It’s become a tradition at Pella High School, and one that has not come easy — district track and field champions.
In yet another dazzling display of athleticism and an exhibition of their clinic of a training process, the Pella Lady Dutch wrapped up their fifth consecutive district meet win, and the boys in green, their fourth in a row Thursday night at their home track. In the state qualifying event, Pella’s girls clinched 15 automatic bids, while the boys are locked into ten events next week at Drake Stadium.
While Pella will once again send a busload to the state meet next week in Des Moines, other area teams will also be well represented at the famous Blue Oval.
Knoxville’s girls competed hard with the meet-champion Lady Dutch in a handful of events and will race among the best athletes in 3A. For the second year in a row, sophomore Katie Keitges qualified in four events – the 800, 1500, and 3000 individually by winning those races, as well as the Distance Medley Relay team with Emery Neer, Bree Burton, and Abbey Jackson, which was a close 2nd to Pella. Jackson also qualified in the open 400 meters.
Pella Christian will also have athletes returning to the state meet after competing at the district meet in Eddyville. Erica Nikkel (100m), Allison Van Gorp (Shot, Discus), Morgan Fopma (400H), Chloe Morgan (400m),as well as the 4×200, 4×400, and Sprint Medley relays all qualified for the Eagles girls, while Kade Vander Molen (Long Jump, 1st place) and Blake Veenstra (Discus, 1st Place) were automatic qualifiers for the boys. Head Coach Keith Anderson says they expect to see some at-large bids coming in based on quality times.
The final list of Iowa High School State Track and Field qualifiers will be released later today.
Qualifiers from Pella site:
Pella Girls:
100 meter dash – Emily Vos (2nd) – 12.28
200 meter dash – Emily Vos (1st) – 25.22; Annika Pingel – 25.23
800 meter dash – Caroline McMartin (2nd) – 2:26.47
400 meter hurdles – Emily Holterhaus (2nd) – 1:06.22
4×100 relay (2nd) – Metsje Miller, Roselande Vanderhoff, Paighton Malek, Annika Pingel – 49.22
4×200 relay (1st) – Metsje Miller, Paighton Malek, Elsie Thoreson, Annika Pingel – 1:43.34
4×400 relay (1st) – Emily Holterhaus, Caroline McMartin, Elsie Thoreson, Erica Halstead – 4:10.35
4×800 relay (1st) – Erica Halstead, Ashley Blommers, Makayla Kruse, Tirzah Wittenburg – 10:00.15
Sprint Medley (2nd) – Metsje Miller, Paighton Malek, Elsie Thoreson, Annika Pingel – 1:49.09
Distance Medley (1st) – Metsje Miller, Emily Holterhaus, Erica Halstead, Caroline McMartin – 4:19.34
Long Jump – Paighton Malek (2nd) – 17 feet, 2 inches
Shot Put – Kaeleigh DeWaard (1st) – 41 feet, .5 inches; Alex Hackett 35 feet, 7.5 inches
Discus – Elly Cairney – 121 feet, 8 inches
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Pella Boys:
100 meter dash – Dalton Chapman (2nd) – 11.6
200 meter dash – Curtis Ware (2nd) – 22.6
400 meter dash – Nathaniel Robinson – 54.74
1600 meters – Thomas Gauley – 4:36.99
400 meter hurdles – Avery Van Zee (1st) – 56.09; Jordan Buma (2nd) – 58.34
4×800 relay (2nd) – Thomas Gauley, Colby Van Gorp, Drew VanHauen, Tony Schmitz – 8:11.6
Sprint medley (2nd) – Gabe Thomas, Dalton Chapman, Curtis Ware, Avery Van Zee – 1:35.55
Shuttle Hurdle Relay (1st) – Gabe Thomas, Curtis Ware, Jordan Buma, Avery Van Zee – 58.83
Shot Put – Nick DeJong (1st) – 52 feet, 11 inches; Mason Huerter (2nd) – 52 feet, 10.5 inches
Discus – Kody Huisman (2nd) – 142 feet, 7 inches
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Knoxville Girls:
Katie Keitges – 800 meters (2.26.2 – 1st); 1500 meters (5:13.09 – 1st); 3000 meters (11:23.19 – 1st)
Abbey Jackson – 400 meters (1:01.81 – 2nd)
Distance Medley – (4:23.11 – 2nd) – Emery Neer, Bree Burton, Abbey Jackson, Katie Keitges