The 2026 Iowa high school track and field state meet is over, and Iowa City-area athletes impressed once again.
From surprise first-place finishes to defending state champions, athletes from all six area schools made their mark during the three-day event at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Here are the top performers from each Iowa City-area school.
Clear Creek Amana
The Clippers picked up some team points with impressive finishes in the boys and girls relay events.
In the boys 4×200-meter relay, Tay Seals, Riley Colvin, Adam Zeman and Quade Jensen claimed third place by running the event in 1:27.44, less than a second behind the first and second place groups. Payton Curtin, Bailey Simpson, Addilyn Scheetz and Elizabeth Timmerman took sixth in the girls race, crossing the finish line in 1:43.17.
Jensen, Seals and Zeman – along with Brady Hilsman – picked up a fourth-place finish in the sprint medley. Scheetz and Timmerman – joined by Anna Johnson and Thea Nelson – took seventh in the 4×100 (48.89).
Sydney Pfeiffer, Bella Behrens, Jaylin Herring and Scheetz came in fifth place in the shuttle hurdle (1:06.26).
Clear Creek Amana finished fifth in the boys 4×800-meter relay, with Jackson VanHorn, Caden Burkle, Nic Schieltz and Carson Meskimen putting together a time of 7:58.95. The Clippers also took fifth in the 4×400, thanks to a time of 3:21.20 from Cade Overman, Riley Colvin, Jack Timmerman and Jensen.
In the individual events, Seals and Jensen found some success. Seals finished third in the 100-meter dash (10.64), and he defended his title in the 110-meter hurdles with a winning time of 13.73. Jensen earned a spot on the podium, running the 400-meter dash in 48.17 seconds – good enough for third place.
Alison Seidl and Carson Meskimen each finished in the top 10 for the girls and boys 3,200-meter run: Seidl (10:32.08) came in 10th on the girls side, and Meskimen (9:19.33) finished sixth for the boys.
Iowa City High
The Little Hawks came to impress in the throwing events, both boys and girls.
Hannah Braun led the way, jumping to a surprising first-place finish in discus with a throw of 150 feet. She also landed in eighth place in the shot put, throwing 38-6.75. Rachel Haack finished on the podium in both the discus and shot put. Haack took second in the shot put with a throw of 44-9.00, and she claimed third in the discus with a throw of 142-08.
Raphael Etuma recorded a throw of 162-02 in the discus, good enough for eighth place. In another field event, Adams Kane cleared 6 feet, 1 inch on the high jump, which landed him in 10th.
The Little Hawks placed two girls in the top eight for the 400-meter hurdles: Maeve Bowen-Burt (1:01.61) finished second and Willow Schultz (1:03.04) came in seventh.
Abigail Burns broke the 10-minute mark in the 3,000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 9:54.37. She came in fourth in the 1,500 (4:35.24), as well.
The girls team also found success in two relays. Dede Aboussa-Folly, Jaydah Kent, Ellie Fraga and Bowen-Burt finished eighth in the sprint medley (1:46.51). Gloria Konu, Bernadette Hamilton, Madeline Fraga and Schultz also finished eighth in the 4×100 (1:07.02).
Iowa City Liberty
Keegan Decker was the highlight of the state meet for the Lightning, picking up a fourth-place finish by completing the 3,200-meter run in 8:51.61. He added an eighth-place finish in the 800 (1:53.40) and a sixth-place finish in the 1,600 (4:12.68).
Decker – alongside Rylen Schweitzer, Cale Baldwin and Jackson Burnes – helped Liberty to ninth place in the distance medley.
In the high jump, Victor Nakihinga cleared 6 feet, 3 inches and finished in eighth place.
Iowa City Regina
Reese Naeve took sixth place in the 100-meter hurdles (15.32). Edwin Gangba finished seventh in the 100-meter dash (11.10) and sixth in the 200 (22.08).
The Regals finished third in the boys 4×200-meter relay, with Philip Swen, Gabriel Hegelheimer, Hudson Koch and Edwin Gangba running the event in 1:29.25.
Swen, Hegelheimer, Gangba and Gabe Schuessler took eighth in the 4×100-meter relay (43.77).
Iowa City West
The Trojans may have run the final of the shuttle hurdle relay in Lane 1, but that didn’t stop them from coming out on top. West – with Ely Smock, Waleed Ibrahim, Cade Towler and Ryder Gorsh – beat out Waukee Northwest, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Ankeny for first place with a time of 55.39 seconds.
Savannah Mathias (57.96) finished 10th in the 400-meter dash.
The Trojans weren’t messing around in the field events. James Barnett improved on his third-place finish as a freshman and came in second with a throw of 59-3.00 in the shot put. Colin Whitters (55-0.75) finished fifth. Mason Middleton leapt 6 feet, 3 inches and took fifth place in high jump.
Smock (54.01) and Ibrahim (54.08) came in eight and ninth, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. Smock took seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (14.46). Thad Longmire took fourth place in the 100-meter ambulatory race (15.76).
Solon
Jerzey Haluska finished eighth in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 58.47 seconds. She – along with Piper Stahle, Marin Ashbacker and Tenley Levin – came in eighth in the sprint medley (1:49.93).
The boys found a bit more success at the state meet, led by Solon’s first-place finish in the distance medley. Eli Kampman, Paxton Holtkamp, Jackson Burk and Mac Svalstad took home the title with a time of 3:27.58, beating out Mount Vernon and Western Dubuque, which both ran in the third – typically fastest – heat.
Both boys and girls did well in the 4×400 relays. The same quartet from the distance medley took fourth in the 4×400 (3:20.93). Haluska, Levin, Mailee Schmidt and Ava Rolwes finished eighth (4:01.31).
Svalstad experienced some individual success, as well, posting a third-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.80 and a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.44.
Kaden Hoeper finished sixth in the high jump, leaping a season-high of 6 feet, 5 inches.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How each Iowa City-area team performed at the 2026 state track meet
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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