Panthers qualify two events, possibly more

CARLISLE — The rain didn’t stop the Panthers from racing their best Thursday in Carlisle at the Class 3A state qualifier.

In the boys distance medley relay, the handoffs were smooth, and the times were fast. Tyler Riley and Chris Aragon ran quick 200 meter legs before Austin Evans got the baton for the 400 meter leg. Evans ran a personal best split to keep the Panthers in contention.

Brandon Briley immediately began to make up ground in the 800 meter anchor leg. His sub-two minute split put the relay in contention for the win, finishing only .53 seconds behind the Winterset team.

“That was pretty exciting,” Coach Maggie Arnold said. “I think going in, we ran a 3:43. Last night we came away with a 3:38. There were some outstanding performances.”

Arnold believes their time will put them in the middle heat at state, though the official information won’t come until later today.

Shortly after his distance medley performance, Briley was back on the track for the 800m race.

“Brandon loves the open 800,” Arnold said. “That’s something he’s very proud of, and he really enjoys running it.”

Briley got with the top group of runners from the beginning. By the last 200 meters, it was a race between Briley and Gavin Day of Winterset.

In a photo finish, Briley took second, only .12 seconds behind Day.

“He ran a really smart race after running the fastest he’s ever run in his life,” Arnold said. “We were a little concerned, but he has extreme stamina. It probably won’t give him the fast heat, but he’s proven he can run fast on his own.”

Though those two events were the only to automatically qualify, eight more Class 3A athletes across the state will be accepted in each event. There are two girls events that may make the threshold to compete at the state meet.

“Doryn (Paup) in the discus, she’s sitting pretty good,” Arnold said. “We’re confident in that.”

Paup’s throw of 112-03 was a PR from her conference performance of 111-01. The throw placed her third, just missing an automatic qualification.

Paup also competed in the girls 4x800m relay with Emma Pantini, Payton Davis and Braylee Pokorny. The team placed third behind ADM and Winterset.

Their season-best time was 10:49, and the relay blew that away with a 10:26.57. “They ran a really great time, and that was awesome,” Arnold said. “It will be close, but the time is a little slower than what has qualified in the past.”

Several seniors wrapped up their track and field careers Thursday.

For the boys, Riley Wipperman, Ty Morrison, Payton Conley and Jaydan Pettegrew will be graduating. Senior Chris Aragon qualified in the distance medley relay. On the girls’ side, Sydney Strunk completed her career. Pantini and Paup hope to qualify at large in their respective events.

“The senior class losing their freshman year is a huge disadvantage for them,” Arnold said of the pandemic. “They have a year’s worth of growth they missed. We’re going to miss them a lot.”

More information to come on the state meet schedule and qualifiers.