Mount Ayr sends 10 events to State

By Editor | May 17, 2023 |

The Mount Ayr Track and Field teams traveled to Corning to qualify for the State Track Meet at Drake University May 18-20.
The athletes faced constant precipitation as they attempted to post the best possible times throughout the night in various events.
By Friday morning, the Raiders and Raiderettes had 10 events pushed through to the “Blue Oval” at Drake University.
Raiderettes
Team Scores
1 Fremont-Mills 120
2 St. Albert 117
3 Mount Ayr 89
4 East Mills 64
5 Stanton 57
6 Lenox 55
7 SW Valley 48
8 Sidney 39
9 Bedford 35
10 East Union 33
11 Murray 26
12 Essex 25
13 Lamoni 23
14 Diagonal 9
The first event that qualified for the State Meet was freshman Aubree Shields in the high jump.
Shields was a standout jumper in middle school and saw her talents take her to Drake University after clearing 5-02 to place first at Southwest Valley.
Shields was the only automatic qualifier for the Raiderettes with her first place finish, but two other events for the Raiderettes found a their spot on the track.
“I was pretty scared, the girl I was jumping against has jumped 5-4 before,” said Shields. “I’m feeling confident now.”
The Raiderette 4×100 shuttle hurdle relay team of Tegan Streit, Aubree Shields, Kaylie Shields and MaKenna Jones placed third at Southwest Valley with a time of 1:12.16 which placed them 18th in the state out of 24.
The third event to get in was the 4×400 team of Aubree Clark, Karlie Larsen, Aubree Shields and Anne Newton snuck in at 24th with a time of 4:23.4 which saw them place second at Southwest Valley.
Raiders
Team Scores
1 St. Albert 140
2 Lenox 116
3 Mount Ayr 86
4 East Mills 82
5 Bedford 57
6 Lamoni 49
7 Fremont-Mills 48
8 Stanton 43
9 Southwest Valley 37
10 Sidney 32
11 East Union 26
12 Diagonal 10
13 Essex 10
14 Murray 4
The Raiders saw a little more success in the rain, taking a few wins in the meet, while getting others in on time after the meets ran throughout the state.
The Raider 800 sprint medley team of Preston Fleharty, Jaydon Knight, Braydon Pierson and Ryce Reynolds started the meet off with a state qualifying race with a first place finish in a time of 1:35.26.
Defending Class 1A State Champion in the 400 meter run and 400 meter hurdles, Ryce Reynolds, advanced in both events to defend his titles.
Reynolds ran the 400 meter run in 50.57 for an automatic qualification with a first place finish, the same as the hurdles, in which the junior ran a 54.22.
“We knew coming into this meet it was going to be a little wet so it’s most important to stay positive,” said Reynolds. “It’s easy to get discouraged but if you keep a good attitude you can still go out and do what you want to do.”
The 4×100 team of Pierson, Tate Dugan, Fleharty and Knight took first place to advance with a time of 44.9.
The Raider 4×400 also took first place on the night with a time of 3:30.4 which saw Drew Ehlen, Jackson Ruggles, Pierson and Reynolds involved.
Pierson and his teammates were talking about a new technique that they had been working on with moving their arms that they had heard coach Brad Elliott talking about.
“It’s something new we have been implementing and I wanted to try it out and it works great,” said Pierson. “It feels great. I never knew I would be in this moment going out for track. I’m proud of everyone for all the hard work they put in.”
The Raider 4×200 team of Fleharty, Ruggles, Dugan and Knight took second overall with a time of 1:35.20 which placed them 23rd overall.
The final event for Mount Ayr is the distance medley team of Fleharty, Knight, Pierson and Ehlen which saw them place second with a time of 3:44.19 which was good for 13th at State.
“In terms of what we were competing with and how everyone else was doing I think we did a really good job on focusing on ourselves and putting ourselves in positions to give ourselves a shot,” said coach Brad Elliott. “Top to bottom our boys and girls came to compete and this is one of the best groups we’ve had to really bring and do some things. We are really excited and see what the at-large qualifiers produces for us.”
State Schedule
The Raiders and Raiderettes will begin things off with the girls shuttle hurdley relay at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 18.
The final event on Thursday is the 400 meter run with Ryce Reynolds at 1:40 p.m.
On Friday, May 19, things are started at 9:30 a.m. with the Raider distance medley relay.
It’s a full day of track as we head into the 4×200 relay at 11:30 a.m., while Aubree Shields also is jumping at the same time.
Then, after lunch, at 2:20 p.m., Reynolds runs the 400 meter hurdles.
At 1 p.m. the 4×100 prelims run before the girls 1:20 p.m. 4×400 prelim race.
Closing out Friday is the Raider 4×400 prelim at 2:10 p.m.
On Saturday, the Raiders begin at 9:50 a.m. with the 800 sprint medley relay, followed by the girls shuttle hurdle relay final at 11:50 a.m. (only if the Raiderettes advance out of Thursday). At 3:25 p.m., the Raiders run the 4×100, followed by the Raiderette 4×400 at 3:55 p.m. and then the Raider 4×400 at 4:20 p.m.
All races on Saturday are dependant on the teams advancing out of the preliminary races the days before, except for the sprint medley at 9:50 a.m.