Top 15 Ames-area Iowa high school girls track and field athletes ahead of the 2024 season
Several talented female athletes will compete for Ames Tribune area teams in track and field during the 2024 season.
Ames must replace last year's legendary senior class that featured current Iowa Hawkeye Ali Frandsen and Iowa State Cyclones Cameron Moon and Katie Strotman, along with Division I softball standouts Ireland Buss and Ellie Lynch. But the Little Cyclones do return four major contributors off last year's team that placed second in Class 4A.
Ballard took ninth and Gilbert 11th in 3A at last year's state meet.
Ballard has a huge hole to fill with the graduation of long-distance star and current Arkansas Razorback Paityn Noe, but the Bombers return to state veteran distance runners in Ava Vance and Annika Larson. Gilbert brings back most of its roster off last year's team, led by talented middle-distance runners Sarah Feddersen and Keira Anderson.
Nevada returns all four runners off its girls 4x800 team that ran at state in 3A last season.
Roland-Story brings back most of its top talent off its 2023 team, including all four runners from its 2A fourth-place girls 4x400-meter relay team. In 1A, Collins-Maxwell returns senior Chloe Wierson, who competed in three state events as a junior, and Colo-NESCO brings back its lone state qualifier from a year ago in sophomore Sophia Clawson.
This is just a preseason list, so plenty of new names could emerge during the season. But here, in alphabetical order, are the top 15 girls high school track athletes in the Ames area right now.
Keira Andersen, Gilbert
Events: Middle and long distance races
Year: Sophomore
Andersen returns for a Gilbert girls track and field team that finished 11th in 3A during the 2023 Iowa high school co-ed state track and field championships.
Andersen ran the third leg on a Tiger 4x800-meter relay team that won a state title in nine minutes, 29.11 seconds. She also placed fifth in the open 800 with a time of 2:16.16.
Angelica Attinger, Ames
Events: Hurdles, sprints
Year: Sophomore
Attinger is hoping to pick up where current Iowa Hawkeye and 2023 Gary Cooley Award recipient as the most outstanding female high school competitor at the Drake Relays left off.
Frandsen was the state's best hurdler and the anchor on Ames' state champion 4A girls 4x400 relay team last season. Attinger will follow in Frandsen's footsteps having run the opening leg on Ames' 2023 4A state runner-up shuttle hurdle relay team as a freshman.
The 2023 Ames shuttle hurdle team ran a 1:02.98 in the 4A finals. Attinger also placed 11th in the 4A girls 400 hurdles at state last year with a time of 1:07.85.
Sophia Clawson, Colo-NESCO
Events: Sprints, middle distance races and hurdles
Year: Sophomore
Clawson was the Colo-NESCO girls' lone participant during the 2023 state meet.
Clawson ran 1A girls open 400 at state as a freshman. She came in 22nd in 1:05.06.
Clawson was Colo-NESCO's top runner in the 200, 400 and 800 along with the 400 hurdles last season.
Sarah Feddersen, Gilbert
Events: Middle and long distance races
Year: Junior
Feddersen exploded onto the scene in her first year out for track last season, and she is looking to build off that in 2024.
As a sophomore, Feddersen anchored Gilbert's 3A champion girls 4x800 team and took third individually in the 3A girls open 800 with a time of 2:15.48. She also helped Gilbert take fifth in the 3A girls 4x400 relay at state with a time of 4:03.09.
Sophia Hatcher, Ames
Events: Sprints, hurdles, long jump
Year: Sophomore
Hatcher provides the Ames girls with a versatile competitor who ran sprints and hurdles and did some long jumping last year as a freshman.
In 2023 Hatcher ran the third leg on an Ames 4x100 girls relay team that took third in 4A with a time of 48.72 and on the Little Cyclone distance medley team that placed eighth in 4:10.48. She was also part of Ames' runner-up shuttle hurdle team at the Drake Relays.
Saylor Horras, Ames
Events: Sprints
Year: Junior
Horras is the lone runner returning from the Ames girls' 4x400 relay team that won a 2023 4A state title with the second-fastest overall time in state history at 3:49.49.
Horras also helped Ames place 11th in the 4A girls 4x800 at last year's state meet and she was part of the Little Cyclones' fourth place 4A 4x400 team and sixth-place distance medley team as a freshman in 2022.
Lauryn Kilstofte, Roland-Story
Events: Sprints and middle distance races
Year: Senior
Kilstofte enters her senior year in girls track and field having qualified for state in each of her previous three campaigns.
As a freshman Kilstofte ran in the 2A 4x400, 4x800 and distance medley events. In her sophomore year Kilstofte helped the Roland-Story girls finish fourth in the 2A girls distance medley and eighth in the sprint medley, while she also competed in the 4x400 and took 21st individually in the open 800.
Last season Kilstofte ran the third leg on Roland-Story's 4x200 team that took fourth in 2A and she also competed in the sprint medley and 4x100.
Kamryn Lande, Roland-Story
Events: Sprints
Year: Junior
Lande is coming off a breakout sophomore season for the Roland-Story girls in 2023.
Lande took seventh in the 2A girls 200 and 12th in the 100 prelims. She also anchored the 4x200 team and ran the third leg on a sprint medley team that came in 13th.
Annika Larson, Ballard
Events: Long distance races
Year: Junior
Even without Noe, Ballard will still be a force in 3A girls distance events in 2024. Larson is a big reason why.
As a freshman, Larson placed fourth in the 3A girls 1,500 and she anchored Ballard to a sixth-place finish in the 4x800. Last season she took 12th in the 1,500, 16th in the 800 and ran the opening leg on the Bombers' seventh place 4x800 team.
Laurel Mizerak, Gilbert
Events: Sprints and middle distance
Year: Junior
Mizerak emerged as a quality 400 runner for the Gilbert girls last season.
During her sophomore year Mizerak took 15th in the 3A girls 400 with a time of 1:01.10. She also anchored the Tigers to a fifth-place finish in the 4x400 and competed in the sprint medley relay at state.
Adalyn Sporleder, Roland-Story
Events: Sprints, long jump
Year: Junior
Sporleder gives Gilbert a state-caliber long jumper and an excellent sprinter.
Two years ago Sporleder finished fourth in the 2A girls long jump at state as a freshman with a distance of 17 feet, 3.5 inches. She also helped the Norse take fourth in the distance medley, fifth in the 100 and eighth in the sprint medley.
Last season Sporleder came in 15th during the long jump, and she helped Roland-Story take fourth in the 4x200.
Marley Turk, Ames
Events: Middle and long distance races
Year: Junior
With fellow junior classmate Claire Helmers unable to compete due to a hip injury, Turk will lead the way for the Ames girls distance runners in 2024.
As a freshman in 2022, Turk anchored Ames to a runner-up finish in the 4A girls 4x800 and a sixth-place finish in the distance medley. Last season Turk finished fifth in the 3,000 and seventh in the 1,500, and she anchored Ames to an eighth-place performance in the 4x800.
Ava Vance, Ballard
Events: Long distance races
Year: Senior
Vance is another accomplished distance runner coming back for the Ballard girls track and field team in 2024.
Vance ran the 3A girls 3,000-meter run at state as a sophomore in 2022 and junior in 2023. In 2022 Vance placed 17th in 11:53.18 and last season she took 19th in 11:39.45.
Ava Vanderheyden, Nevada
Events: Middle and long distance races
Year: Junior
Vanderheyden leads a quality group of returning distance runners for the Nevada girls track team. Last season as a sophomore she anchored the Cubs' state qualifying girls 4x800 team that placed 23rd in 3A.
Chloe Wierson, Collins-Maxwell
Events: Sprints and high jump
Year: Senior
Wierson is back after qualifying for state in three events during her junior season.
Wierson took 11th in the 1A girls 200 with a time of 27.01, 16th in the high jump with a jump of 4-10 and 17th in the 100 prelims with a time of 13.39. As a sophomore Wierson was part of the Spartans' sprint medley team that placed fourth in 1A with a time of 1:53.28, and as a freshman she came in 16th in the open 400 and helped Collins-Maxwell take 14th in the 4x400.
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: Top 15 Iowa girls track athletes to watch in the Ames area during 2024
