By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
Panthers and Chargers compete at state track and field
The Iowa High School boys and girls state track meet started yesterday, Thursday, May 22, and will run (literally) today, May 23, and tomorrow, May 24. I have not yet had the pleasure of attending the state track tournament. That’s not the case for several Panorama and ACGC athletes this week. If you are unable to attend, a free live stream of the events is available HERE.
Panorama’s Kylie Rochholz ran in the 3,000-meter run yesterday and the distance medley team of Faith Recker, Gracie Recker, Maddy Lutz and Rochholz placed fifth in 4:13.21. Rochholz competes again in the 1,500-meter run tomorrow, May 24 at 2:15 p.m. On the boys side, Syler Shaffer will be leaping in the 400-meter hurdles at noon, today, May 23.
ACGC boys track has dominated this season and is well-represented at the state meet. The 4×100-meter shuttle hurdle team placed first in the qualifier, Mike Fuller placed fifth in the shot put, and Eli Madsen placed sixth in the 400-meter dash yesterday.
Plenty more will compete today, May 23:
- Brexton Schneider and Tate Fever in the 110-meter hurdles at 4:20 p.m.
- Mike Fuller in discus at 4:30 p.m.
- Tate Fever in the 400-meter hurdles at 6 p.m.
- 4×200-meter relay at 5:10 p.m.
- 4×100-meter relay at 6:40 p.m.
- 4×400-meter relay at 7:40 p.m.
And tomorrow, Saturday, May 24
- Sprint medley relay team at 9:50 a.m.
On the ACGC girls side, the distance medley team of Nora Langgaard, Meranda Gruber, Cadence Petersen and Ava Campbell at 2:40 p.m. and Cadence Petersen at 5:40 p.m. compete today. Ava Campbell then competes in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs on Saturday, May 24.
I wish the best of luck to all of these incredible ACGC and Panorama athletes in their remaining races and events. It has been a pleasure covering these programs throughout the season.
Record-breakers
Panorama and ACGC make frequent appearances at the state track and field meet. They also appear in the all-time record books. One thing Cody Matthewson told me when I interviewed him for our Spring Sports Guide was about program legend, Austin Kunkle. The IAHSAA shows the state and all-time records on the heat and lane assignments page. Kunkle’s name appears twice as the state record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, both set in 2023.
Panorama’s girls track and field legend Jaidyn Sellers holds several state records of her own and across different classes. She just had one of them broken yesterday. Her 2A 100-meter dash record set In 2023 was broken by Rachel Kacmarynski of Pella Christian. I was able to cover Sellers’ dominance in her senior season in 2024 when she broke the 1A 100-meter and 400-meter dash state records. All in all, Sellers won 10 state titles in her time at Panorama.
What are the odds that two of Iowa’s best all-time sprinters would be going to school at the same time, 10 minutes away from each other, in Guthrie County? I won’t (and can’t) do the math on that one. Let’s hope the rest of these records stand until another Panther or Charger comes along to break them.
Reach out with comments, complaints, ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.