The lights shined brightly on Roth Field in Wayland Thursday night for the Class 1A State Track and Field Qualifier meet. Athletes from the KCII listening area shined even brighter, taking home 18 event championships to automatically lock up spots at state next week.

In the boys half of the meet, the Columbus Wildcats continued to rewrite their school record books. For the first time since the 1975 season, and the days of disco, Big Blue boogied their way to a state qualifier meet team title, with a score of 154 points, beating second place Danville’s 100. The Wildcats had five events go gold to earn bids to Des Moines, including Kaden Amigon in the 100 and 200 in 11.00 and 22.55 seconds respectively, Triston Miller in the 110 hurdles in 14.10 seconds, the 4×100 with Jeff Hoback, Riley Kaalberg, Miller and Amigon in 42.34 seconds and the shuttle hurdle with Kaalberg, Dante Zuniga, Alexander Rees and Miller in 1:01.52. Other top finishes for the Columbus boys included seconds for Hoback in the 100 and 200, Miller in high jump, Amigon in long jump, Russell Coil in shot put and discus and the 4×800 team of Tim Hills-Carrier, Tyler Humiston, Cole Storm and Damian Vergara. Rees was third in the 110 hurdles. After the meet, Wildcat head coach Scott Dennler talked with KCII Sports about the night for his team. Dennler said, “We’re at the end of the season, it’s time to finish what we started. We started in Ames by winning the indoor state championship and we just keep plugging away. Get to state and see what happens because anything can happen at state. Everything has been leading up to this moment and they produced at a high level, which they have all year, and the last two years. We’re really excited about it. The kids have been outstanding the last couple of years. This was a goal of ours and they were able to accomplish it in a big way and I’m really proud of them and can’t wait to see what to see what they do next. Russell Coil really hit big time. He was at 138 before tonight and goes 145. Throws 48 in the shot which is almost two feet further than he has ever thrown and then Amigon, Miller, Hoback, Kaalberg, they just all do their thing, night in and night out. Couldn’t be more proud of them!”

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys were third with 99 points. The Wolves qualified four events for state with championships for Gabriel Hemsworth in the 400 hurdles in 55.50 seconds, Cam Buffington in long jump clearing 21’7.5″, the 4×400 team of Sheaden Adams, Hemsworth, Ty Scorpil and Kohlby Newsom in 3:33.41 and the sprint med with Caleb Giese, Abram Edwards, Buffington and Hemsworth in 1:37.19. Other top performances included second for Hemsworth in the 400, Newsom in the 800 and the distance medley of Lane Genkinger, Edwards, Scorpil and Newsom. Third for Buffington in the 100, Adams in the 400 and the 4×100 with Giese, Buffington, Eli Miller and Edwards.

The WACO Boys were fourth on their home track with 79 points. The Warriors auto-qualified a pair of events for state with championships in the discus from Odee Shtenfanchuk on his throw of 164’10” and the 4×200 team of Braden Spain, Isaac Oswald, and Mason and Clayton Miller in 1:33.45. Other top performances included Simeon Reichenbach runner-up in the 110 hurdles, second for the shuttle hurdle of Oswald, Mason Miller, Louden Huisenga and Reichenbach, third for Huisenga in high jump, Reichenbach in long jump and Drew Diers in shot put.

The Sigourney boys placed eighth scoring 36 points with the best finish on the night for the Savages a third place effort from the 4×800 team of Wyatt Wehr, Dylan Weber, Braydon Wood and Landon Crow. The Lone Tree boys were ninth at 35 points getting a second place run from the 4×200 team of Emmett Burke, Tyce Alt, Ethan Bockelman and Drew Gauley and third place from the shuttle hurdle team of Ethan Willoz, Harry Brenneman, Alt and Gauley. The Hillcrest Academy Ravens were 11th with eight points. Owen Scott did the scoring for the Ravens, placing fourth in long jump, seventh in high jump and eighth in the 100. Keota was 13th with Luke Moeller scoring for the Eagles with a seventh place finish in the 400. Highland was 14th on the boys side with their points coming from Jackson Schneider’s eighth place in the 110 hurdles.

In the girls portion of the meet, Lone Tree had the top area team finish with 100 points, for third of 13 schools. Pekin was the qualifier meet champion with 145 points. The Lady Lions have four events locked in for state after championships from Ava Christofferson in the 100 in 13.02 seconds, the 4×100 team of Vivian Zaruba, Christofferson, Riley Krueger and Rylee Shield in 51.58 seconds, the 4×200 with Avery Morarie, Shield, Zaruba and Christofferson in 1:48.27 and the sprint med of Sophie Bell, Zaruba, Christofferson and Shield in 1:53.06. Lone Tree saw Shield in the 200, Zaruba in the 800 and Krueger in the high jump all finish second with the 4×800 quartet of Bell, Delanie Graap, Bella Pourry and Jazmine Nino place third.

The Highland Huskies were fifth in the girls team standings with 63 points. Sarah Burton is headed to state as an auto-qualifier, winning the long jump at 17’7.5″. Other highlights for the Huskies included Burton runner-up in the 100, third for Jessica Kraus in discus and third for the shuttle hurdle with Emma Cole, Brena Hazelett, Mackenzie Davis and Adelyn Kloepfer.

The Sigourney girls were seventh scoring 53 points. Reagan Clarahan is headed to state at Drake Stadium after winning the 400 hurdles in 1:10.30. Carly Goodwin in the 400 and McKinley Chittick in the high jump both placed third.

The Winfield-Mt. Union girls were eighth with a team score of 32. The Lady Wolves shuttle hurdle of Josie Nelson, Keyreanna Sharar, Tessa Huston and Keetyn Townsley is state bound after their win in 1:09.90. Townsley was also third in the 100 hurdles.

The Columbus girls were ninth at 30 points. Naveiah Garza led the Wildcats finishing runner-up in the 400. The WACO girls were 10th scoring 28 points behind a second place for Zoey Dennler in the 400 hurdles and third for the distance medley crew of Hannah Dennis, Halle Shelman, McKenzie Vradenburg and Elyssa Graber. The Keota girls were 12th with 11 points. The Eagles were led by sixth place finishes for Izzi Chalupa in the long jump and the sprint med with Kimberly Clarahan, Grace Conger, Chalupa and Olivia Lyle. The Hillcrest Academy Ravens didn’t crack the scoreboard, with their top showings a trio of ninth place finishes from Morgyn Nafziger in the 200, Delaney Shaw in the 400 and the sprint medley with Nafziger, Erin Bontrager, Anna Torok and Shaw.

The final state meet field will be announced Friday when the top 14 performances from around 1A Thursday are added to the list of champions. The 2023 State Track and Field Meet begins Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.