On Friday night the four sophomores: Fleming, Shetler, Greta Sieren and Annika Poll learned that their time was good enough to put them in the field of 24 at Drake Stadium. 

“I’m super excited,” Fleming said on Saturday. “I won’t get to run my event that I really love, and so just being able to run something is really nice. And this makes me really happy to be able to do something at least.”

The state meet weekend begins for Mid-Prairie on Thursday, May 19 when Hostetler and Yoder will compete in the 3000-meter run at 3:20 p.m.

Results

1, Mid-Prairie, 183; 2, Davis County, 112; 3, E-B-F, 86; 4, Central Decatur, 66; 5, Albia, 61; 6, Cardinal, 54; 7, Mediapolis, 46; 8, Louisa-Muscatine, 44; 9, Centerville, 33; 10, Chariton, 21; 11, Van Buren, 20; 12, Central Lee 15. 

100-METER DASH:  1, Clara Smith, Davis Co, 13.15; 2, Cadan VanLaningham, Davis Co, 13.28; 7, Dakota Mitchell, M-P, 14.10; 9, Emma Lueck, M-P, 14.35.

200: 1, Mitzi Evans, M-P, 26.62; 2, Cadan VanLaningham, Davis Co, 27.24; 9, Colby Brown, M-P, 29.50.

400: 1, Mitzi Evans, M-P, 58.97; 2, Lizzy Van Utrecht, EBF, 1:00.93; 7, Maya Nonnenmann, M-P, 1:07.42.

800: 1, Mitzi Evans, M-P, 2:21.13; 2, Danielle Hostetler, M-P, 2:21.93.

1500: 1, Danielle Hostetler, M-P, 4:54.36; 2, Sydney Yoder, M-P, 5:04.09.

3000: 1, Danielle Hostetler, M-P, 11:19.17; 2, Sydney Yoder, M-P, 11:22.79.

100 HURDLES: 1, Molly Shafer, EBF, 15.79; 2, Allison Casteel, Centerville, 16.59, 6, Behla Schmidt, M-P, 17.52; 13, Emily Schlabach, M-P, 18.85.

400-HURDLES: 1, Kate Shafer, EBF, 1:11.85; 2, Allison Casteel, Centerville, 1:11.92; 6, Behla Schmidt, M-P, 1:15.62; 10, Abby Fleming, M-P, 1:18.26.

4X100: 1, Mid-Prairie (Madeline Schrader, Alyssa McDowell, Tabitha Evans, Amara Jones), 51.47; 2, Davis County, 51.86.

4X200: 1, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Jones, Ella Groenewold, T. Evans), 1:49.06; 2, Davis County, 1:49.41.

4X400: 1, EBF, 4:13.18; 2, Davis County, 4:16.41; 3, Mid-Prairie (Greta Sieren, Annika Poll, Maya Nonnenmann, T. Evans), 4:24.25.

4X800: 1, Albia, 10:28.91; 2, Mediapolis, 10:34.07; 3, Mid-Prairie (Poll, Phoebe Shetler, Sieren, Abby Fleming), 10:34.55.

SPRINT MED: 1, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, McDowell, Groenewold, Mitzi Evans), 1:52.56; 2, EBF, 1:54.67.

DISTANCE MED: 1, Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Jones, T. Evans, Danielle Hostetler), 4:25.21; 2, Davis County, 4:34.68. 

SHUTTLE HURDLE: 1, Mid-Prairie (Jones, Nora Pennington, Emily Schlabach, Behla Schmidt), 1:12.58; 2. Central Decatur, 1:12.81.

HIGH JUMP: 1, Molly Shafer, EBF, 5-5; 2, Ella Groenewold, M-P, 5-4; 7, Paige Safly, M-P, 4-6.

LONG JUMP: 1, Emma Lueck, M-P, 15-10.25; 2, Kallie Greiner, Davis Co, 15-10; 10, Colby Brown, M-P, 13-07.75.

SHOT PUT: 1, Paige Kaster, Albia, 33-10.5; 2, Kaylee Corbin, Louisa-Musc, 33-09; 3, Maddie Nonnenmann, M-P, 33-06.75; 8, Halli Hershberger, M-P, 30-06.

DISCUS: 1, Allie Cloke, Cardinal, 108-5; 2, Maddie Nonnenmann, M-P, 106-6; 7, Brylee Gearhart, M-P, 86-07.