Mt. Pleasant middle school track shows out at state

What a season it’s been for both the Mt. Pleasant boys and girls middle school track teams.

Both the boys and girls’ season reached its climax this past week with both middle school state track and their conference meet.

The 8th grade boys had a heck of a run at the Mike Henderson Middle School Boys and Girls State Track and Field Meet in Waukee.

With 10 athletes competing, the Panthers finished tied for 5th in the 8th grade boys large group 3A/4A field.

The boys followed that performance up with their second straight conference championship, posting 162 points in Washington. They notched nine first-place finishes.

  Buy Photo

As for the 7th grade boys, they finished the conference meet with a fifth-place finish.

“These boys had the heart and determination and they wanted to compete so a few parents scrambled last minute and to put a small team together to represent our school,” Nhoth Myers said. “We honestly didn’t know how we would hold up against 4A schools but the sentiment by all was ‘Let’s just do it’ and that they did! These boys represented Mt. Pleasant extremely well.”

On the girls’ side, the 7th grade girls nearly finished inside the top five at state. They carded a 6th overall finish out of 22 teams.

The 8th grade girls had a nice showing as well, grabbing one seventh-place finish and four 11th place finishes.

At their conference meet in Ottumwa, both teams walked away with conference titles.

  Buy Photo

Three records were broken as well. Izzy Sloat broke the 8th grade long jump record with a leap of 16-6.

Two 7th grade records went down as well.

Ellaina McMullin threw the discus 87’ to set the new mark and Avery Fedler broke her own record in the 1500-meter, dashing to a time of 4:56.00.

“Saturday was an opportunity we just couldn't pass up,” Mt. Pleasant coach Samantha Freeman said. “Southeast Iowa has a great conference, but our girls were ready to take it to another level. I couldn't be more impressed with their determination and competitive mentality. We set out with a plan to enjoy the day and enjoy the new competition. Basically, test the waters and get a feel for what it might be like on the blue oval some day. We hit some amazing PRs and brought home some hardware. Though we didn't bring many girls, we made some big waves scoring points. Not many schools can bring only 6 athletes and place as a top team. I'm beyond proud and privileged to experience this with them.“

The full results from the state and conference meets can be found below.

8TH GRADE BOYS STATE RESULTS

2. Gable Myers, Eli Nichols, Ryan Helling, Griffen Jones, 800 sprint medley, 1:49.05

2. Isaiah Lange, Khanon Koller, Caleb Shepherd, Kaden Schadt, shuttle hurdle, 1:04.88

4. Griffen Jones, Long Jump, 17-09

4. Gable Myers, Griffen Jones, Ryan Helling, Eli Nichols, 4x100, 48.44

4. Gable Myers, Kaden Schadt, Griffen Jones, Ryan Helling, 4x200, 1:43.44

7. Kaden Schadt, High Jump, 5-04

8. Asa Rose, 800-meter, 2:16.18

9. Eli Nichols, Isaiah Lange, Caleb Shepherd, Asa Rose, distance medley, 4:29.27

10. Caleb Sheperd, Kanon Koller, Asa Rose, Adam Denning, 4x400, 4:12.92

10. Kaden Schadt, 200-hurdles, 28.45

23. Khanon Koller, 400-meter, 1:03.21

8TH GRADE BOYS CONFERENCE WINNERS

1. Caleb Shepherd, Khanon Kholler, Isaiah Lange, Kaden Schadt, 10FL Hurdle Relay, 1:08.3

1. Ryan Helling, 200-meter, 24.8

1. Ryan Helling, 100-meter, 12.3

1. Gable Myers, Kaden Hileman, Gunnter Ortiz-Beckman, Asa Rose, 1600-meter medley, 4:19

1. Griffen Jones, 400-meter, 58.5

1. Gable Myers, Kaden Hileman, Kaiden Shull, Eli Nichols, 800-meter relay, 1:48.3

1. Gable Myers, Eli Nichols, Kaden Hileman, Griffen Jones, 4x100, 49.5

1. Caleb Sheperd, Asa Rose, Khanon Koller, Gunner Ortiz-Beckman, 4x400, 4:08

7TH GRADE GIRLS STATE

1. Avery Fedler, 400-meter. 1:02.50

1. Delaney Anderson, Gabby Myers, Elodie Rawson, Avery Fedler, 800-meter sprint medley, 2:01.34

1. Ellaina McMullin, Discus, 82-05

1. Delaney Anderson, Jelly Miles, Elodie Rawson, Avery Fedler, 4x400, 4:23.48

4. Jelly Miles, 200-meter, 28.81

12. Gabby Myers, 100-meter, 14.98

7TH/8th GRADE CONFERENCE RECORDS

1. 7th, Ellaina McMullin, Discus, 87’

1. 7th, Avery Fedler, 1500-meter, 4:56

1. 8th, Izzy Sloat, Long Jump, 16-6

8TH GRADE GIRLS STATE

7. Paisley Jalas, 800-meter, 2:04.62

11. Taylor Williamson, Josie Dykstra, Paisley Jalas, Ellie Freeman, 4x200, 1:58.93

11. Paisley Jalas, Izzy Sloat, Taylor Williamson, Ellie Freeman, 4x100, 56.00

11. Bella Dodds, 1500-meter, 5:30.48

11. Bella Dodds, 800-meter, 2:41.99

18. Megan Newton, 100-meter hurdles, 18.42