PANORA — The blue oval of Drake Stadium will be studded with the light blue of the Panorama thinclads on all three days at the state track meet, which begins Thursday.
The Panorama girls, who finished third overall last year, will be trying to repeat their outstanding overall performance by sending 15 girls in 14 different events, with two Panthers qualifying in the long jump.
The Panther boys, riddled with injuries, will be represented in two events, as Luke South qualified in the 110 hurdles and Gracen Welberg in the high jump.
South was third, in 15.67 seconds in the high hurdles and will compete in the preliminaries of the event at 9:40 a.m. Friday. His race will begin 40 minutes after Welberg begins competing in the high jump after clearing 6 feet, 2 inches at Friday’s state qualifying meet in Panora.
Greene County won the boys side with 115 points, with AC/GC edging Mt. Ayr, 98-96, for runner-up honors. Panorama finished with 25 points.
The Panorama girls were so dominant they more than doubled the point total of second-place Van Meter (86) by amassing 175 points. AC/GC was third at 82.5 points.
The list of qualifiers for the girls is a lengthy one. Kassidy Bremer won the 200 in 26.7, with Olivia Steffen second in the 400 in 1 minute, 3.26 seconds, with Bailey Beckman just missing at-large bid after crossing third in 1:05.29.
Gwen Steffen won the 800 in 2:27.48, with Ella Waddle — like Beckman in the 400 — narrowly missing an at-large spot after placing third in 5:08.42. Waddle assured herself of spots in both the 1500 and 3000 by finishing second in both, in 5:08.42 and 11:02.28.
Morgan Johnk advanced in the 100 hurdles by crossing third in 15.8, with Shey Storesund fifth, and missing out, despite a strong 17.36.
Hope Arganbright ran the 100 in 13.52 to place third, with Storesund third in the 400 hurdles in 1:11.01 while Lydia Lindstrom crossed fourth in 1:11.99. Neither event qualified.
Johnk was one of three jumpers seeded atop the state standings at 5 foot, 5 inches, after clearing the bar at that height to win the high jump, with Lydia Knapp winning the discus at 127’2.
Beckman and Bremer were 1-2 in the long jump at 17’1 and 16’4-1/2, sending both on a return trip to state in the event.
Claire Woodworth placed sixth in the shot put at 35 feet, while finishing with a best throw of 89’1 in the discus.
The Panthers won the 4×100 in 51.47 and the 4×800 in 10:04.53, with Johnk, Beckman, Arganbright and Bremer running the former and Lindstrom, Payton Beckman and the Steffen twins the latter. Also winning was the distance medley unit of Arganbright, Bremer, Bailey Beckman and Gwen Steffen, which crossed in 4:21.45.
Qualifying spots also went to the second-place shuttle hurdle (1:11.26) team of Storesund, Lindstrom, Johnk and Abbi Brown and the runner-up 4×400 (4:12.03) of Bailey Beckman, Lindstrom and the Steffen sisters, the foursome nipped by Van Meter by .03 ticks.
The Panthers did not compete in the 4×200, with Storesund, Arganbright, Brown and Olivia Steffen fifth in the sprint medley in 1:57.25.
South and Welberg’s qualifying efforts were the only individual-event points scored by the host boys squad aside from the fifth-place 1:00.47 provided by South in the 400 hurdles.
Jadyn Howard ran the 100 (13.24), Declan McCarthy the 200 (27.57) and 400 (1:01.58) and Kevin Cogil the 800 (2:23.21). Panorama left both the 1600 and 3200 open, while also choosing not to contest the long jump, 4×100, 4×400 and sprint medley relays.
Koltin Sloss was the lead Panther thrower, with the senior heaving the shot put 38 feet and spinning the discus 113’3.
The shuttle hurdle unit of Welberg, South, Dominic Walker and Logan Hutchins were sixth in 1:06.64, with Walker, Cogil, Zach Rizzuti and Kade Kemble seventh, in 9:07.41, in the 4×800 while Dillon Bennett, Kyle McClatchey, Howard and Hutchins posted an eighth-placing 1:46.56 clocking in the 4×200.
Also running for the Panthers were Kemble, Bennett, Hutchins and Avery Norman in the distance medley, with the foursome finishing in 4:32.
