Pella Christian 4x200 scores record-breaking win, Pella's King grabs Shot Put title

May 17—DES MOINES — The Pella Christian girls continue to turn heads and they did again on Saturday with their 4x200 smashing records on their way to a title while Pella's Hanson King finished off his high school career with a Shot Put championship.

The quartet of Rachel Kacmarynski, Bailey Vos, Amaia Agre and Meredith Van Wyk highlighted the day with their blazing performance in the Class 2A Girls 4x200. Kacmarynski got the Eagles out in front early and there was no looking back from there as Van Wyk came down the front stretch with only the clock to beat.

With the crowd roaring, she would cross the line at 1:39.72 with famed state track PA man Mike Jay belting out that that was not only a new Class 2A state record by three seconds, but it was also the second fastest all-time among all four classes.

"To be honest, I didn't know we just broke the state meet record," Vos laughed. "That's crazy. I couldn't do it without these girls, they were flying today."

Like Vos yesterday, the win also gave the Pella Christian girls their first state relay title since 1980 and continued what has been a historic meet for the Eagles.

"There's been a lot of hard work from these girls all season," Van Wyk said. "It's just so important for us to give the glory to God and his love and we can just feel that so much right now. It's incredible."

Pella also had a champion on Friday with Hanson King ending his college career by being crowned the Class 3A Shot Put champion. King launched a throw of 59-5.5 on his very first throw and he felt pretty good about it with the next closest thrower two feet behind. King would try to launch one 60 over his last couple of throws but would still end as the state champion.

"It's a great feeling," King said. "It was my goal all along from the beginning of the summer. I'm so blessed to have the hat and medal now and thankful for everyone that's poured their lives into me and made me who I am today."

King capped off a tremendous senior season that saw him add the state title to his third place finish in the Discus on Thursday and two Drake Relays titles last month. He couldn't help but look back on his journey as he will take his talents to Iowa State in the fall.

"It's such a blessing," King said. "My journey hasn't been the status quo of other throwers. I played tennis freshman year and now I'm a state Shot Put champion. My savior Jesus Christ has blessed me throughout this entire process and exceeding my goals. I never thought I could have been a Drake Relays champion and a state champion."

The Pella boys had one other points finish on Friday with Bailey Shetterly jumping up from the first flight of the Long Jump with his leap of 21-6 putting him in the finals. Shetterly couldn't quite top that number over his next three jumps and would take fifth overall. His teammate Owen Kettler also competed in the event and finished 18th with a jump of 19-6.75.

The Dutch also had three races on the day. The Distance Medley caught a tough break with a dropped exchange leading to a DQ. Cor Huyser ran in the 400 Hurdles and had a PR time of 56.86 to finish 15th. The 4x400 of Cooper Lautenbach, Colin Kerndt, Bailey Shetterly and Harrison Mullens capped of the day with an 11th place finish and a time of 3:28.34.

Pella sits in first place after two days with 35 points and are seven points clear of Western Dubuque going into Saturday as the Dutch try to capture their third title in four years. They have two events to try to add to their total on the final day.

The Pella girls are in a tie for sixth after two days with 16 points. They had four events on Friday with their best finish coming in the 4x400 with Mara Schiebout, Kyla Barnes, Lizzie Neumann and Macy Schroeder running a season-best time of 4:03.29 to get into Saturday's finals in seventh.

Katie Scheckel competed in the Shot Put and just missed out on a spot in the finals with a throw of 36-8 giving her 10th place. The Lady Dutch Distance Medley of Schiebout, Kamry Trine, Schroeder and Marissa Ferebee also took 10th with a time of 4:14.15. The 4x200 with Abigail Melvin, Barnes, Trine and Schiebout ended up in 19th with a season-best time of 1:47.43.

The PC girls had two other races outside of their state championship run in the 4x200. Their 4x100 of Amelia Boender, Claire Westerkamp, Lexi Terpstra and Agre ran a season-best time of 51.04 but would miss out on the finals after taking 16th.

The Eagles also made a statement in the 4x400 to end the day with Kacmarynski, Van Wyk, Maisy Meinders and Vos linking up to run another state record time of 3:55.22 to qualify in first for Saturday's final.

The PC girls will enter Saturday in fourth with 20 points but will have a chance for big points on Saturday with four races ranked first or second.

Fellow Eagle Trevor Veenstra wrapped up his high school throwing career on Friday. The senior took the lead in the Discus with a throw of 181-2 and would sit in the lead until the fifth round of throwing where Underwood's Maxwell Tiarks would toss one two inches further to take over the lead with Veenstra unable to answer over his final two throws.

Veenstra, the defending Class 2A Discus champ, would add a runner-up to his Shot Put title from Thursday and will play baseball for the Eagles this summer before heading to Liberty to throw in the fall.

The Oskaloosa girls had three events run on Friday. Hannah Quang took 20th in the 100 Hurdles with her time of 16.54. The Indians had two girls run in the 400 Hurdles with Evelyn Adam taking 19th at 1:10.39 and Emmalee Wells-Stout finishing 22nd with a time of 1:10.90.

Osky capped off the day with their 4x400 of Ryleigh Wilken, Wells-Stout, Adam and Tierney Carter running a season-best time of 4:11.60 to grab 20th. Carter will wrap up Osky's week in the 800 on Saturday.

Saturday marks the final day of the Iowa High School State Track and Field Meet with action getting underway at 9 a.m.

Friday Area Girls Results

(3A) Shot Put Finals: 10. Katie Scheckel (Pella, 36-8)

(3A) Distance Medley Finals: 10. Pella (4:14.15)

(3A) 100 Hurdles Prelims: 20. Hannah Quang (Oskaloosa, 16.54)

(2A) 4x200 Finals: 1. Pella Christian (1:39.72)

(3A) 4x200 Finals: 19. Pella (1:47.43)

(3A) 400 Hurdles Finals: 19. Evelyn Adam (Oskaloosa, 1:10.39), 22. Emmalee Wells-Stout (Oskaloosa, 1:10.90)

(2A) 4x100 Prelims: 16. Pella Christian (51.04)

(2A) 4x400 Prelims: 1. Pella Christian (3:55.22)

(3A) 4x400 Prelims: 7. Pella (4:03.29), 20. Oskaloosa (4:11.60)

Friday Area Boys Results

(3A) Long Jump Finals: 5. Bailey Shetterly (Pella, 21-6), 18. Owen Kettler (Pella, 19-6.75)

(3A) Distance Medley Finals: 24. Pella (DNF)

(2A) Discus Finals: 2. Trevor Veenstra (Pella Christian, 181-2)

(3A) Shot Put Finals: 1. Hanson King (Pella, 59-5.5)

(3A) 400 Hurdles Finals: 15. Cor Huyser (Pella, 56.86)

(3A) 4x400 Prelims: 11. Pella (3:28.34)

Class 2A Girls Standings

1. Van Meter (34), 2. Spirit Lake (32), 3. Tipton (31), 4. Pella Christian (20), 5. Emmetsburg (19)

Class 2A Boys Standings

1. Underwood (26), T2. South Hamilton (24), T2. Mediapolis (24), 4. DM Christian (21), T5. Pella Christian (18), T5. Okoboji (18)

Class 3A Girls Standings

1. Mt. Vernon (35), 2. Clear Lake (31), 3. Gilbert (29), 4. ADM (28), 5. Hampton-Dumont-Cal (20), T6. Pella (16), T36. Oskaloosa (3)

Class 3A Boys Standings

1. Pella (35), 2. Western Dubuque (28), 3. Solon (27), 4. CPU (26), 5. Clear Creek-Amana (22)

Colin Peters can be reached at 641-672-2581, by email at cpeters@oskyherald.com or on Twitter @ColinPetersOH.