DES MOINES, Iowa — It's been 733 days since the last Iowa State Track & Field Meet was run, and most folks wouldn't have noticed anything being different from two years ago.
Let's get to the highlights.
For the Class 3A 3,000-meter, Shawaye Johnson from Ballard entered as the top-qualifier. She was also a favorite after winning the same event during the Drake Relays last month.
Johnson dominated the field with a pace that could have taken down the state meet record, but she came up shy by just seconds. Johnson finished the race at 9:57:21, still a state champion.
"It means a lot and like I worked for it and it just shows me how hard I've worked like so yeah it's amazing I'm really excited," Johnson said after the race.
Turning to the boys' 3,200-meter— Nate Mueller from Adel-Desoto-Minburn has won a cross country state title and a Drake Relays crown, but never at state track.
Mueller changed that on Thursday, running a 9:13:84, and winning it in front of a packed Drake Stadium meant even more.
"That was another part— walking in here I'm just like, 'wow I haven't even seen this many people in like a year and a half,'" Mueller said. "So it's like I'm just glad they let it open so my family is over there watching. That means a lot so it's awesome. I'm glad they did it. Thank you to Drake, shout out to Drake."
Now 2A girls' 4x800-meter. Van Meter was leading by the third leg and never looked back. Clare Kelly ran the anchor leg, crossing in 9:42:03.
For the 3A boys' 4x800-meter, Pella came in as the top-qualifier and showed just how good they are. The team got a new school record of 7:55:14 as Tony Schmitz crossed the finish line.
"It was awesome. It was obviously a dream come true finishing second two years ago now first," Schmitz said. "Really proud of these guys and how hard they all worked."