Saturday opened Day 3 of the Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships, and it proved to be one of the best Saturday’s yet at the famed Blue Oval. A combined 40,567 people attended the 3-day event and were treated to nearly 30 state and all-time records broken.
But the KQ-Radio area waited until the final race of the day to crown it’s one champion in 2023, as South Hamilton claimed a state title in the Class 1A Boys 4×400 Relay in a time of 3:22.29, just over one hundredth of a second off the 1A State Record set by North Linn in 2006. Junior Ty Koehnk, who didn’t even compete for the Hawks track team in 2022, showed graciousness and appreciation of what has led him to today.
“I could give you a whole spiel, but I would keep you here forever,” Koehnk said. “What it really boils down to is, we’ve got to thank God for the ability he’s given us, I can’t be more proud of my teammates, all the fans, all the people at school that support us. Nothing we do could be done without their support.”
FULL INTERVIEW w/Ty Koehnk post-4×400 Championship
The start of the day saw the Hawk Girls Sprint Medley place 11th in Class 1A in a time of 1:54.27 with the team of Barkema-Flaugh-Thompson-Erickson. Roland-Story’s girls would run immediately following the 2A Girls Sprint Medley, placing 13th in a time of 1:53.95 with the team of Sporleder-Petersen-Lande-Kilstofte.
South Hamilton’s boys then started their day with a 6th place finish in the 1A Sprint Medley, with a season-best time of 1:35.54 with the team of Severseike-Drake-Hodnefield-Koehnk. Roland-Story also competed in the 2A Boys Sprint Medley, but were disqualified due to a missed exchange.
Morning turned to afternoon, as South Hamilton’s Kate Barkema placed 7th in the 1A Girls 100m Dash in a time of 13.02, before Roland-Story’s Kamryn Lande placed 7th in the 2A Girls 200m Dash in a time of 26.31. The South Hamilton girls ended their day by placing 7th in the 1A Girls 4×100 Relay, in a time of 51.03 with the team of Thompson-Flaugh-Erickson-Barkema.
Following South Hamilton’s win in the 1A Boys 4×400 Relay, Roland-Story closed out the meet with an 8th-place finish in the 2A Boys 4×400 Relay, in a time of 3:35.15 with the team of McIlrath-Johnson-Greenfield-Lande.
Final team standings saw the South Hamilton boys tie for 18th in Class 1A with Madrid, as each scored 16 points. South Hamilton’s girls would tie for 43rd with 5 points. Roland-Story’s boys would tie for 34th with Estherville-Lincoln Central and West Central Valley, with each scoring 6 points, as the Roland-Story girls tied for 32nd with Emmetsburg and Greene County, with each scoring 7 points.