Just one of three days down at the Blue Oval in Des Moines and the KCII area has already crowned two individual champions at the 2021 State Track and Field Meet.

Washington’s Elijah Morris had a strong kick at the end of the class 3A boys 400m dash and the sophomore claimed first place by .14 seconds clocking in at 49.53 seconds. That race came about an hour after Mid-Prairie’s Danielle Hostetler won the class 2A girls 3000m run with a time of 10:25.26. The duo has got their school off to a strong start in the team standings with the Golden Hawks sitting in first with 21 points and the Demons in fourth for their class with 16. Washington’s Ethan Patterson also received a medal placing third in the high jump (6’1’’), Lance Sobaski was 10th in the 3200m (9:53), Morris 11th in the 200m (23.10), and Reece Mayer was 23rd in the discus (135’8’’). The Mid-Prairie girls got a big day from Mitzi Evans, as the junior qualified for the finals in the 200m (26.31) and placed third in the 400m (57.38). Sydney Yoder was fourth in the 3000m (10:51), the shuttle hurdle relay was 12th (1:11.42), Tori Boyse 13th in the shot put (36’2’’), and the 4x800m 18th (10:24.18). Jamison Stutzman received a medal for the Golden Hawk boys with an eighth place showing in the 3200m (9:58), 4×800 was 16th (8:34), shuttle hurdle relay 17th (1:05.19), and Josh Wallington was 24th in the shot put (40’7.25’’).

In the evening session, one area individual captured a medal in class 1A with Michelle Diaz of Columbus Community placing eighth in the girls shot put (36’8.75’’). Other top results included Keota’s Wyatt Sieren 10th in the boys 400m (51.08),  Highland’s Sarah Burton 11th in the girls long jump (14’10’’), WMU’s Cam Buffington 11th in the boys long jump (19’5.75’’), and the WMU girls shuttle hurdle relay was also 11th (36’5.5’’)

Day two features plenty of area athletes and it all gets started at 9 a.m. with the class 2A and 3A session and 1A being in the evening.