The Marshalltown track and field teams had to endure a 12-hour wait before finding out they had qualified a total of five entrants for the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

In all, Marshalltown-area high schools racked up a grand total of 59 state entrants, highlighted by BCLUW’s combined 18 qualifiers. East Marshall and South Tama County have 10 entrants each, West Marshall amassed nine, North Tama totaled four, GMG two and Gladbrook-Reinbeck one.

Marshalltown gained all five entrants as at-large qualifiers after the Bobcats were unable to secure any top-two finishes at Friday’s Class 4A state-qualifying meet at Johnston. MHS junior Gabby Himes was the closest after placing third in the high jump, but her height of 4 feet, 10 inches was still good enough to share the 15th seed out of 24 qualifiers for state. Himes is also a part of Marshalltown’s shuttle hurdle relay, which placed fifth in its regional meet but still qualified 23rd. Erica Johnson, Valeria Becerra, Himes and Mia Rasmusson clocked in at 1 minute, 12.07 seconds.

The Bobcats’ distance medley relay team of Sarah Trowbridge, Alyvia Chadderdon, Priscilla Vergara and Mia Barajas is qualified 21st with its time of 4:27.76.

On the boys’ side for Marshalltown, two field event entrants will represent the Bobcats at state. Dwight Joar cleared 6-2 in the high jump and Dru Dobbins heaved the discus 147-3 as both placed third on Friday, and both are seeded in the top half of the 4A state field. Joar ranks 10th in the high jump and Dobbins 12th in the discus.

BCLUW boasts all three of the area’s top seeds at state, and two of them are the Comets’ shuttle hurdle relays. The BCLUW girls’ contingent of Kiersten Kruse, Payton Pekarek, Olivia Hughes and Lizzie Garber rank atop the 1A field with their qualifying time of 1:07.57, while the boys’ foursome of Coby Willett, Koty Kruse, Neifer Ralston and Jack Garber rank first with their 1:00.62. Garber is also seeded atop the field in the 110-meter high hurdles, clocking in at 14.70 seconds.

Garber is the second-best qualifier in both the 100 (11.26) and the 400 hurdles (55.64), while Ralston ranks fifth in the 400 hurdles (56.50). Caleb Silver stands fourth in the 1,600 (4:44.20) and seventh in the 3,200 (10:10.34).

Topping North Tama’s four qualifiers is the boys’ shuttle hurdle relay quartet of Tyler Morrison, Cael Even, Gabe Kopriva and Hale Hulme, which is less than one second behind BCLUW and stands third in the 1A field. Even qualified 11th in the 110 high hurdles while Ryan McLean made it through in 10th in the shot put (46-4).

GMG’s two qualifiers — both on the boys’ side — are both seeded as potential medalwinners. District champion Ethan Karsjen ranks fourth in the 400 with his winning time of 51.04 seconds from Friday’s meet in Grundy Center, while the Wolverines’ sprint medley relay combo of Brock Baldazo, Andrew Collins, Caron Wobeter and Karsjen are listed sixth in 1:36.93.

In Class 2A, East Marshall senior Melinda Puumala catches the spotlight with her 4-for-4 performance from Friday’s regional meet in State Center. Puumala is seeded second in the 400 hurdles (1:05.71) and the long jump (16-11 1/4), third in the 100 (12.80) and sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.75). West Marshall’s Kayla Cripps is seventh in the 400 hurdles (1:06.95) and 14th in the high jump (5 feet), while Renae Schaper earned an at-large spot in the shot put with her heave of 39-3. Grace Girard, who went 3-for-3 on Friday night, ranks 14th in the 3,000 (11:24.14), 18th in the 1,500 (5:19.23) and anchors the Trojans’ 21st-seeded distance medley relay for Adisyn Young, Avril Sinning and Cripps.

West Marshall has the best 2A seeding of the boys’ bunch, with the sprint medley team of Jarrin Goecke, Brian Morrison, Jake Tollefson and Cameron Bannister standing third with their 1:35.62. The Trojans advanced the same foursome in two other relays, too: the 4×200 is seeded 15th and the 4×400 is 22nd.

East Marshall’s top qualifiers both earned at-large bids in the long jump, as Gage Hulin (20-9 3/4) and Korbin Seth (20-7 1/4) are ranked 10th and 12th in their field. Austin Elliott qualified 13th in the 100 (11.45) and 16th in the 200 (23.31). The Mustangs’ distance medley quartet of Hulin, Seth, Elliott and Cam Hungerford finds itself 19th, while the sprint medley group of Landon Elliott, Hulin, Austin Elliott and Seth stands 20th.

South Tama County has five state meet entrants in both boys and girls for the 3A meet, highlighted by defending state champion Keith Keahna in the high jump and freshman phenom JoJo Tyynismaa in four events.

Keahna cleared 6-7 on Friday night in Van Horne and comes in an inch behind Waw Gach of Denison-Schleswig at the top of the field. Keahna also qualified 14th for the 400 and is a part of the Trojans’ 4×400 relay. Tyrin Lasley, Keahna, Gabe Babinat and Drake Crawford have the 19th seed, while Crawford is seeded 16th in the 200. Payton Vest picked up automatic qualification in the long jump with his leap of 20 feet.

Tyynismaa takes center stage in the hurdles events, where she ranks third in the 100 hurdles, seventh in the 400 hurdles and opens for the fourth-seeded shuttle hurdle relay team. Stacey Slaven, Gracie Vest and Caitlyn Stochl helped STC finish second behind host Benton on Friday night with their time of 1:07.16. Stochl, Ashton Graham, Slaven and Tyynismaa are seeded 10th in the 4×100, while shares the eighth-best height in the high jump at 5-3.

Area State Track and Field Qualifiers

GIRLS

CLASS 1A

100 hurdles — 8. Lizzie Garber, BCLUW, 16.36; 13. Olivia Hughes, BCLUW, 16.62

400 hurdles — 24. Kenna Paxson, BCLUW, 1:12.89

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. BCLUW (Kiersten Kruse, Payton Pekarek, Olivia Hughes, Lizzie Garber) 1:07.57

4×100 — 16. BCLUW (Kaylee Grant, Kiersten Kruse, Lizzie Garber, Olivia Hughes) 53.11

Sprint medley — 13. BCLUW (Kiersten Kruse, Olivia Hughes, Fiona Speicher, Katie Thompson) 1:55.02

Long jump — 22. Dahlia Gardner, BCLUW, 15-5 3/4

High jump — 16. Saari Kuehl, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 5-0

4×800 — 21. North Tama (Molly Kvidera, Takoa Kopriva, Jules Breakenridge, Carlie Gorder) 10:37.82.

CLASS 2A

100 — 3. Melinda Puumala, East Marshall, 12.80

1,500 — 18. Grace Girard, West Marshall, 5:19.23

3,000 — 14. Grace Girard, West Marshall, 11:24.14

100 hurdles — 6. Melinda Puumala, East Marshall, 15.75

400 hurdles — 2. Melinda Puumala, East Marshall, 1:05.71; 7. Kayla Cripps, West Marshall, 1:06.95

High jump — 14. Kayla Cripps, West Marshall, 5-0

Long jump — 2. Melinda Puumala, East Marshall, 16-11 1/4

Shot put — 9. Renae Schaper, West Marshall, 39-3

Distance medley — 21. West Marshall (Adisyn Young, Avril Sinning, Kayla Cripps, Grace Girard) 4:30.92.

CLASS 3A

100 hurdles — 3. JoJo Tyynismaa, STC, 15.52

400 hurdles — 7. JoJo Tyynismaa, STC, 1:07.13

Shuttle hurdle relay — 4. STC (JoJo Tyynismaa, Stacey Slaven, Gracie Vest, Caitlyn Stochl) 1:07.16

4×100 — 10. STC (Caitlyn Stochl, Ashton Graham, Stacey Slaven, JoJo Tyynismaa) 51.04

High jump — 11. Stacey Slaven, STC, 5-3

CLASS 4A

Shuttle hurdle relay — 23. MHS (Erica Johnson, Valeria Becerra, Gabby Himes, Mia Rasmusson, 1:12.07

High jump — 19. Gabby Himes, MHS, 4-10

Distance medley — 21. MHS (Sarah Trowbridge, Alyvia Chadderdon, Priscilla Vergara, Mia Barajas) 4:27.76

BOYS

CLASS 1A

100 — 2. Jack Garber, BCLUW, 11.26

1,600 — 4. Caleb Silver, BCLUW, 44.20, 15. Ruben Montoya, BCLUW, 4:48.26

3,200 — 7. Caleb Silver, BCLUW, 10:10.34

110 high hurdles — 1. Jack Garber, BCLUW, 14.70; 11. Cael Even, North Tama, 15.53

400 hurdles — 2. Jack Garber, BCLUW, 55.64; 5. Neifer Ralston, BCLUW, 56.50

4×100 — 21. BCLUW (Ben Paper, Carson Hoffman, Joe Mason, Jesse Moore) 45.57

4×800 — 15. BCLUW (Montoya, Noah Gallentine, Henry Kaisand, Caleb Silver) 8:34.33

Distance medley — 18. BCLUW (Paper, Moore, Ralston, Montoya) 3:47.5

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. BCLUW (Coby Willett, Koty Kruse, Neifer Ralston, Jack Garber) 1:00.62; 3. North Tama (Tyler Morrison, Cael Even, Gabe Kopriva, Hale Hulme) 1:01.38

Shot put — 10. Ryan McLean, North Tama, 46-4

400 — 4. Ethan Karsjen, GMG, 51.04

Sprint medley — 6. GMG (Brock Baldazo, Andrew Collins, Carson Wobeter, Ethan Karsjen) 1:36.93

CLASS 2A

100 — 13. Austin Elliott, East Marshall, 11.45

200 — 16. Austin Elliott, East Marshall, 23.31

4×200 — 15. West Marshall (Jake Tollefson, Brian Morrison, Jarrin Goecke, Cameron Bannister) 1:32.98

4×400 — 22. West Marshall (Brian Morrison, Jake Tollefson, Jarrin Goecke, Cameron Bannister) 3:32.94

Distance medley — 19. East Marshall (Gage Hulin, Korbin Seth, Austin Elliott, Cam Hungerford) 3:42.24

Long jump — 10. Gage Hulin, East Marshall, 20-9 3/4; 12. Korbin Seth, East Marshall, 20-7 1/4

Sprint medley — 3. West Marshall (Jarrin Goecke, Brian Morrison, Jake Tollefson, Cameron Bannister) 1:35.62; 20. East Marshall (Landon Elliott, Gage Hulin, Austin Elliott, Korbin Seth) 1:37.13

CLASS 3A

200 — 16. Drake Crawford, 22.94

400 — 14. Keith Keahna, 52.20

4×400 — 19. STC (Tyrin Lasley, Keith Keahna, Gabe Babinat, Crawford) 3:30.87

High jump — 2. Keith Keahna 6-7

Long jump — 20. Payton Vest, 20-0

CLASS 4A

High jump — 10. Dwight Joar, 6-2

Discus — 12. Dru Dobbins, 146-9