Sports

The grand finale of the 2022 Iowa high school boys track and field season saw the Waukon boys track and field team qualified in eight events for the State Track Meet Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Those eight events involved seven Indian competitors, three of which were repeat performers from last spring and four of which are slated to return as underclassmen next season. Although none of those events found the team scoreboard with top-eight finishes, a couple neared that landmark and more than half of them resulted in finishes within the top half of their respective Class 2A fields of elite competitors.

The 2022 Waukon girls track and field season came to a close where all high school track and field athletes long to be at season’s end, as the Lady Indians competed in five events at this year’s Class 2A State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines that took place Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21. Although none of those five event efforts by the Indians cracked the top half of their respective 24-qualifier elite fields at this year’s season grand finale and avoided the final team scoreboard, all nine athletes who competed for the track Tribe are all underclassmen and are set to return again next season - and some for even longer than that.

The Kee girls track and field team continued to not only be represented but also continued to make its presence felt at the Class 1A State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21, qualifying for five events for the 2022 season grand finale and ending up on the final team scoreboard for the sixth consecutive season. This year’s efforts also marked the fourth consecutive season that Hawk team scoring ended up among the Class 1A top-20 elite, as the four Kee girls competing in this spring’s State Meet scored points in four their five qualified events, including top-six finishes in all four of those events to compile 17 points and finish tied for 16th as a team in the final Class 1A field of nearly 60 teams scoring points.

For the second consecutive season, the Kee boys track and field team was represented where all high school track and field athletes strive to be, as the senior pair of Tyson Cota and Damon Weber each made return trips to the Class 1A State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. With both earning returns in the same events they competed in last spring, the pair of senior leaders both improved on their 2021 showings within yet another strong field of Class 1A elite competitors in their respective field events.

The Waukon boys track has extended its 2022 season in eight events following its final team competitions of the year within the past week-plus. Following a fourth-place finish at their Northeast Iowa Conference Meet hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, May 5, the Indians secured a second-place team finish at their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet at Osage Thursday, May 12, despite not winning a single event. The track Tribe secured five automatic State Meet qualifications with runner-up event finishes at that meet, and then had four other third-place finishes earn at-large bids based on Class 2A performances statewide for a total of nine State Meet qualifications in eight different events.

The final week of the Kee girls track squad’s team competition schedule proved fruitful as the month of May rolled on early, as the Lady Hawks crowned several Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) champions and also had those very same events - and then some - end up qualifying for the Class 1A State Meet. The Kee girls won four UIC titles in finishing fourth as a team at the annual UIC Meet Thursday, May 5 at Postville and then had those same four events, plus one other, qualify for the Class 1A season grand finale in Des Moines, helping the Hawks to a fifth-place team finish in that 14-team State Qualifying field.

The 2022 track and field season came to a close for all but two of its competitors this past week, as the Hawks competed in their two most important team meets of the season within a week’s time. The Kee boys finished sixth in the nine-team Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) Meet at Postville Thursday, May 5, crowning just one UIC event champion in senior Tyson Cota in the long jump. The Hawks then worked to extend their season as much as possible at their Class 1A State Qualifying Meet at Edgewood-Colesburg Thursday, May 12, doing so for two events on the way to finishing 11th in that 14-team field.

The two events that qualified for this season’s grand finale will both compete on the same day, Thursday morning, May 19, at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Details of the Hawks’ State Meet schedule are printed on the Sports pages in the May 18, 2022 edition of The Standard.

The Waukon girls track team had its overall team season come to a close this past week, but for a handful of team members that season carries on to every high school track and field athlete’s ultimate destination of the State Track Meet. The Lady Indians first placed sixth in their Northeast Iowa Conference Meet hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, May 5 before trying to extend their season as much as possible at their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet at Osage Thursday, May 12, where the track Tribe finished fifth in that 11-team scoring field and advanced five events on to this spring’s season grand finale.
Those five State Meet events involve nine track and field Indians who will now compete at that season grand finale at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21, two of those Lady Indians competing in a pair of events each.

The MFL/MarMac Youth Wrestling Club received $4,810 in grant funding awarded by the Upper Mississippi Gaming Corporation (UMGC) to complement additional direct fundraising by the club to make up the balance of the $6,610 total cost of purchasing a set of two digital score clocks (seen in photo above) for use at their events. “The TrackWrestling score clocks are a game changer for our organization’s events,” said Steve Hanson, who volunteers with management of the club. “We cannot thank the UMGC enough for their support.”

The Iowa High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) wrestling postseason will feature additional qualifiers, a new schedule and updated qualifying after several sport advisory recommendations were approved at the Wednesday, April 27 meeting of the IHSAA Board of Control.​

In a major shake-up to start with the 2022-2023 school year, wrestling will drop Sectional tournaments in Class 2A and Class 1A and move the annual State Dual Team Tournament to that previously occupied date. As a result of those changes, all three classes will now compete solely in District tournaments to determine individual qualifiers for the State Traditional Tournament.

An additional recommendation for 24 qualifiers per weight class at the State Traditional Tournament also received approval at that April 27 meeting.