Running in the third heat in Thursday’s final event, the Mustangs finished 19th after qualifying for the meet in 22nd. The time of 1 minute, 13.34 seconds was not what the group of Jayleigh Pansegrau, Cora Talbert, Vaeda Bryan and Morgan Neuroth had in mind, but Neuroth said the experience of reaching state will encourage the relay to try and reach the blue oval again.

“It’s crazy, there’s so many people,” Neuroth said. “You just look up and everybody’s yelling, it’s crazy.

“Everybody works together and we fight for each other.”

Pansegrau was the only senior who ran in the relay, with two freshmen and a sophomore making up the rest of the group.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHFLING - East Marshall senior Kennedy Wheater releases the shot put during Thursday’s Class 2A girls’ competition at the state track and field meet in Des Moines. Wheater finished 20th with a throw of 32 feet, 11 3/4 inches.

Junior Joe Terrones jumped from the 23rd seed in the 3,200-meter run to finish 17th, running a 10:39.10 and beating his qualifying time by 16 seconds.

Kennedy Wheater of East Marshall finished 20th in the girls’ shot put, fouling on her first two puts and then putting up a best distance of 32 feet, 11 3/4 inches.

The first East Marshall event of Friday afternoon is Neuroth in the 400 hurdles finals. She will run in heat two.

Jace Eich’s state meet debut was not perfect, but there is plenty of room to grow for the West Marshall freshman.

Eich was in the first heat of the 2A boys’ 400-meter dash finals Thursday evening, running against a setting sun backdrop in Drake Stadium.

Seeded 22nd entering the event, he ran in the first heat and finished 23rd with a time of 53.16 seconds.

The West Marshall girls’ 4×800 relay team finished 15th — right where the Trojans were seeded in qualifying — with a 10:29, finishing fourth in their heat. It was a five-second increase on the qualifying time of 10:24.

Audrey Girard took 12th place in the 200 dash with a time of 27.33, finishing just four spots out of a finals position. In the afternoon heat, Girard ran 8-tenths of a second slower than her qualifying time.

West Marshall’s first event Friday is the distance medley relay, where the Trojan girls are in the first heat.