Baylor Speidel sweeps 1A sprints, Lisbon cruises to second straight state track and field title

DES MOINES — Baylor Speidel’s legs churned toward the finish line. A long-sought triumph in the 100-meter dash at the Class 1A boys’ state track and field meet beckoned once the Lisbon star crossed the stripe — but first he had to hold off hard-charging teammate Tiernan Boots to get the gold.

“He almost got me,” Speidel said with emphasis after winning one of three races on Saturday at Drake Stadium. “I was worried. I fortunately didn’t let him, but I am so happy to see where he finished. I know exactly what he can do next year.”

Speidel and Boots’ swift 1-2 finish in the 100 helped ensure that the Lions would cruise to a second straight 1A title. Lisbon scored 76 points. Second place Woodbine totaled 49 points and Wapsie Valley scored 47. The Lions won back-to-back state titles for the first time since winning three in a row from 2015-17. Speidel scooped up wins in the 100 (10.96) and the 200 (22.03) and anchored the winning 400-meter relay (42.33) to a second straight title on Saturday, as well.

“I thought I’d be feeling a lot more (emotions), to be honest,” the senior said. “I don’t know. It’s just the standard I set for myself going into this year and I’m just glad I made it.”

Lisbon’s 27-point victory margin dwarfed the eight-point edge they enjoyed over Columbus Community last year at state, which allowed the Lions to stress less and celebrate early.

“It was not as exciting as last year in that final (400-meter relay),” Speidel said. “It wasn’t as intense, but a win’s a win. It’s awesome.”

Lisbon’s girls’ team also defended a title in the 400-meter relay. The Lions’ quartet of Brynn Epperly, Ava Czarnecki, Addie Clark and Addy Happel finished in a time of 50.06 seconds and helped their team finish sixth with 30 points. Saint Ansgar won the girls’ 1A crown with 40 points. Nashua-Plainfield (38), Council Bluffs St. Albert and Oakland Riverside (37 points each), completed the top four.

“Before every race we tell each other to trust our marks because we’ve been running this race the whole year,” Happel said of the second straight state title in the 400 relay. “It all comes down to having trust in each other and believing we can do it.”

Maquoketa Valley’s girls’ sprint medley relay team finished second and the Wildcats added a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay, as well.

“We just kept on improving times,” said Lily Huber, a senior who ran on both of those podium-worthy relay teams. “It went really well here.”

It went exceedingly well for the Lisbon boys at state this season, especially for Speidel, who claimed runner-up honors in the 100 last season and was disqualified in the 200 for a starting-blocks snafu.

“Just gotta bounce back,” he said. “I know God’s got a plan and I’m glad it worked out this way. I’m glad his plan worked out this way, but just trusted him the whole way and he delivered.”

And in that final 400-meter relay win, Boots handed Speidel the baton for the final leg instead of trying to pass him. Quinn Coleman and Dakota Clark had already set the stage for the stirring state win. Boots enjoyed watching Speidel speed away from him, bound for one last emphatic triumph on the blue oval as a Lion.

“He’s been wanting this for a long time,” Boots said.

State track and field: Class 1A Boys

Top 10 teams — 1. Lisbon, 76; 2. Woodbine, 49; 3. Wapsie Valley, 47; 4. tie, Lenox, Mount Ayr, 38; 6. Madrid, 33; 7. tie, Guthrie Center ACGC, George-Little Rock, Bellevue, 24; 10. Sibley-Ocheyedan 23.

Sprint medley relay —1. Mount Ayr (Dugan, Ruggles, Fleharty, Reynolds), 1:32.66; 2. Lenox, 1:32.90; 3. Bellevue, 1:34.31; 4. Lisbon, 1:35.13; 7. Iowa Valley 1:35.81.

800 — 1. Landon Bendgen (Woodbine), 1:56.26; 2. Aidan Shannon (Wapsie Valley), 1:56.74; 3. Henry Peterson (Dunkerton), 1:57.97; 4. Gage Heyne (English Valleys), 1:58.06; 6. Michael Gadberry (Lisbon), 1:59.32; 7. Sam DeMeulenaere (Belle Plaine), 1:59.38.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Lenox (Bashor, Martin-England, Evans, Funk), 59.72; 2. West Hancock, 1:00.18; 3. Earlham, 1:00.99; 5. Montezuma, 103.00.

100 — 1. Baylor Speidel (Lisbon), 10.96; 2. Tiernan Boots (Lisbon), 10.98; 3. Cash Emgarten (EHK-Exira), 11.19.

110 hurdles — 1. Gabe Funk (Lenox), 2. Jack Follman (Anita CAM), 14.92; 3. Kadan Abbas (Ackley AGWSR); 4. Gage Holub (Lisbon), 15.52; 7. Lane Vokoun (Belle Plaine), 20.66.

200 — 1. Baylor Speidel (Lisbon), 22.03; 2. Ryce Reynolds (Mount Ayr), 22.05; 3. Isaiah Johnson (George-Little Rock), 22.38.

1,600 — 1. Landon Bendgen (Woodbine), 4:17.37; 2. Aidan Shannon (Wapsie Valley), 4:19.86; 3. Gavin Grunhovd (Madrid), 4:21.72; 6. Gage Heyne (English Valleys), 4:26.13; 8. Matthew Schaul (Maquoketa Valley), 4:29.43.

400 relay — 1. Lisbon (Coleman, Clark, Boots, Speidel), 42.33; 2. Columbus Community, 43.30; 3. West Hancock, 43.48.

1,600 relay — 1. Bellevue (Tath, Guenther, Dunne, Manders), 3:22.59; 2. Earlham, 3:25.35; 3. Guthrie Center ACGC, 3:25.50; 4. Iowa Valley, 3:25.50.

State track and field: Class 1A Girls

Top 10 teams — 1.Saint Ansgar, 40; 2. Nashua-Plainfield, 38; 3. tie, Council Bluffs St. Albert, Oakland Riverside, 37; 5. Panorama, 36; 6. Lisbon, 30; 7. Ackley AGWSR, 28.5; 8. Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 25; 9. Pekin, 24; 10. West Monona, 21.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Danville (Furnold, Sowell, Molle, Gourley), 1:51.55; 2. Maquoketa Valley, 1:51.65: 3. Lisbon, 1:52.45.

800 — 1. Kadence Huck (Nashua-Plainfield), 2:13.98; 2.Lili Denton (Council Bluffs St. Albert), 2:15.27; 3. Katelyn Brandhorst (Madrid), 2:19.04; 8. Josi Munger (Starmont), 2:23.31.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Northwood-Kensett (Thorson, Hengesteg, Wallin, Moore), 1:04.89; 2. Fremont-Mills, 1:06.23; 3. Saint Ansgar, 1:07.26; 7. Lisbon, 1:09.12; 8. Springville, 1:10.22.

100 — 1. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 12.41; 2. Aleksys Gannon (Murray), 12.50; 3. Paige Richards (Madrid), 12.80; 5. Ava Gehrking (Engish Valleys), 13.03; 6. Rya Scott (Hillcrest Academy), 13.13.

100 hurdles — 1. Claire Schroeder (Remsen St. Mary’s), 15.31; 2. Lindsey Moore (Northwood-Kinsett), 15.41; 3. Josie Harvey (Fort Dodge St. Edmond), 16.23.

200 — 1. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 25.09; 2. Aleksys Gannon (Murray), 25.32; 3. Kloe Nissen (Don Bosco), 25.95; 7. Addy Happel (Lisbon), 26.94.

1,500 — 1. Kadence Huck (Nashua-Plainfield), 4:42.13; 2. Lili Denton (Council Bluffs St. Albert), 4:46.23; 3. Katelyn Brandhorst (Madrid), 4:51.95; 7. Lauren Krogmann (Starmont), 4:59.52.

400 relay — 1. Lisbon (Epperly, Czarnecki, Clark, Happel), 50.06; 2. Lake Mills, 50.35; 3. Wapsie Valley, 50.78; 8. Maquoketa Valley, 51.21.

1,600 relay — 1. Oakland Riverside (Schechinger, E. Henderson, Erickson, C. Henderson), 4:02.69; 2. Saint Ansgar, 4:03.95; 3. Maquoketa Valley, 4:07.29.