The 2017 Iowa State High School Track and Field Championships ended on a moment of sunshine after a cold, rainy weekend. The Saturday session of the competition was loaded with finals, starting with the Sprint Medley Relays and ending with the 4x400 Meter Relays. The Waukee Girls had their eyes on the State and All-Time record in the Sprint Medley Relay set by Pleasant Valley in 2015, missing it by less than 1-second after clocking a 1:45.77.
In another jaw-dropping race, Assumption senior Joy Ripslinger took home her 3rd win of the weekend in the 3A Girls 800. Ripslinger looked to break the All-Time record of 2:07.35 set by Olympian Shelby Houlihan in 2009. Though she did not get the All-Time record, she did break the 3A Girls State record of 2:13.83 by over 4-seconds after coming through the line at 2:09.39. Ripslinger also won the 3A Girls 400 and 3A Girls 3000 on Thursday, the first athlete to do so in the same state meet, and continued to set history throughout the day. She was followed by Ellie Friesen of Crestwood (2:15.93) and Carly Rahn of Gilbert (2:16.91). The 4A Girls 800 was a photo finish with freshman Mackenzie Michael of Cedar Falls taking the win over Waukee's Lily Campbell in 2:11.54 and 2:11.78, respectively. Iowa City West star Bailey Nock, the 3000M champion on Thursday also competed in the event and placed fourth overall in 2:16.74. In the 1A Boys 800M, Gable Sieperda of Central Lyon made an outstanding attempt at the State Record of 1:54.04, but fell just short in a 1:55.12, followed by Zach Ambrose of Boyer Valley in 1:56.69. The 4A Boys 800M presented a very tight race between Waukee's Josh Andrews and Matt Fraizer of Dowling Catholic. Andrews took the win in the last few steps clocking a 1:54.31, just 0.13 ahead of Fraizer who finished in 1:54.44.
The Waukee Girls came back in the 4x100 Shuttle Hurdle Relay after not only winning the event at the Drake Relays last month, but also setting the meet record- twice in one day, in fact! They had their eyes on that State record today, and after four strong legs, they broke the State meet record and All-Time record (1:00.95) after finishing in an incredibly fast 1:00.61. The 3A Boys Shuttle Hurdle Relay State record was also broken. Carlisle's team comprised of Max Goodhue, Nolan Brunsen, Andrew Black, and Dallas Wright ran the event in 56.77 to achieve the new State record for the 3A boys.
In the 2A Boys and Girls 100M, brother and sister due Michael and Rylan Santi each took home a win for the Madrid team. Rylan finished the race in 12.49, while Michael ran 10.91. The duo both came back to win their respective sections of the 2A Boys and Girls 200M later in the afternoon as well, and were both members of various relay teams throughout the State meet. Standout sprinter Kerris Roberts of Waterloo East broke the State meet record with a blazing time of 11.88. She has had an excellent season full of wins, school, and meet records in the 100 and 200, and has been a huge key player in the sprint relays for the Waterloo East team. In the 3A Boys 100M, Isaiah Trousil defending his title and set a new State record of 10.74. The West Burlington senior also won the 200M later in the day, setting another State meet record in 21.22. That time also ranks 2nd All-Time for the state of Iowa. He is the first athlete in Iowa history to win the two events three years in a row at the State meet.
Grace Martensen of Benton broke the State meet record in the 3A Girls 100M Hurdles during prelims and came back on Saturday to re-break her own record after running a 14.85. She was followed closely by Sienna Durr of Grinnell who clocked a 14.95. In the 4A Girls section, Iowa City West senior and University of Colorado commit Valerie Welch came through for her team with a win after running 14.48 to beat Waukee's Hannah Schau (14.71) and Sydney Winger (14.80) to help keep the team competition tight. She also won the Long Jump earlier in the weekend, placed in 3rd the Girls 400M Hurdles, and was a key athlete in relays. In the 4A Boys 110M High Hurdles, Joah Banks looked to beat his own State meet record set in the event on Friday of 13.91. Though he was close, the fatigued legs and headwind ended up plaguing his record attempt, though he still came out with the win for the Cedar Rapids Prairie Hawks with an excellent time of 13.98.
In the 3A Girls 200M, yet another State meet record was set. Keaton Kester ran an 24.72, winning by over half a second from the rest of the field. That time put her only 0.72 away from the All-Time record set by Debbie Esser in 1975. In the 4A Girls section of the run, Kerris Roberts once again looked to break her own State meet record, set on Thursday during the prelims at 24.09. Roberts also broke the Drake Relays meet record and was only 0.09 away from the All-Time record. Though she did not break her own record, she did take the win in the event with a 24.21 to add to her impressive repertoire of wins.
The 1A Boys 1600 was another exciting distance event that left fans on the edge of their seats! Gable Sieperda of Central Lyon came back after his 800 win earlier in the day in hopes of taking home a 1600M win as well. He also placed fourth in the event at the Drake Relays earlier this season behind 4A athletes who have all committed to NCAA Division I programs. In the final 200-meters of the event, Riley Bauer of North Union took a stand for the win with a jaw-dropping kick. He came out with the win over Sieperda and set a new 1A State meet record in the event. The two athletes ran 4:18.43 and 4:20.33, respectively. The 2A section of the event also proved to be an exciting finish with Andrew Stumbo of Ogden out-kicking KP-WC's Eric Hoffman in 4:25.26 and 4:25.33. The 4A Boys 1600 was an event many fans looked forward to with Arkansas commits Ryan Murphy of Linn-Mar and Sam Schillinger of Cedar Falls going head to head. During the Drake Relays, Schillinger took the win over Murphy in the 3200, while Murphy took the win over Schillinger in the 1600. Patrick Bose of Johnston and Iowa State commit was also a contender for the title. Murphy took the win in the 3200 earlier in the weekend, and came back to win the 1600 over Schillinger as well. Dowling's Matt Fraizer, Notre Dame commit, was also close in the race. The three athletes finished with times of 4:15.36, 4:16.28, and 4:17.23, all coming in back-to-back-to-back.
Another event that fans were preparing for was the 2A Girls 1500 with the Hostetler sisters of Mid-Prairie looking to pack in another 1-2 punch. Throughout the entire year, Anna and Marie Hostetler have proved to be high-class athletes, boasting times that rank in the top 50 nationwide in various events. Many wondered if Anna could come back and win the shorter distance event after winning the 3000 earlier in the weekend. She took the lead early on with Marie following closely behind. The junior ran away with the win in 4:33.41, breaking the State meet record, with freshman sister behind in 4:36.81. But that wasn't the end of the Girls 1500-meter excitement. Joy Ripslinger entered the event as a 3-time State Champion (individual) in the weekend alone, and 6-time State Champion during her career so far. She had already made history by winning the 400, 800, and 3000 in the same State meet and wanted to continue her streak. As many predicted, Ripslinger took the win over Ellie Friesen of Crestwood in 4:39.00 and 4:41.48, respectively. That time earned Ripslinger not only another historical State meet title, but also another State meet record. In the 4A Girls section, Iowa City's Bailey Nock claimed herself another State title by running a 4:39.48.
In the second-to-last event of the meet, the 3A Girls 4x100 claimed another State meet record being broken. Dubuque Wahlert's time of 48.46 ran by Jackie Ganshirt, Anna Sherman, Libby Wedewer, and Bailey Haskin earned them a State meet title and record. The 4A Girls teams also made an attempt at the State meet record, led by Waterloo East. With star Kerris Roberts as the third leg, the team missed the record by just 0.11 of a second.
The 4x400 relays helped solidify team titles to end the day, while the sun finally made a brief appearance on the Blue Oval. The final team scores are as follows:
Girls 1A
3rd Place - Danville, 45.5 points
2nd Place - Maple Valley, 46 points
State Champion - Sigourney, 48 points
Girls 2A
3rd Place - Pocahontas Area, 44 points
2nd Place - Mid Prairie, 58 points
State Champion - Cascade (Western Dubuque), 65 points
Girls 3A
3rd Place - Dubuque Wahlert, 49 points
2nd Place - Pella, 77 points
State Champion - Assumption, 93 points
Girls 4A
3rd Place - Southeast Polk, 56 points
2nd Place - Iowa City West, 89
State Champion - Waukee, a state meet record of 116 points
Boys 1A
3rd Place - Central Lyon, 43 points
2nd Place - Pekin, 45 points
State Champion - Lisbon, 89 points
Boys 2A
3rd Place - Albia, 52 points
Tied State Champion teams - KP-WC and Madrid, 61 points
Boys 3A
3rd Place - Dallas Center-Grimes, 45 points
2nd Place - Mount Vernon, 58 points
State Champion - Marion, 69 points
Boys 4A
3rd Place - Epworth (Western Dubuque), 54 points
2nd Place - Waukee 69 points
State Champion - Valley (West Des Moines), 73 points