The Ballard track teams qualified eight events from the State Qualifying Meet at ADM for the State Track Meet this upcoming weekend in Des Moines. 

On the women's side, the Bombers have five events who qualified.  Kate Huisinga qualified in the 800 M run after finishing second.  Ava Vance and Paityn Noe qualified in the 3,000 M run with Noe winning the event.  In the 1,500 M run Noe and Annika Larson went 1-2 to qualify.  The Distance Medley Relay team of Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson, Kate Huisinga, and Noe finished second.  The 4x800 M relay (Huisinga, Larson, Ava Richardson, Noe) finished third and qualified.

On the men's side, the Bombers will see three events who qualified.  Jameson Witt finished 2nd in the 400 M run to punch his ticket.  Eli Rouse's time of 23.11 in the 200 M run qualified him and the Spring Medley team of Jayden Swain, Blake Stover, Chance Lande, and Jameson Witt qualified after setting the new school record.

Comments From Women's Head Coach Scott Barth:

"The weather cooperated and it turned out to be a decent night for competition at the ADM SQM meet yesterday. It was pretty warm, but the breeze helped alleviate some of that and times were good for us. The middle distance/distance crew once again led the way for the Bombers.

Paityn Noe automatically qualified for state in 3 events and will likely add a 4th after the LeMars meet runs tonight. She won the 3000 meters easily in a time of 10:22.28. She also won the 1500 meters in a great time of 4:44.63. She anchored the distance medley team of Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson, Kate Huisinga with a 2:21 split to earn the automatic spot placing second in 4:22.00. This was a season best time by over 6 seconds! She also anchored the 4x800 team of Kate Huisinga, Annika Larson and Ava Richardson to a season best time of 9:59.39. This is also a season best time by over 17 seconds! Running 4 middle distance and distance events in 1 meet is really tough and not everyone can do that. She handled it really well and that toughness bodes well for her at the state meet in her likely 4 events!

Annika Larson also ran lights out tonight. She was a key leg on the 4x800 with her 2:23 split on our second leg. She then came back to record a 2nd place 4:45 1500 meters for her automatic bid. That was her career PR by almost 20 seconds! In doing so, she now ranks as the 3rd fastest time in class 3A heading into the state meet. She beat the previous #3 athlete in 3A by a solid 6 seconds. Annika is running with a lot of confidence right now and finding her groove. She put herself in position for a high placing at the state meet with her running tonight. 

Kate Huisinga, like Paityn Noe, finished the night running 4 events. She was an integral part of the automatically qualifying Distance Medley relay with her 400 leg. She placed 2nd in the 800 meters with an automatic qualifying time of 2:30. She also started out the 4x800 relay which should be in state with their excellent time in a 3rd place finish. She finished the night with her leg of the 4x400 which looks to have just missed out on a state bid. Kate is coming off a minor strain over the last 2 weeks and just starting to get back into the form she was in prior. I expect the following week to bring her fully healed and ready to make big strides on the blue oval.

We will have to wait and see, but from the preliminary results that are rolling in, it appears that Ava Vance has a pretty good shot at making it to state in the 3000 meters. She ran 11:47 in a 5th place finish at a tough SQM location. So, in spite of the 5th place finish, I feel good about it. She is coming off a preseason injury which held her back from full practices much of the first 2/3rds of the season. She has been approaching full recovery over the last 2 weeks and has been working really hard to make up for the lost time. She is such a dedicated athlete and to get her in would be awesome for her to see her efforts pay off. 

The shuttle hurdle team of Reagan Bartlett, Anya Jorgensen, Noel Boettger and Ally Baker was on its way to a potential state bid before a fall on the 2nd leg of the relay. The relay continued in spite of the fall to finish with a 1:15 time and a 4th place finish. I really think this could have gone if the fall had not occurred, but that is the danger of hurdle races with 40 hazzard set up along the race. Still, the future is bright for this relay as they return everyone next season and that bodes well for another run at the state qualifying position. Coach Phillips does a great job getting the most of the girls and pushes them to get better. She will have them ready.

As mentioned above, the 4x400 meter relay team of Kate Huisinga, Kate Miller, Katie Tollefson and Ava Richardson gave a solid effort in their 3rd place finish with a time of 4:25, which is a full 8 seconds faster than our previous season best. Although this will not get them into the state meet, like the shuttle hurdle, it is a promising race for us."

WOMEN'S SCORES

1. ADM, 198

2. Dallas Center-Grimes, 163.5

3. Winterset, 119

4. Ballard, 85

5. Boone, 69

6. Clarke,

7. Perry, 35.5

8. Saydel, 4

MEN'S SCORES

1. Dallas Center-Grimes, 204

2. ADM, 177

3. Winterset, 106

4. Boone, 71

5. Clarke, 66

6. Ballard, 51

7. Saydel, 35

8. Perry, 19

The Bombers are back in action on Thursday - May 19 when they compete in the State Track Meet in Des Moines.  The meet will start at 9:00 AM.  To view the schedule, CLICK here.