DES MOINES, Iowa — The first day of competition at the Iowa High School State Track and Field championships has comes and gone with several local athletes being crowned state champions.
Tyrese Miller of Ankeny came away as state champion in the boys 400 meter dash with a time of 48.71 Seconds. He made history in this event becoming Ankeny's first 400 meter champ in 20 years.
In Class 3A, Ballard's Paityn Noe is a cross country state champion, a Drake Relays champion and now a state track champion in the girls 3000 meters. She left very little doubt in this one winning it with a time of 10 minutes and 22 seconds.
"It's definitely harder when there's not girls pushing you and I think the heat today and the wind, especially down that back home stretch is definitely brutal during the race," said Noe. "But, you know just gotta push through and finish it and I was just looking for the win."
Up next was the boys 3200 for class 2A. Des Moines Christian's Carson Houg and Aaron Fynaardt from went 1-2 in that race. Houg didn't come into this as the favorite but always maintained confidence that he could come out on top.
"We were just trying to survive and go 1-2 in our races really," said Houg. "So our seed times may not reflect our actual speed or strength but yeah, I was still pretty confident."
Aidan Ramsey of Dallas-Center Grimes, similar to Paityn Noe, now adds state track champion to his list in addition to being a state cross country and Drake Relays champion. He said competing of some of the best runners in years past prepared him for this moment.
"It means a lot, you know," said Ramsey. "These last couple years, I've had to compete against some of the best guys to ever come through Iowa. Honestly, without them, I would never be where I am today so I'm just really thankful that I actually had them in my class and I was able to push myself really hard and work to eventually get to the top."
Other local state champions from day one include:
Addison Dorenkamp (Valley) - 4A girls 3000 meter run, Audi Crooks (Bishop Garrigan) - 1A girls shot put, Alex Buscher (Waukee) - 4A girls discus, Walker Whalen (Idianola) - 4A boys discus, Josie Moreland (Waukee) - 4A girls high jump, and Van Meter - 2A girls 4x800 meter relay.
You can view all of the results from day one HERE.