Mitchell Snitker claims 400 meter hurdle sixth-place medal to headline Waukon boys track team’s State Meet experience
Career best in final run ... Waukon boys track senior Tyler O’Neill leads this pack in the Class 2A 3200 meter run Thursday, May 18 at the State Track Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. In his final high school distance running event and his second consecutive State Meet appearance in the 3200 meter event, O’Neill finished 13th in the 24-runner field in a career-best time of 10:04.99. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The 2017 State Track Meet held Thursday through Saturday, May 18-20 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines brought to a close the Iowa high school track season, and an end to the high school track careers for half the Waukon boys track team members competing in the season grand finale. Seniors Tyler O’Neill, Blain Swenson, Brandon Regan and Hunter Jensen all made their final go-rounds on a high school track with completion of this season’s State Meet, but it was junior Mitchell Snitker who produced the track Tribe’s greatest highlight with his medal-winning finish in the 400 meter hurdles.
Snitker battled the cold, windy and drizzling weather conditions of Friday afternoon, May 19 to finish sixth in that 400 meter hurdle event in a time of 55.88 seconds, earning himself a medal within the top eight finishers in the 24-competitor field. Dyersville Beckman junior Mark Brown, the other automatic qualifier with Snitker from the North Fayette Valley State Qualifying Meet a week earlier, won the Class 2A 400 meter hurdle title in a clocking of 54.32 seconds.
The only other competition for the Indians Thursday was junior Isaiah Welch, who competed in his first-ever State Meet event in the Class 2A long jump. Thursday’s event proved to be a learning experience for Welch, as he was one of two competitors in the event who scratched on all three of their preliminary jumps to not record a distance. Carroll Kuemper junior Miles Rupiper won the Class 2A long jump with a leap of 21’11.25”.
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