Highland senior Keiffer Sexton runs ahead of the pack during the Demon Relays April 7 at Case Field in Washington. Photo by KCII Sports Nate Gonner.

This week’s Iowa Boys and Girls State Track Meet marks the final high school athletic competition for Highland senior Keiffer Sexton. Sexton, a Western Illinois University Leatherneck cross country and track and field commit, has qualified for four events in Des Moines, two individually and two as the anchor leg of relay teams.

Sexton claimed the district championship in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs in Wayland last Thursday. He enters the meet with the best two-mile time recorded in Class 1A this spring, clocking 9:47.17 at the Drake Relays last month. Sexton’s time was six seconds better than the rest of the state. The 4×400 meter relay team of Jake Wood, Trey Lasek, James McPherson, and Sexton won the district championship with 3:38.02. Also, the distance medley crew of Billy Burton, Chase Rath, Wood, and Sexton finished in first place at the district meet, clocking a time of 3:43.09.

Finally, junior Billy Burton is among the 24-person long jump field after finishing third in the district meet. His leap of 20’6.5″ was among the 12 best non-automatic qualifying jumps in the state, earning an invitation to the state meet.

Highland also claimed district championship honors in the girls’ 4×100 meter relay. The team of Sarah Schneider, Kelsey Hora, Sydney Black, and Aly Stokes topped the field with a run of 52.19 seconds.

A pair of girls’ relay teams qualified for the state meet based on their time in Thursday’s district meet. The Huskies’ 800 meter sprint medley squad of Emilee Thomann, Brenna Popham, Kristy Thomann, and Kylie Wood posted a time of 2:06.89, 11 seconds behind the district champions Danville. The 4×200 meter team of Schneider, Kristy Thomann, Stokes, and Hora completed the event in 1:51.91, two seconds behind Danville to take second place.

Hora also qualified for the state meet with a second place finish in the girls’ 400 meter run. Her time of 1:02.39 was two seconds slower than the district champion, Alyssa Pfadenhauer, of Danville.

The Iowa Girls and Boys State Track Meet is being held Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.