Published May 18, 2024
Iowa 2024 State Track Recap: Hawkeye Commits and Recruits
Ross Binder  •  Hawkeye Beacon
Managing Editor

The Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships took place this weekend at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, with plenty of Iowa signees, commits, and recruiting targets in action across all four classes of competition.

We discussed which athletes with Iowa ties would be in action a week ago, so let's dig into the results.

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4A


100

Louden Grimsley, Sioux City East - 11th, 10.85

200

Julian Manson, Iowa City West - 23rd, 22.96

4x100

IC West (Mason Woods, Manson) - 10th, 42.33

Southeast Polk (Sam Zelenovich) - 11th, 42.40

Sioux City East (Grimsley) - 19th, 43.18

4x200

Ankeny Centennial (Braeden Jackson) - 1st, 1:26.20

IC West (Woods, Manson) - 3rd, 1:27.17

Sioux City East (Grimsley) - 17th, 1:30.25

Sprint Medley

IC West (Woods, Manson) - 9th, 1:32.88

Urbandale (Elijah Hoyt) - DQ

Distance Medley

SEP (Zelenovich) - 3rd, 3:27.00

IC West (Woods) - 5th, 3:28.54

Urbandale (Hoyt) - 7th, 3:28.73

Shot Put

Colin Whitters, IC West - 7th, 51-07.75

Joey Vanwetzinga, Pleasant Valley - 6th, 52-01.25

Discus

Whitters, IC West - 8th, 156-01

Notes

The only Iowa signee in action among the 4A prospects was Pleasant Valley's Joey Vanwetzinga, a Class of 2025 recruit who verbally committed to Iowa last summer; he finished 6th in the shot put this weekend.

The most notable other Iowa-associated athletes in action were Mason Woods and Julian Manson, a pair of prospects from Iowa City West who each have fathers on the Iowa staff (LeVar Woods and Jason Manson, respectively). Woods is a three-star athlete in the Class of 2025, while Manson is currently an unrated athlete in the Class of 2026; Woods has an Iowa offer, while Manson has Iowa interest at this time. They competed in several different individual and relay sprint events, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 4x200.

Braeden Jackson, an unrated RB recruit and possible PWO target for Iowa in the Class of 2025, helped Ankeny Centennial claim a state championship in the 4x200 relay.

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3A

100

Brevin Doll, ADM - 1st, 10.82

Will Hawthorne, Gilbert - 8th, 11.45

200

Doll, ADM - 1st, 21.50

400

Rayce Heitman, Williamsburg - 5th, 49.62

Jaxson McIntire, Clear Lake - 22nd, 54.00

4x100

ADM (Doll) - 2nd, 41.90

Western Dubuque (Grant Glausser) - 5th, 42.69

Williamsburg (Heitman) - 9th, 42.93

Gilbert (Hawthorne) - 17th, 44.08

4x200

ADM (Doll) - 1st, 1:25:55

Western Dubuque (Glausser) - 9th, 1:29.66

4x400

Williamsburg (Heitman) - 16th, 3:29.73

Sprint Medley

Williamsburg (Heitman) - 2nd, 1:31.97

Gilbert (Hawthorne) - 21st, 1:37.87

High Jump

Derek Weisskopf, Williamsburg - 4th, 6'7"

Shot Put

Weisskopf, Williamsburg - 8th, 53-01.00

Discus

Weisskopf, Williamsburg - 2nd, 179-08

Notes

The star of the 2A ranks -- and arguably of the entire weekend -- was ADM's Brevin Doll, who scorched the track with state championships in the 100m and 200m individual events as well as the 4x200 relay — and also helped ADM to a second-place finish in the 4x100 relay for good measure. ADM finished behind Harlan in the 4x100 finals at 41.90, though their 41.33 in prelims would have taken the crown with ease.

Doll had the fastest finals run in the 100m (10.82) across all classes -- and that was nothing compared to the state record he set of 10.40 in the prelims. Doll also had the fastest finals run in the 200m (21.50) across all classes, but like the 100m, his prelim time of 21.10 was even faster. Doll made up for missing last year's state tournament due to injury and then some with his performances this weekend; he was absolutely flying all weekend long.

Doll signed with Iowa last fall and is set to be a running back when he joins the team this summer.

The other notable 3A athlete in action was Williamsburg's Derek Weisskopf, a 2024 signee who will join the program as a linebacker this summer. Weisskopf wasn't able three-peat as a state champion in the high jump, finishing in fourth place this year. He also finished second in the discus.

The athlete who topped Weisskopf for the state championship in the discus also has some Iowa ties as it happens -- Solon senior Ben Kampman claimed the state title in the discus this year. Kampman is the son of former Iowa star defensive lineman Aaron Kampman. While Ben had some interest from Iowa, he did not receive an offer and committed to Duke last fall on a track scholarship.

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, and recruiting coverage. Sign up with Go Iowa Awesome here.

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2A

100

Graham Eben, Central Lyon - 23rd, 11.45

Jaxon Paulsrud, Cherokee - 16th, 11.33

DJ Vonnahme, Kuemper - DQ

200

Paulsrud, Cherokee - 10th, 22.67

Eben, Central Lyon - 20th, 22.92

4x100

Central Lyon (Eben) - 21st, 44.39

Roland Story (Fiston Carlson) - 14th, 44.01

Shot Put

Preston Ries, Monticello - 4th, 55-05

Mason Knipp, Columbus Catholic - 6th, 52-06.75

Discus

Ries, Monticello - 5th, 160-09

Notes

It was a quiet year for Iowa-affiliated athletes in the 2A ranks. The standout was Monticello's Preston Ries, who posted a 4th place finish in the shot put and a 5th place finish in the discus. Ries, who signed with Iowa last fall, will come in to Iowa City as a linebacker this fall.

Preferred walk-on Mason Knipp had a 6th place finish in the shot put. Two other preferred walk-ons, Central Lyon's Graham Even and Kuemper's DJ Vonnahme, were also in action this weekend.

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1A

4x400

Woodbine (Landon Blum) - 10th, 3:30.74

4x800

Woodbine (Blum) - 8th, 8:20.56

Distance Medley

Woodbine (Blum) - 2nd, 3:33.43

High Jump

Woodbine (Blum) - 5th, 6'3"

Notes

Woodbine's Landon Blum, a 6'5" wide receiver and Class of 2027 prospect, was the only 1A athlete with Iowa ties in action at the state tournament. Winfield-Mt. Union's Cam Buffington, the third of Iowa's 2024 in-state linebackers, did not compete this weekend.

Blum showed off his speed in a number of events, highlighted by helping Woodbine to a 2nd place finish in the distance medley race. Iowa State is the only school to offer Blum thus far, but his recruitment should heat up as his high school career progresses.