Cadet athletes punch tickets to State Track in 18 events, Girls first at State Qualifier

CRESCO - Neither high temperatures nor wind gusts up to 53 miles per hour throughout the evening prevented the Crestwood boys’ and girls’ track teams from flexing their muscles at the Class 2A State Qualifier Track Meet held in Cresco on Thursday, May 15.

The Crestwood girls’ team cruised to the team title with 126 points and advanced to the State Meet in 10 events. Jesup placed second with 117 points. The 2A State Meet is scheduled for May 22-24 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

In the boys’ meet, Denver took first with 155 points. Crestwood was second with 86 and Oelwein was third with 85. The Cadets punched their ticket to State in eight events.

Cadet girls who advanced to State included: Charley Curtis (100, first, 13.46 seconds); Lily Troendle (200, second, 27.36); 4x100 relay (Curtis, Mannery, Schlatter, Troendle, first, 50.64); 4x200  (Curtis, Mannery, Schlatter, Troendle, first, 1:8.17); Ava Johnson (high jump, first, 5-0); Isabella Schlatter (long jump first, 17-3.5); Korey Hrdlicka (discus, first, 138-3, new school record and shot put, fourth, 35-6.5); Laney Peter (1500, fifth, 11:42.27); and Rose Niewoehner (shot put, third, 38-6). 

Cadet boys who punched their tickets to State included: Aidan Skoda (100 dash, first, 11.20); Dashel Donlan (200, second, 22.20); Nathan Ahern (800, first, 1:58.42); 4x100 relay (F. Donlan, Mahr, D. Donlan, Skoda, first, 42.94); 4x200 (D. Donlan, Kitchen, F. Donlan, Mahr, second, 1:30.63); distance medley (Mahr, F. Donlan, Nibbelink, Ahern, first, 3:37.73); Luke Drtina (high jump, first, 6-1); sprint medley (F. Donlan, Skoda, D. Donlan, Ahern, first, 1:34.13).

 

Steffen comments

Crestwood Head Girls’ Coach Karen Steffen was ecstatic over the way the Cadets competed on Thursday.

“Qualifying a competitor in every field event is a huge accomplishment!” Steffen noted. “Two years ago, we struggled scoring many points in field events. That became our emphasis, and it has paid off with about one third of our points coming from field events this season.

“Our sprint races and relays have done well all season long. Throughout the season, we ran quite a few different sprinters in those relays in order to find the right four to run the 4x1 and 4x2. At the NEIC meet last week, they broke the school record in both relays, and yet again in the 4x1 at the State Qualifying meet.

“On the first day of practice back in February, we talked about how our team missed winning the 2024 State Qualifier by 1.5 points. We made it our number one team goal to win the darn thing this year. 

“Team scoring has been one of our big focuses all season long. We routinely emphasized how important every athlete is to this team. Filling each event and competing our best was what we worked for at every meet. Every point was important, whether it was 10 points for first place or one point for 8th place.

“We stressed the importance of competing all the way through the finish even if it didn't look like they weren't going to qualify for State. Qualifying for State wasn't the only goal. Scoring team points was the goal. We scored points in every single event.

“There were many key events that also scored points for our team even though they didn't qualify for State. We strongly emphasized team. Every event is important to the team. Every one of these girls is important to the team. Even the JV girls who didn't run at the State Qualifier are important to the team. They were there helping, supporting, and cheering on their teammates.

“We would like to thank all the volunteers who helped with each of the field events, check-in table, hurdle setters, exchange zones, announcers, booth workers, starter clerks, and concessions. Also a huge shout out to the students, parents, friends, and fans who came out to support the teams. This was a great way to promote the sport of track and field,” Steffen said.

 

Denner comments

“This was an outstanding night of competition for our boys and girls,” Cadet Boys’ Coach Justin Denner said. “We battled the elements well, and to qualify eight events this year was better than what we had hoped for as a coaching staff.  

“Our guys did a great job getting themselves mentally and physically ready to compete, and went out there competed their tails off and that's all that we can hope for.  We had a lot of PR's (personal records) set both by qualifying events, but also non-qualifying events, and as a coach, when our guys do things they haven't done before on the biggest stage, you know that what we did leading up to this point in the year worked,” the coach said.