DES MOINES — The same two girls made up the top two in the Class 2A discus in 2023 as in 2022 at the state track and field games, but Allie Schweitzberger made sure it was in reverse order this time around.
Schweitzberger, a Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central senior, took second to Jana Ter Wee last season.
On Friday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, it was Schweitzberger who came out on top.
Last spring, Ter Wee won the competition with a throw of 131 feet. Ter Wee’s best throw at state in 2023 was two inches further, but that wasn’t enough to beat Schweitzberger, whose first throw of the final heat went for 133 feet, 8 inches.
“This feels amazing,” said Schweitzberger. “I was just so happy to be here. I’m so glad that I have all my supporters here with me.
“I put in a lot of work, even after practice and on the weekends. I can tell right off the bat if it’s a good throw or not. I can tell if I don’t go off my back leg right, or if I have it too low, I can tell. I know I don’t
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Ter Wee, a West Lyon junior, won the 2A shot put the day before.
In the high jump, Sheldon’s Maddie Olson became the first girl of any class in the state to clear 5-09 to win gold. The win makes her a three-time champion in the event.
Olson, a senior, missed one jump at 5-05 and at 5-07 but cleared both those heights on her second attempt. At 5-09, she missed twice before clearing the season’s highest bar on the third attempt for a performance that ranks her in the top 20 in the nation.
Trista Ohlmeier, a sophomore from MCAOCOU, was on of two competitors besides Olson to clear 5-04 as she took third place behind runner-up Molly Schafer of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.
Hinton freshman Bailey Boeve checked in at fourth by clearing 5-02 to tie with two area seniors in Cherokee Washington’s Nahia Ellis and Unity Christian’s Aubrey De Groot both cleared 5-02.
In the boys’ high jump, KPWC junior Beau Goodwin cleared 6-04 for second place.
OABCIG’s 4x200 boys’ relay team also won gold as Josh Peters, Gabe Winterrowd, Ethan Behrendsen and Beckett DeJean ran a winning time of 1:29.27. West Sioux (1:39.09) came in fifth.
The Sibley-Ocheyedan girls’ distance medley relay of Alayna Wingate, Olivia Hensch, Zoe Ackerman and Madison Brouwer started the day by taking second place in the first 2A race of Day 2 of the state games. The quartet ran a time of 4 minutes, 13.60 seconds.
On the boys’ side, Okoboji distance medley placed in the top two as well behind efforts by Tyler Sehman, Joe Salmon, Dylan Jones and Evan Osler to finish with a time of 3:35.25.
In the boys’ 4x400 prelims, Sioux Central (3:26.14) ran the second-best time to earn a spot in Saturday’s finals.
Okoboji had a girls’ 4x200 that ran a 1:45.82 to beat out Unity Christian’s 1:45.84 as the two Siouxland schools took second and third.
Drew Sandven fifth, KPWC’s Conner Beelner sixth 400 hurdles
OABCIG senior DeJean and Central Lyon junior Reece Vander Zee both qualified for Saturday’s finals in the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles. DeJean ran the second-fastest time of the preliminary heats with a 14.54-second effort and Vanader Zee was fifth-fastest at 15.19.
DeJean was also part of a finals-qualifying boys 4x100 for OABCIG. The same group that ran the distance medley ran the fifth-fastest 400 relay with a time of 43.19 as West Sioux qualified for the finals as well by placing seventh (43.68). Central Lyon had the 10th-fastest time of the prelims at 43.94, but didn’t qualify for the finals.
Unity Christian’s Gracie Schoonhoven took fourth in the 400 hurdles finals. The senior ran a time of 1:04.98, and Sioux Central junior Preslie Peterson placed eighth (1:06.17).
In the girls’ Sioux Central and Okoboji both made the finals. Sioux Central (50.51) ran the fourth-best time of the prelims as Okoboji (51-01) grabbed the last spot in the top eight to run again on Saturday.
Ridge View senior Kolton Luscombe finished in the top four in the boys’ discus with a toss of 166-03.