Crestwood athletes place in top 10 in four events at State Track Meet

DES MOINES - After competing for the entire spring in cold, windy and rainy weather, temperatures in the mid to upper 80s at the Class 2A State Track and Field Meet in Des Moines from May 16-18 didn’t bother the Crestwood athletes too much as several Cadets posted personal bests, which included top 10 finishes in four events.

In the girls’ meet, Isabella Schlatter nabbed fourth place in the long jump with a personal best distance of 17 feet, 3 inches. Teammate Lily Troendle took seventh place with a distance of 16-9.5.

Cadet senior Kinze Shea posted a season best time of 10:40.23 in the 3000 meters to place seventh. Shea also finished 19th in the 1500 meters in a time of 5:07.57.

Crestwood Girls’ Head Coach Karen Steffen was thrilled to see the Cadets perform well at the Big Blue Oval.

“Korey Hrdlicka (17th in shot put, 35 feet, 5.5 inches) put in a lot of extra time and effort this season to improve her throws,” Steffen said. “She stayed extra long after practice and came in on days off. As the leader of our throws crew, she stayed for extra throws at the end of practice. That extra work paid off in the long run. Since last year, she improved her top throw by nearly five feet. We’re excited to see what she can do in her senior season.

“Kinze Shea is a three-time medalist in the 3000 at the State Meet. She ran her best race of the season to earn her seventh place medal. The heat played a big part in her 1500 race on Saturday afternoon. In a loaded field of runners, she ran just shy of her season best and came up short of medaling.

“Kinze has been the leader of our distance crew for the past three years. Her journey through cross country and track has been a joy to be a part of. She has transformed into an outstanding distance runner. She will be greatly missed and we wish her all the best at Western Illinois University (next fall).

“Charley Curtis was 19th in 100 dash in  13.26. All season long, it was Charley’s goal to qualify for State in an individual event. I actually thought it might be the 200, but she ran a great 100 at the qualifier and that’s what made it. Her race on Thursday was pretty good and she finished strong. We’re proud of her work ethic and effort all throughout the season.

“This was Lily Troendle’s first season in long jump. For being new, she took to the event right away and found success all season long. Isabella Schlatter was our leading jumper last season and returned with experience and determination for this year. She learned a few new things to improve her jump technique and it paid off. It was fun to watch them push one another, yet have each other to lean on throughout the season.

“Our 4x200 relay team of Charley Curtis, Olivia Johnson, Lily Troendle and Aubrey Mannery placed 16th in 1:48.70. This is the same relay team that qualified for State last year. They returned this season with a goal to re-break the school record which they set last year. They battled some minor injuries during the season but battled through them. They finished with their best race of the season, just shy of their record from a year ago. 

“It’s always an honor to earn a trip to the State Track and Field Meet in Des Moines on the Blue Oval. The girls approach the State Meet with a work-mentality and their goals in mind. 

“We also manage to have a little bit of fun while we’re there. We coaches are proud of the way our girls represented Crestwood Track and Field at the State Meet and during the entire season,” Steffen said.

 

Boys’ meet

Nathan Ahern took seventh place in the 800 meters in a personal best time of 1:57.83. Aidan Skoda placed ninth in the 100 meter dash in a personal best time of 11.19 seconds.

Cadet Boys’ Coach Justin Denner gave kudos to all his athletes for a great effort.

“The Cadets had an outstanding State Meet,” Denner noted. “Anytime you go and compete at a meet like that, you hope to accomplish one of three things: place in the top eight, perform at or better than your seed or set a new personal best. Each of our five events accomplished one of those three goals and we are very proud of them.

“Nathan Ahern finished an outstanding junior season with a seventh place finish and a new personal best of 1:57.83. He ran a smart race and truly proved his is one of the best 800 runners in the state with how hard he competed all weekend!

“Aidan Skoda ran a 11.19 in his 100 meter dash, just off of his season best, and narrowly missed making the finals finishing in ninth. He moved himself up three spots from his original seed with his great run. 

“Dashel Donlan came into the 200 meter dash seeded 20th and finished 13th with a new personal best of 22.75. This concluded a great season with him taking off over a second from his original 200 dash time at our indoor meet at Luther.

“The Distance Medley team of Robby Ollendieck, Finnegan Donlan, Spencer Kitchen and Nathan Ahern came into the meet seeded 12th and finished 12th with a 3.23 second season best of 3:35.87. They have improved their time from over the last three weeks by over 10 seconds, running one of the fastest Distance Medley for Crestwood in recent memory!

“The Sprint Medley team of Aidan Skoda, Nate Mahr, Dashel Donlan, and Nathan Ahern, came in seeded 20th and finished 20th with a time of 1:36.86. That time along with the previous three races were all under the previous school record set in 2022. This was such a great stretch of running by those four guys. We are so proud of all of our athletes on a great season!” Denner said.