The Pekin Panthers had a dominant night at the Class 1A state qualifying meet Thursday, May 14th at Sigourney, with the girls capturing the district team championship and the boys finishing fifth in a competitive field. Between the two squads, the Panthers punched multiple tickets to the Iowa State Track and Field Championships, set for May 21-23 at Drake Stadium’s Blue Oval in Des Moines.
The meet brought together Van Buren County, Pekin, Sigourney, and Keota alongside New London, WACO, Winfield-Mt. Union, North Mahaska, Danville, Wapello, Highland, Hillcrest Academy, Twin Cedars (boys only), and Lone Tree (girls only). The following results reflect top five placements only.
Team Scores
Pekin claimed the girls district title with 120 points, pulling away from Van Buren County’s 93. North Mahaska finished third at 82, Highland fourth at 81, WACO and Danville tied for fifth at 67, Hillcrest Academy sixth at 54, Sigourney seventh at 46, Lone Tree eighth at 37, Keota ninth at 26, Winfield-Mt. Union 10th at 23, Wapello 11th at 17, and New London 12th at 12.
On the boys side, Van Buren County claimed the district title with 112 points. New London finished second at 88, Sigourney third at 87, WACO fourth at 85, and Pekin fifth at 84 — the Panthers right in the thick of a tightly packed field. Winfield-Mt. Union finished sixth at 67, North Mahaska seventh at 56, Danville eighth at 54, Wapello ninth at 38, and Highland, Keota, and Hillcrest Academy all finished between 19 and 20 points. Twin Cedars brought up the rear at 5.
Pekin Girls — State Qualifiers and Top Five Performances
The Lady Panthers delivered one of the most impressive performances of the night — and possibly of the entire state qualifying round — anchored by Chloe Glosser and Anna Hadley, who combined for 60 of Pekin’s 120 points and put on an absolute clinic in their respective events.
Glosser was simply extraordinary. She won the 800 meter run in 2:20.24, pulling away from Carlee Lunsford of WACO at 2:25.14 — an automatic state qualifier and district championship that ranks third among all Class 1A times from state qualifying sites. She then came back to win the 1500 meter run in 4:46.33, ahead of Van Buren County’s Rylee Philips at 5:14.40 — another automatic state qualifier and district title that ranks second in Class 1A statewide. In her third individual event of the night, Glosser won the 3000 meter run in 10:34.64, leaving Sigourney’s Addison Yates well behind at 11:26.06 — a time that ranks second among all Class 1A times from state qualifying sites and earned her a third automatic state qualifier and district championship.
And if that wasn’t enough, Glosser anchored the distance medley relay alongside Brin Lauderman, Addison Smith, and Maddy Petrehn, coming from 70 yards behind on the anchor leg to lead Pekin to the district title in 4:22.79, edging WACO’s 4:23.22 in a breathtaking finish — a four-event night that stands as one of the most remarkable individual performances of the entire state qualifying round.
Hadley matched Glosser’s dominance in the field. She launched the discus 153-00 to win the district championship by a wide margin — a throw that ranks first among all Class 1A competitors from state qualifying sites and earned an automatic state berth. She backed that up by winning the shot put at 42-05.25, ahead of Highland’s Chloe Sexton at 36-05 — also the top distance in Class 1A from qualifying sites and another automatic state qualifier. Taylor Moore added to the discus haul with a second-place throw of 102-09, ahead of Van Buren County’s Elli Daugherty at 88-09, and Kendra Schultz placed third in the shot put at 35-03.75 to earn an at-large state qualifying bid.
On the track, the shuttle hurdle relay of Reece Brisby, Abby Guise, Carlie Gambell, and Paislee Coleman won the district title in 1:11.40, ahead of Winfield-Mt. Union’s 1:15.33 for an automatic state qualifier. Paislee Coleman earned an at-large state qualifying bid with a second-place finish in the 100 meter hurdles, crossing in 16.56 behind North Mahaska’s Kieren Perez at 16.49 — a margin of just seven-hundredths of a second. Carlie Gambell added a fifth-place finish in the same event at 18.15. Abby Guise placed fifth in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:22.58, behind North Mahaska’s Nataliya Linder at 1:08.36. The 4×800 relay of Callie Deutschle, Emerson Porter, Harper Guise, and Maddy Petrehn finished fourth in 11:24.24, behind WACO’s 10:00.87. The 4×200 relay of Brin Lauderman, Mya Glick, Fynlie Brooks, and Reece Brisby rounded out the girls relay performances with a fifth-place finish in 1:58.70, behind Van Buren County’s school record of 1:49.71.
Pekin Boys — State Qualifiers and Top Five Performances
The Panther boys had plenty to be proud of as well, qualifying multiple events and relays for state while competing in one of the toughest boys fields of the night.
The standout story on the boys side was the relay corps. Three athletes — Nolan Glick, Riley Smith, and Alijah Brock — ran four relays on the night, a physically demanding feat that Eidahl acknowledged is no small task. Aliyas Brock ran three of the four. The results speak for themselves.
The sprint medley relay of Aliyas Brock, Alijah Brock, Riley Smith, and Nolan Glick opened the relay slate with a district championship, winning in 1:34.69 ahead of Danville’s 1:38.10 — a time that ranks second among all Class 1A sprint medley relay squads from state qualifying sites and earned an automatic state qualifier. The 4×200 relay — Aliyas Brock, Nolan Glick, Riley Smith, and Alijah Brock — may have produced the most dramatic moment of the boys meet, edging New London’s 1:30.36 by just two-hundredths of a second in a 1:30.34 — another automatic state qualifier, district championship, and the second-fastest time in Class 1A from qualifying sites.
The 4×100 relay of Aliyas Brock, Alijah Brock, Riley Smith, and Nolan Glick finished second in 43.74, behind New London’s 43.18 — a time that ranks fifth among all Class 1A 4×100 squads from qualifying sites. The 4×400 relay of Nolan Glick, Riley Smith, Alijah Brock, and Lane Fariss finished second in 3:24.61, just behind Van Buren County’s 3:23.13 — an at-large state qualifying bid that also ranks second among all Class 1A times from qualifying sites, behind the Warriors.
The 4×800 relay of Mason Dahlstrom, Cody Silvers, Cole Millikin, and Lane Fariss finished second in 8:24.33 behind WACO’s 8:16.41 to earn an at-large state bid. Cole Millikin also earned an at-large state qualifier individually with a third-place finish in the 1600 meter run, crossing in 4:44.67 behind Sigourney’s Troy Klett at 4:35.87.
Elsewhere, Cael Silvers placed fourth in the 400 meter dash in 53.50, behind Van Buren County’s Lincoln Bainbridge at 49.54. The shuttle hurdle relay of Ryann Hammes, Jaxon Mefford, Ethan Porter, and Keegan Dickey finished fifth in 1:13.70, behind Winfield-Mt. Union’s 1:02.94. Brody Sobaski placed fourth in the high jump at 5-08, behind Keota’s Ayden Galindo at 5-10. Brantyn Sieren took third in the shot put at 41-02.75, behind Colin Anderson of Winfield-Mt. Union at 46-08.50.
Coach Comments
Head coach Davis Eidahl kept his postgame assessment characteristically concise but full of praise for how both squads performed when it mattered most.
“The girls team came to run,” Eidahl said. “Chloe and Anna scored 60 of our points. Chloe came from 70 yards behind to win the medley. Each event she became stronger. Anna again won both throws. What helped was we had girls that ran their best and scored points for us.”
On the boys side, Eidahl highlighted the workload carried by his core relay group. “Three boys ran all four relays for PRs — Nolan, Riley, Alijah. It’s hard running back to back — the 4×100 and 4×400. Aliyas ran on three. Great effort from all the boys. Great improvement from all year. Competed well.”
What’s Next
The Iowa State Track and Field Championships are set for May 21-23 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, where the Panthers will represent Pekin on one of the biggest stages in Iowa high school athletics.
