The 2017 Iowa State High School Track & Field Championships started with a bang on Day 1! The morning session held competitions from 1A and 4A athletes, while the afternoon session housed the 2A and 3A athletes. Continue below to see highlights from Day 1!
The 4A Girls 3000M gave many fans déjà vu as Iowa City West's Bailey Nock took the win followed by Jessica McKee of Johnston. The two finished in similar fashion at the Iowa State High School Cross Country Championships, where Bailey Nock took the lead with less than a half mile to go. This time, Nock took the lead much sooner and managed to build a gap of nearly 17 seconds ahead of McKee. Nock clocked a time of 10:03, with McKee in 10:20, followed by fellow ICW Trojan Gabby Skopec in 10:27. Skopec finished fourth at the State Cross Country Championships and signed with the University of Northern Iowa earlier this year. In another exciting race, the 4A Boys 3200 finished with a kicking war. The race came down to Ryan Murphy of Linn-Mar and Patrick Bose of Johnston, with Murphy taking the win by just over half a second. Murphy crossed the line in 9:09.28, Bose in 9:09.96, followed by Kolby Greiner of Iowa City West in 9:13.35 and Sam Schillinger of Cedar Falls in 9:13.56.
In the 1A Boys 3200, Gable Sieperda came out and proved himself once again on the Blue Oval. The Central Lyon junior turned heads at the Drake Relays last month when he lead the Boys 3200, finishing in 4th place behind Division I signees Sam Schillinger, Ryan Murphy, and Patrick Bose. Sieperda's efforts set the State Meet record in the event for 1A after clocking a 9:15.3, which would have placed him 5th in the 4A competition that followed. The previous record was set in 1986 by Paul Barnhart at 9:18.22, for which Sieperda broke by a hefty margin.
Anna Hoyman was the winner in the 4A Girls Discus after an incredible season. The Indianola senior beat Drake Relays Champion Leah Dusterhoft with a throw of 138-00 versus the Iowa City West senior's 128-05. Hoyman has been dominant this season, and many were surprised to see that she did not compete at the Drake Relays. This was the first time the two have faced each other head-to-head this season. Hoyman will return on Saturday morning for the 4A Girls Shotput where she will look to beat Waukee's Kat Moody who comes in ranked first.
In the preliminary rounds of the 4A Girls 200M and 100M Dash, Kerris Roberts of Waterloo East came out and dropped jaws with two incredible performances. Roberts broke the state meet records in both events by running 24.09 in the 200 and 11.69 in the 100. Darby Thomas of Abraham Lincoln in Council Bluffs followed her in both events and will look to close the gap on her later in the weekend. Many fans wonder if Roberts can come back in the finals on Saturday and break the 24-second mark in the 200, a feat that will not only be the all-time record in Iowa, but will also certainly gain her national attention as she finishes out her sophomore year of high school.
In the 2A Girls 3000M, the race went as many fans expected- a 1-2 punch by the Hostetler sisters of MId-Prairie. After their efforts, the sisters now sit number 1 and number 2 all-time for Class 2A in the event. Anna clocked an excellent time of 9:47.52, while Marie finished in 9:52.50. Their times would have placed them first in the event in every class. The previous State Meet record for the event in 2A was 10:02, set by Morgan Casey in 2010.
In true Ripslinger fashion, Joy of Assumption came out and continued to build her repertoire of championships at the Blue Oval 3000M. After a winter and spring of incredible performances, Joy has held the top times in many mid- to long-distance events for the 3A girls, as well as across the entire state. After being named an All-American at the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet, Joy has earned countless wins in events all season, anywhere from the 400 to the 3000, not to mention her vital importance in many relay events. Ripslinger had her eyes set on the State Meet record for 3A, previously set by Danielle Nowasell in 2008 at 10:12.36, with Adrianna Katcher of Center Point-Urbana also eyeing the prize. Ripslinger managed to out-kick Katcher in the end, finishing in 9:55.37 versus Katcher's 9:56.19. Both of the ladies shattered the previous record and had excellent performances to start their 2017 State Meet races. Ripslinger came back later in the day to win the 3A Girls 400M in a time of 56.29, winning by 1/4 of a second over Madison Jochum of Bishop Heelan. The performance made her the first female to ever win both events in the same day of the State Track Meet in the state of Iowa. She will also be competing in the 1500 and 800 later in the weekend.
One of the bigger surprises of the day came about in the 2A Boys Shotput, where favorite and returning champion Nick Phelps of KP-WC finished third. After a series of great performances during the winter indoor season and a runner-up finish at the Drake Relays, Phelps was predicted to come out again this year and defend his titles in the Shotput and Discus. He ended up placing 3rd in the Shotput with a throw of 60-11.25 behind Caden Fenchel of Western Christian and Jared Brinkman of Regina. Brinkman's throw of 63-04.00 earned him a State Meet record for the event in the Boys 2A category, beating the previous record of 61-11.25 set by Jeff DaVilder 40 years ago.
Want to see more? Stay tuned for photos and videos from Day 1, as well as more coverage from each day of the event!