DES MOINES — All three days of the upcoming Class 2A State Track Meet will feature plenty of action for fans of both the boys and girls teams from Panorama.
Up first on Thursday will be Ella Waddle, who will start in the fifth position in the 3000 final at 3:20 p.m. Waddle is one of only two freshmen in the 24-runner race and enters as the second seed with a time of 10 minutes, 48.74 seconds.
Kassidy Bremer (seeded fifth at 16 feet, 11-3/4 inches) and Bailey Beckman (seeded fourth, 17’3-1/2) will be the eight and ninth competitors in the long jump, which begins at 4:30 p.m. Beckman placed 12th last year at 15’11.
Spencer Hunt runs at the 16-seed (23.13) in the 200 preliminaries at 4:40 p.m. He was 16th last year in 23.05.
The 4×800 unit of Gwen and Olivia Steffen, along with Brianna Hoffman and Lydia Lindstrom, at the eight-seed (10:20.57) and will run in the eighth position of the second heat at 5 p.m. Hoffman and Lindstrom were part of the 4×800 team that finished 22nd, in 10:28.88, last year.
Carson Fisher is the 24-seed (13.35) in the 100 dash, and will run in lane eight of the first preliminary heat at 6:30 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. Hunt will compete in lane six of the second heat in the boys 100 prelims. His clocking of 11.35 earned the 11th seed.
At 7 p.m. senior Devyn Kemble — fourth last year in 58.8 — returns for the finals of the 400. Seeded fifth, in 1:00.13, she will run in lane two of the third heat.
Hunt will make his third appearance Thursday at 7:20 p.m. in the boys 400 finals. Running in lane one of the second heat, he is the 15-seed at 51.99. He placed 16th last year in 51.95.
Thursday’s full slate finishes at 7:40 with the seventh-seeded (1:09.22) shuttle hurdle. Shey Storesund, Maddie Knapp, Maggie Woodvine and Morgan Johnk will run in lanes 5/6 of the sixth and final 2A heat. The Panthers were ninth, in 1:09.56, last year.
Prior to the start of the track events in Friday’s afternoon session two Panthers will compete in field events beginning at 2 p.m. Lydia Knapp (ninth seed, 120’8) will throw the discus from the fourth spot of the second group while Gracen Welberg will jump sixth in the high jump after entering as the 22nd seed at six feet-even. Knapp was seventh in the discus last season at 120’6.
The timed finals of the girls distance medley opens the afternoon schedule at 2:40 p.m. Kemble, Bremer, Beckman and Gwen Steffen will run at the five-seed (4:23.89).
Johnk is seeded first in the 100 hurdles and runs from lane four in the first heat of the preliminaries at 3:40 p.m. She was fourth, in 16.17, last year. The junior will then head to the high jump, which begins at 4:30 p.m.. She is the 17th competitor and the 11-seed at 5’2, the same height at which she placed fifth as a sophomore.
Also in action at 4:30 will be senior Dan Jensen. The second discus spinner in the second heat, he is seeded 11th at 149’6, well beyond the 125’8 that placed him 21st last year.
Fisher, Johnk, Beckman, and Bremer will run as the five-seed (51.76) in lane five of the second heat of the 4×100 prelims at 6:20 p.m., with the 4×400 prelims, at 7 p.m. featuring Beckman, Kemble, Lindstrom, and Gwen Steffen. They are seeded sixth, in 4:13.14, and will appear in lane five of the first heat. All save Steffen ran on the team that finished 15th last year in 4:11.84.
Two events are guaranteed for the Panther girls Saturday, beginning with Gwen Steffen running as one of only two freshmen in the 800 at 10:30 a.m. She will run from the number one position of the first heat as the 19th seed (2:31.76).
Also set is freshman Ella Waddle in the 1500 at 2:45 p.m. The only ninth-grader in the event, she will have the first position in the one heat finals and enters seeded seventh, in 5:08.02.
Based upon preliminary results (a top eight finish required) Panorama could compete in the following events Saturday: girls shuttle hurdle (11:50 a.m.), girls/boys 100 (12:45 p.m.), boys 200 (1:55 p.m.), girls 4×100 (3:25 p.m.), and the girls 4×400 (3:55 p.m.).
THURSDAY:
3:20 p.m. — 3000 timed finals: Waddle, position 5
4:30 p.m. — Long Jump (girls): Bremer and Beckman, Flight 2, numbers 8 and 9
4:40 p.m. — 200 preliminaries (boys): Hunt, Heat 3, Lane 7
5 p.m. — 4×800 timed finals (girls): PAN (Gwen Steffen, Hoffman, Olivia Steffen, Lindstrom), Heat 2, position 8
6:30 p.m. — 100 preliminaries (girls): Fisher, Heat 1, Lane 8
6:45 p.m. — 100 preliminaries (boys): Hunt, Heat 2, Lane 6
7 p.m. — 400 timed finals (girls): Kemble, Heat 3, Lane 2
7:20 p.m. — 400 timed finals (boys): Hunt, Heat 2, Lane 1
7:40 p.m. — Shuttle Hurdle preliminaries (girls): PAN (Storesund, Maddie Knapp, Woodvine, Johnk), Heat 6, Lanes 5-6
FRIDAY:
2 p.m. — Discus finals (girls): Lydia Knapp, Flight 2, number 4
2 p.m. — High Jump finals (boys): Welberg, sixth jumper
2:40 p.m. — Distance Medley timed finals (girls): PAN (Kemble, Bremer, Beckman, Gwen Steffen), Heat 3, Lane 2
3:40 p.m. — 100 hurdles preliminaries (girls): Johnk, Heat 1, Lane 4
4:30 p.m. — High Jump finals (girls): Johnk, 17th jumper
4:30 p.m. — Discus final (boys): Jensen, Flight 2, number 2
6:20 p.m. — 4×100 preliminaries (girls): PAN (Fisher, Johnk, Beckman, Bremer), Heat 2, Lane 5
7 p.m. — 4×400 preliminaries (girls): PAN (Gwen Steffen, Beckman, Lindstrom, Kemble), Heat 1, Lane 5
SATURDAY:
10:30 a.m. — 800 finals (girls): Gwen Steffen, Heat 1, position 1
11:50 a.m. — Shuttle Hurdle finals girls*
12:55 p.m. — 100 finals boys*
1:55 p.m. — 200 finals boys*
2:45 p.m. — 1500 finals Waddle, position 1
3:25 p.m. — 4×100 finals girls*
3:55 p.m. — 4×400 finals girls*
* — If qualified
