10 things to look for from Ames-area male athletes at the state track and field meet
The 2024 Iowa high school state track and field meet takes place this Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Ames-area high school boys track and field athletes stepped up to deliver some impressive performances at last week's state qualifying meets. They combined to qualify for state in 42 events.
The Gilbert and Ballard boys led the way by combining to making state in 21 Class 3A events. Nevada will compete in six 3A events at state.
Ames qualified in seven 4A events. Roland-Story had four events qualify in 2A and Collins-Maxwell four in 1A.
Here are 10 things to look for from Ames Tribune-area male athletes and teams at the state track and field meet this week.
Will the Ballard boys live up to their high expectations?
Last season the Ballard boys pulled off a huge surprise at state by producing five placewinners in 3A, led by a third-place finish in the 4x800-meter relay and Chase Ihle's fourth-place finish in the long jump as a freshman.
This season Ballard will be expected to do well after qualifying 10 events, including five that have top-10 qualifying performances.
The Bomber 4x400 ranks second and 4x800 third heading into state. Jameson Witt and Chance Lande are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the open 400 and Stetson Kane is 10th in the high hurdles.
Ihle qualified 23rd in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 3.25 inches. But after hitting 21-8.25 at last year's state meet, he has shown the capability to come up huge when it matters most.
Can the Bombers win state titles in the 4x400 and 4x800?
The Ballard 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams both enter state with championship ambitions.
The Bomber 4x400 team is made up of all seniors in Witt, Jackson Fleischmann, Eli Rouse and Lande. They placed fourth at the Drake Relays and their qualifying time of 3:24.87 only trails Solon's 3:23.09.
More: How Ames-area high school athletes fared at the Drake Relays
Witt, Fleischmann and Lande are on the 4x800 as well. They are joined by sophomore Dillon Shoen.
The Bomber 4x800 team ran a qualifying time of 8:11.89 at Alleman, which puts them right behind Center Point-Urbana (8:07.90) and South Tama (8:11.34) for the best times in 3A. Ballard was eight seconds out of first place at the 2023 state meet, and they look to be capable of winning it all in 2024.
Can Gilbert's Logan Bleich and Dillon Zwanziger make title runs?
Logan Bleich is one of the best freshman distance runners in the entire state.
Bleich enters the state meet ranked second among 3A qualifiers in the 3,200 and fourth in the 1,600.
His qualifying 3,200 time of 9:35.48 only trails the 9:35-flat time of defending champion Canaan Dunham of Pella. Bleich's ran the 1,600 in 4:26.15 at Saydel, which is well within striking distance of Dunham (4:23.34), Western Dubuque's Quentin Nauman (4:24.12) and Mount Vernon's Grady Olberding (4:25.85).
More: How Logan Bleich and Jacob Tallman are game changers for Gilbert in boys cross country
Zwanziger had a breakout performance in the high jump at the 3A qualifying meet at Saydel after jumping 6-5.25. With the 6-6 jumps of Fairfield's Eli Zillman and Le Mar's Wanding Hosnyang the only better qualifying efforts, Zwanziger could easily contend for the 3A title.
Gilbert has good depth in distance events
Bleich is not the only distance runner poised to do some damage for Gilbert at the state meet.
Senior Zane Mueller and sophomore Carson Squires also come into state with strong qualifying times.
Mueller is ranked right behind Bleich among 3A qualifiers in the 1,600 with the fifth-best qualifying time at 4:28.83. Squires ran a 9:49.69 3,200 at the qualifying meet at Saydel to place him seventh among 3A qualifiers.
Can Will Hawthorne get on the podium in the 3A boys 100?
Will Hawthorne has a chance to place for Gilbert in the 3A 100.
The Tiger football star made state in a three-way tie for the 10th-fastest time in 3A with Hampton-Dumont-CAL's Gavin Meader and Glenwood's Trey Darden at 11.08. Hawthorne qualified less than one second behind the eight-fastest time of 11.00 by Maquoketa's Tye Hardin.
Will someone from Ames turn in a surprise performance?
The Ames boys enter state without a lot of momentum after qualifying in three relays and individual events apiece.
But none of those events are ranked among the top 10 in 4A.
The Little Cyclone are 20th in the distance medley, 21st in the 4x400 and 23rd in the 4x800. Gavin Clouser, Jeffrey Roberts, Isaiah Knight and Charlie Bennett qualified in the distance medley with a time of 3:40.76; Dre Vander Wilt, Clouser, Knight and Zachary Lenkaitis ran the 4x400 in 3:29.08 and Lenkaitis, Hezekiah Johnson, Erik Anderson and Bennett completed the 4x800 in 8:12.71 at the 4A qualifying meet in Norwalk.
More: How friends and family helped Ames senior Charlie Bennett navigate a bumpy road in track
Individually, Roberts ranks 15th in the 200 and 19th in the 100 with respective qualifying times of 22.43 and 11.04. Garang Dang is just outside of the top 10 qualifiers in the 4A boys high jump after jumping 6-0 at Norwalk.
Brennen Behave is 16th in the 3,200 after running a 9:39.88 at the Norwalk qualifying meet.
It will take a big-time performance for Ames to get one of those events to place by finishing in the top eight. But with the way Deng, Roberts and Bhave finished the season, and the grit of all three relay teams, it is not out of the question.
Will Carter Holland and Connor Kunze help Nevada earn points?
Nevada has a chance to join Ballard and Gilbert in picking up points during 3A competition.
Carter Holland enters the 2024 state meet ranked 21st in 3A boys 800 for Nevada with a qualifying time of 2:03.41. But he has the potential to place much higher after coming in sixth in the event at last year's state meet.
Holland will also run in the 4x800 at state alongside Dawson Lemke, Gavin Skaggs and Brian Rohde. Nevada has the sixth-fastest qualifying time in the 3A 4x800 at 8:13.09.
More: Why Nevada sprinter Connor Kunze has something to prove in 2024
Kunze will run in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay. Jackson Baker, Lucas Brown and Carson Clem are his teammates in the 4x100.
Kunze comes into state ranked fourth in the 100 and ninth in the 200 with respective qualifying times of 10.77 and 22.19. The Cub 4x100 team is 17th with a qualifying time of 43.93.
Roland-Story to rely on relays
The Roland-Story boys only had one individual event qualify in 2A, but the Norse sent three relay teams to state.
Roland-Story's 4x100 team of Fiston Carlson, Heston McIlrath, Jake Berggren and Sam Knoll qualified 14th in 2A with a time of 44.40. The Norse shuttle hurdle team of Berggren, Cody Long, Carter Barber and Jayden Strum comes in 17th at 1:02.80 and Brayden Kilstofte, Boaz Clark, Henry Dahlsten and Evan Voga are 21st in the 4x800 with a qualifying time of 8:29.11.
Strum is Roland-Story's individual qualifier. He enters state rated 22nd in the 400 hurdles after qualifying in 57.40.
Three Collins-Maxwell competitors are ready for the Blue Oval
Isaac Brown, Josef Dvorak and Lane Oswalt are Collins-Maxwell's three state competitors.
Brown qualified for state in 2023, but he was unable to compete. He will run in both the 1A 100 and 200 at the 2024 meet.
Brown qualified 14th in the 100 at 11.44 and 23rd in the 200 at 23.39.
Dvorak ran in the distance medley at last year's state meet. He will compete in the open 400 this year after qualifying 21st in 52.69.
Oswalt gives Collins-Maxwell a competitor in a hurdle event. He will run in the 400 hurdles after qualifying 23rd in 57.88.
How will Ballard and Gilbert fare in the 3A team scoring?
Ballard and Gilbert both have a shot at placing in the top 10 of the final 3A standings.
Last season Ballard was 19th with 14 points and Gilbert tied for 27th with seven. Solon and West Burlington/Notre Dame each scored 25 points as the final two teams to place in the 3A top 10.
Both Ballard and Gilbert can earn a spot in the top 10 if they can pull off multiple top-five finishes and get at least three more events to earn points. The 4x400, 4x800 and 400 will key Ballard's chances, and Gilbert will rely on the 1,600, 3,200 and high jump for most of its production.
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: 10 things to look for from Ames-area male athletes during state track
