DES MOINES — The senior quartet of Sophia Hatcher, Angelica Attinger, Natalya Deardorff and Brenna Van Cleave made their final bow at the 2026 Iowa high school state track and field championships on Saturday, May 23, at Drake Stadium.
The four seniors bowed out with an eighth-place finish in the 4A 4×400-meter relay to cap the week. The Little Cyclones ran a time of 3:57.31.
“It’s really special to be with all of these seniors,” Van Cleave said. “It’s incredible. We’ve been running together since seventh grade. It’s amazing we’re able to finish out our high school careers running this together. We’re so proud of each other, proud of our team and what we’re able to do.”
Hatcher set a school record, placing second in the 4A long jump on May 22 with a leap of 18 feet, 11.5 inches. On May 23, she turned in a surprise third-place effort in the 100 hurdles with a PR time of 14.17.
She also joined Attinger, Van Cleave and Elia Varghese to place fifth in the shuttle hurdle relay with a 1:03.22 showing.
“It’s incredible,” Attinger said. “Stepping up and running the 100 hurdles when it’s something she doesn’t typically do outside of the shuttle, watching her get everything so fast and just improve so consistently is incredible to see. I know she’s going to do amazing things in college.”
Hatcher and Deardorff will run at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn. Attinger will run at the University of Chicago (Ill.) and Van Cleave is not continuing her track career in college as she gets ready to attend Iowa State.
Deardorff was 15th in the 400 prelims with a time of 59.85. Attinger earned her third top-three finish in the 400 hurdles on May 22 with a third-place time of 1:01.89, which is the second-best effort of her career.
Van Cleave was 10th in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:03.60.
“All four years it’s been amazing,” Hatcher said. “If I didn’t have my team, I wouldn’t be in the top 10 of anything I do in my life. They are just my family, and I love them so much. I’m so grateful.”
Deardorff was in tears after running the anchor leg in the 4×400.
“Running with these girls has been amazing,” Deardorff said. “That’s why I’m crying so much. I’m so sad to leave them — they’ve had such a big impact on my life here at Ames High.”
The legacy they leave will be hard for future classes at Ames to replicate.
“They’re so special,” said Ames distance runner Emma Stanley. “Ever since I was a freshman, they really took me under their wing. I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.”
Ames places sixth in 4A boys 4×400
The Ames boys saw senior Brandon Johnson take third in the shot put on May 22.
On May 23, the Little Cyclones got an event to score points on the track when their 4×400 team came in sixth with a season-best time of 3:21.79.
Drew Vander Wilt, Peyton Johnson and TJ Douglas ran well during the first three legs. Hezekiah Johnson took the baton from Douglas and ran a great anchor leg to get Ames from seventh to sixth.
“TJ set me up because we could’ve been eighth, but he got right next to the (Ankeny) Centennial guy,” Hezekiah Johnson said. “I started to get out hard, he (Centennial’s Sawyer Goble) passed me, but I told them before I’m going to pass somebody, so I had to make sure I did that.”
Cedar Rapids Prairie won the race in an all-time best time of 3:13.17.
Ames-area distance runners have a big final day
Gilbert’s Logan Bleich used the state meet as a learning experience.
His teammate Carson Squiers ended his career with a bang.
Stanley broke another Ames school record. Colo-NESCO’s Elizabeth Erickson could not be happier with the finish to her junior season.
Day 3 of the Iowa state track and field championships was a big day for distance runners from the Ames area.
Bleich finished third in the Class 3A 1,600 and fourth in the 800. He came in behind two of the state’s all-time best in Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman and Pella’s Canaan Dunham during both events, while also finishing behind Solon’s Mac Svalstad in the 800.
“I had to execute; I had to make sure they were working too because I can’t let it get down to that last kick,” Bleich said. “These are some of the best runners in the country and I came up close. I don’t think there’s anything I can be disappointed about.”
Bleich ran a 1:53.09 in the 800 to trail Dunham’s 1:50.61, Nauman’s 1:51.22 and Svalstad’s 1:52.80. In the 1,600, he led going into the final lap, but he could not outlast the strong final kicks by Nauman, who won in 4:08.16, and Dunham, who finished in 4:11.23.
Squiers ended up right behind his teammate. He closed out the final race of his career in style, using a final kick to place fifth in 4:15.97.
“It was something great,” Squiers said. “I thought I went out there and raced my best race. I got out kind of sloppy. The first lap or two, I wasn’t where I’d really like to be, but I thought I did a good job working up. I thought I closed, honestly, really well. For that to be my last 1,600 I’m more than happy with it.”
Emma Stanley broke Ames’ record in the 3,000 on May 21. On May 23, she was back at it, setting the school mark in the 1,500 with a time of 4:36.29 to place seventh.
She said a relaxed attitude made all the difference for her.
“After Drake (Relays), that really made me sit down and think,” Stanley said. “I think I went into Drake with a lot of really big expectations, and when I came up short, it kind of put me down. Going into this week, no expectations, just go out and have fun with my team.”
Cedar Falls’ Charlee Gall won the 1,500 in 4:27.41.
Erickson also had a busy week. She placed sixth in the 1A 3,000 on May 21 with a season-best time of 10:15.20 and in the 800 early on May 23 with a 2:16.99 effort.
Later on May 23, she went off for her third personal-best time of the week. Erickson took fourth in the 1A 1,500 with a 4:49.60 showing.
“This has been one of the best weekends for me ever,” Erickson said. “I just worked so hard for this. I was just going to come out here and have the most fun and make a lifetime of this opportunity. I did. It feels pretty surreal to actually be able to do it.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames girls seniors have tearful final sendoff at Iowa state track meet
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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