Roberts, Kriegel take 1st at State

DES MOINES — Ema Roberts of HLV won gold in the high jump and Lydia Kriegel of Iowa Valley won gold in the discus at the Class 1A State meet last weekend at Drake University in Des Moines.

Roberts, a junior, finished third at the state meet in 2023. In an event where place winners are decided by fewer misses, Roberts made five of her first six jumps and was the last athlete standing after 5 feet, 6 inches.

Roberts cleared 5 feet, 7 inches to win the high jump and set a school record before missing three attempts at 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches, which would have been a state meet record.

Roberts prepared for this moment by competing in the National Junior Olympics meet, where she placed sixth in the 15-16 year age group.

Kriegel, who came to Drake with just the 10th-best qualifying throw in 1A, uncorked a toss of 135 feet, 3 inches to earn the title. She led all the throwers from her first throw though the fourth round of six attempts.

Anna Hadley, of Pekin High School, who was in 7th place after four throws, tossed the discus 132’5”, which put her in first place ahead of Lydia’s best throw of 130’7”. That set the stage for Lydia’s final attempt, a mighty throw of 135’10” to win the state championship.

Kriegel was immediately surrounded by her family, coaches and friends, which started a spontaneous celebration of tears of joy and hugs.

Kriegel was disappointed by the results of the shot put competition the day before when she failed to make the finals, after fouling 2 of 3 attempts. She was determined to perform better in discus.

Her coaches, Marissa Ward and Casey Krull, said Kriegel was throwing the discus better in practice and was ready for a big throw.

Other top eight finishes included a two-fer for English Valleys Kennedy Axmear, who was fifth in the discus (126-2) and seventh in the shot put (36-6.5).

Axmear, a senior, won the 2022 Drake Relays discus throw and was runner-up in the State Meet in 2022 and 2023.

Ava Gehrking of EV was fifth in the 100 and Aaliyah Cooper of HLV was eighth in the 400 hurdles.

(Rick Wannamaker contributed to this article.)

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Results

Girls team scores (top 5) - 1. Saint Ansgar 40; 2. Nashua-Plainfield 38; 3. (tie) Council Bluffs St. Albert 37 and Riverside 37; 5. Panorama 36. Also: 22. (tie) HLV 11. 25. (tie) English Valleys 10 and Iowa Valley 10.

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Area results

100 - 5. Ava Gehrking (EV) 13.03; 19. Chloe Snook (M) 13.05.

100 hurdles - 19. Alyssa Steinback (BP) 17.25.

200 - 13. Ava Gehrking (EV) 26.53; 15. Chloe Snook (M) 26.62.

400 - 18. Ema Roberts (HLV) 1:02.74.

400 hurdles - 8. Aaliyah Cooper (HLV) 1:08.11.

800 - 18. Emery Hall (HLV) 2:26.88.

3,000 - 22. Addison Achenbach (EV) 12:29.73.

4x400 - 20. HLV (Ayla Hall, Emery Hall, Aaliyah Cooper, Ema Roberts) 4:19.45.

4x800 - 23. Iowa Valley (Grace Ryan, Emma Von Lienen, Ella Read, Hannah Ryan) 10:38.99.

Distance medley - 9. HLV (Lily Randall, Ayla Hall, Aaliyah Cooper, Emery Hall) 4:24.06.

Discus - 1. Lydia Kriegel (IV) 135-3; 5. Kennedy Axmear (EV) 126-2.

Shot put - 7. Kennedy Axmear (EV) 36-6.5; 10. Lydia Kriegel (IV) 35-7.25.

High jump - 1. Ema Roberts (HLV) 5-7.

Long jump - 22. Chloe Snook (M) 14-9.