West Liberty High School junior Macy Daufeldt qualified in three individual events and then helped her shuttle hurdle relay team make it to the state finals as well Thursday at the Tipton District State Qualifying meet.
The West Liberty Girls track team of coach Michael Hart will be participating in four events at the state meet at Drake University in Des Moines beginning Thursday. Daufeldt stood out by not only qualifying in the long jump, which she won two years ago as a freshman, but also running her best times in the 100 and 200 meter dash events to qualify as well.
She will run alongside teammates Sydney Rivera, Laney Esmoil and Rilee Han in the shuttle hurdle relay as the Comets The Comets placed seventh overall in the major meet while Northeast captured the team title with 123 total points.
The pursuit for state began in the field events. Grace Evans and Mylie Henderson competed in both the shot put and discus events for the Comets. Evans placed 10th in the discus toss and finished 12th in the shot put while Henderson finished 11th and 14th respectively in the events.
Rilee Han placed fourth in the high jump, recording a leap of 4 feet 8 inches although it did not qualify her for state competition.
Daufeldt ran away with the long jump title, out jumping her next closest competitor, Louisa-Muscatine Kylee Sanders by nearly a foot, recording a total distance of 17 feet 7 inches.
Daufeldt continued her day into the running events, capturing third with the shuttle hurdle team with teammates Rivera, Esmoil and Han, just missing out of an automatic qualification bid for state but would run their way into the tournament based on time.
Daufeldt captured automatic qualification through her second-place finishes in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes to bring her up to her total four events.
Sammi Goodale captured fourth in the 400 meter run and Laney Esmoil place fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, the freshmen falling just short of qualification for the state meet in both events.
The state meet will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. and run through finals Saturday evening on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines.
Boys going to state
A relay team and two individuals qualified for the state final track and field meet this week after the West Liberty High School Boys track team of coach Gus Garcia competed in the Tipton District State Qualifying meet Thursday.
Junior Jahsiah Galvan and senior Sam Gingerich both qualified for state competition in individual events while a hurdle shuttle relay team also qualified in the meet where the Comets managed a seventh place team showing overall while Northeast ran away with the title.
The Comets will be sending Galvan in the 100 meters, Gingerich in the 110 hurdles, and the shuttle hurdle relay team consisting of Caleb Wulf, Drake Collins, Galvan and Gingerich.
Galvan placed second for the Comets in the 100-meter dash, being bested by Camanche’s Jordan Lawarence. The finish was enough to earn Galvan automatic qualification to the state meet.
Gingerich captured the 110-hurdle title, recording a time of 15.45 seconds. The shuttle hurdle team also captured first place honors enroute to automatic qualification for the state meet.
The Iowa State Track and Field meet will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. and run through finals Saturday evening on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines.