The Greene County Rams will have nine events – seven girls’ events and two boys’ events – at the state track and field meet May 18-20 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
The Rams traveled to Ida Grove Thursday for a Class 2A qualifying meet that included teams from Central Decatur, Dike-New Hartford, Monticello, Osage, Shelton, Tipton, Van Meter, and host OABCIG. The top two performances in each event automatically qualified for the state meet, with the remaining state meet spots filled based on times/distances across the state.
Senior Olivia Shannon qualified for the 200m dash with a first place finish and a season best time of 26.81 seconds. Classmate Natalie Heupel placed first in the 400m dash in 60.10 seconds, a personal record for her.
The all-senior 4 X 100 relay team of Shannon, Kamryn Sanders, Natalie Heupel and Katrina Heupel placed first in 50.94 seconds, a school record time. The same quartet placed first in the 4 X 200m relay with a time of 1:48.74, a season best time.
Qualifying for the state meet with second place finishes at the qualifying meet were the 4 X 400m relay team of Natalie Heupel, freshman Kaycee Pittman, Katrina Heupel and Shannon with a time of 4:11.49, and Pittman in the 800m run with a school record time of 2:29.08.
Sanders claimed an at-large spot in the long jump with her leap of 15’ 11”. The sprint medley team of freshman Savannah Lansman, senior Bella Schroeder, Sanders and Heupel placed third with a time of 1:55.48 but did not get an at-large bid.
The girls are coached by Derek Merk.
The Ram boys team will have one field event and one track event.
Senior Jesse Miller placed first in the discus throw at 156’ 3”. His throw set a school record for the years competing as Greene County.
The distance medley relay team placed second in the qualifying meet with a time of 3:45.27. Sophomore Camden Strennen, senior Richard Daugherty, sophomore Nick Stream and freshman Drew Wolterman comprise the team.
Chad Morton is the boys track and field coach.
