Stewart, Snitker claim top-four medals in 400 meter hurdles and discus to lead Waukon boys results at State Track Meet


Bronze medal in 400 meter hurdles ... Waukon boys track junior Braxton Stewart glides over a hurdle during the Class 2A 400 meter hurdle event at the State Track Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Friday, May 21. Stewart ran to a personal-best time of 54.83 seconds to finish third among that Class 2A 400 meter hurdle elite and he also placed 16th in the Class 2A high jump after clearing 5’11”. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.

For the Waukon boys track team, the 2021 Iowa High School State Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines was a learning and growing experience for the four young men competing in six different events Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21. With none of those track Tribe competitors being seniors and all of them being first-time State Meet competitors this season, that growth will be looked forward to and expected for future seasons, but for some of this year’s season grand finale competitors that growth happened and paid medal-winning dividends within just a day or even only within a couple hours.

After competing in the first three of this season’s six State Meet events Thursday, May 20 and having all three of those garner finishes within the final five competitors among this spring’s Class 2A track and field elite, two of the three remaining Indian events that took place Friday, May 21 ended up on the other end of that spectrum to finish within the top four event individuals and score the Indians 11 points at this season’s grand finale for a team finish just outside the top 20 Class 2A teams. The junior pair of double-event qualifiers Lincoln Snitker and Braxton Stewart accounted for those Indian team points, both having final results in their first events at the season grand finale that didn’t quite live up to their qualifying efforts to get there, but both also rebounding spectacularly in their second State Meet event opportunities to pace the track Tribe’s final charge among Class 2A’s track and field elite, Stewart claiming a third-place finish in the 400 meter hurdles and Snitker ending up fourth in the discus to pace the Indians to their 21st-place team finish in this season grand finale’s Class 2A field.

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