It was a historic day for the Spirit Lake Park track and field team competing at the Class 3A District meet in LeMars. The Indians won their first ever District championship behind 11 state qualifying performances. SLP garnered 120.5 overall points to outpace second place Bishop Heelan by 4.5 points. Spencer finished in sixth place with 71.5 points. Alec Baldwin was the day’s biggest individual winner, taking first place in three events: 800 (1:57.26), 1600 (4:39.35) and 3200 (10:12.84) meter runs. Kyle Heidebrink also grabbed a gold in the 110 hurdle (14.96), and qualified for state with a second place finish in 400 hurdles (55.52) and a third in the long jump (20’-4”). Other state qualifiers for the boys include Dalton Kelley in the discuss (141’-9”), Will Norris in the 3200 meter run (10:21.04), the 4×400 relay team (3:25.53; Luke Kabele, Aric Waltz, Kevin Martinson, Kayne Feldick), the Shuttle Hurdle team (59.82; Aric Waltz, DJ Smith, Rick Wilson, Kyle Heidebrink), and the Sprint Medley Relay team (3:38.21; Aric Waltz, Kevin Martinson, Luke Kabele, Kayne Feldick).
In the girls portion, LeMars finished as the District champions, while Spencer tied for third and Spirit Lake Park grabbed sixth place. Seven different athletes qualified for the state meet from SLP in six different events. Megan Lawler enjoyed a big day, winning both the 100 (12.43) and 200 (26.06) meter dashes. McKenzie Dziedzic was the first across the tape in the 3000 meter run with a personal best time (11:02.49), while also taking second in the 1500 (5:13.84). Other second place finishes included Jessica Wallace in the high jump (5′-0″) and the Sprint Medley Relay team (1:53.58; Lindsey Arneson, Alex Horsman, Caila Jones, Megan Lawler). As many as three more could end up receiving a spot at state depending on the results from the rest of the competitions throughout Iowa.
The state meet runs May 20-22 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Photo Courtesy of Courtney Bolluyt.
