Orange City, Ia (KICD) – The Spencer Tigers competed at the Class 3A District 5 State Qualifying Meet Thursday in Orange City. The top 2 places in each event would advance to the State Meet on an auto-bid.

The Spencer Girls got the day started off right. The 800m Sprint Medley Relaay team of Khia Koenig, Tyriana Vail, Jada Piercy, and Erika Amendt would place 1st with a time of 1:49.95. The group of Tiger Sprinters said they surprised themselves.

The Spencer Boys first Auto-Bid in to the State Meet was the 4×800 Meter relay of Sergio Tello, Van Munson, Rylei Koppie, and Carson Krogman, who entered the meet with the 4th best time, but ended up finishing 2nd. The group was thrilled to move on to Des Moines.

Kaleb Cline was riding high after his performance at the State Qualifying meet. The Spencer Thrower took first in the Shot Put with a throw of 51 feet 1 inch and put himself in good position for an at-large bid in the Discus, finishing 3rd with a throw of 151 feet.

Spencer’s Ellie Heisinger would take 2nd in the Shot Put to advance to State. Heisinger was feeling confident from the beginning.

The Spencer Girls 4x100m Shuttle Hurdle Relay team of Jerra Merchnt, Ivy Hamilton, Sydnee Hopkins, and Corinne Stave continued to roll this season, placing 2nd with a time of 1:08.96 and advancing to the State Meet.

The Spencer Boys 4x110m Shuttle Hurdle relay team of Weston Johnson, Sam Kinkeldey, Dylan Timmer, and Jivahny Lovan had the tall task of chasing down an elite Spirit Lake team. Though Spencer finished 2nd, they were happy with their performance.

The Spencer Girls 4x200m Relay team of Jerra Merchant, Jada Piercy, Tyriana Vail, and Erika Amendt steamrolled the competition, winning by over 3 seconds with a time of 1:45.91. Spencer knew if they executed they would come away with the gold.

The Spencer Boys 4x200m Relay team of Miles Robbins, Campbell Wessels, Reid Tigges, and Jack Berends were the favorites coming in and took 1st with a time of 1:31.3. Although happy to advance, there are still things the group feels they need to work on.

 

Jerra Merchant claimed herself another spot in the State Meet, winning the 100m Hurdles handily by over a second with a time of 15.21.

Spencer’s Erika Amendt was the #3 time coming in to the State Qualifying meet in the 200m Dash, but would end up coming away with 2nd place, clocking a time of 26.13 seconds.

Jerra Merchant would make it four events auto-qualified after running away from the competition in the 400m Hurdles. Depending on who you ask, this is High School Track and Field’s most grueling event, and Merchant would seem to agree

The last auto bid of the night for either Tiger team was the Boys 4x100m Relay, who blitzed a first place time of 42.92 seconds. An animated Quartet after the race is confident in what they can do at State.

In the Team Scores for the Girls, MOC-Floyd Valley was first with 139.5 points, Spencer was in second with 120.5, Sioux Center was 3rd, Spirit Lake 4th, LeMars 5th, Bishop Heelan 6th, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 17th, and Sergeant Bluff-Luton came in 8th.

In the Team Scores for the Boys, Spirit Lake was first with a dominant 166 points, Bishop Heelan was 2nd with 116, Spencer took 3rd with 111, LeMars was 4th, Sergeant Bluff-Luton was 5th, MOC-Floyd Valley 6th, Sioux Center 7th, and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley came in 8th.