Union’s 4x100-meter shuttle hurdle relay team including (l-r) Sydney Anton, Reagan Sorensen, Jailyn Petersen, and Ava Mills pictured at Drake Stadium in Des Moines last week during the Iowa co-ed high school state track and field championships. The team advanced Thursday out of the preliminaries by finishing in the top-8 before medaling in the Saturday final with a sixth place finish overall. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

DES MOINES – Union’s hurdlers made their mark on Drake Stadium last week during the Iowa co-ed high school track and field championships bringing home medals in two events including Sydney Anton in the 100-meter hurdles and the girls 4X100 shuttle hurdle relay team.

A total of 11 Knights athletes qualified for state in Class 2A this year in both field and running events, competing amid broken attendance records at the Blue Oval over the course of three days.

Thursday, May 18

Thursday’s local highlight was set when Union’s girls shuttle hurdle relay team comprised of Ava Mills, Reagan Sorensen, Sydney Anton, and Jailyn Petersen crossed the finish line in eighth place in the preliminaries – securing a spot in the finals that were set for Saturday morning.

The team clocked in at 1:08.168, beating out ninth-place Underwood by a photo-finish two-thousandths of a second. With only the top-8 teams advancing to the finals, it was a finish by anchor Petersen for the ages.

Union distance runner Amilia Condon competes in the Class 2A girls 3,000-meter run on Thursday, May 18 in Des Moines during the Iowa co-ed high school state track and field championships held on the Blue Oval at Drake Stadium. Condon finished 11th in the race and set a personal record. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Also on Thursday, Union runner Kate Carlson competed in the girls’ 400-meter dash, finishing 19th and setting a personal record with 1:02.98, while her teammate Mason Mullen finished 21st in the boys’ event with a time of 53.21.

Distance runner Amilia Condon competed in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:07.75 for an 11th-place finish.

On the field, Brigitte Rohrer took 16th in shot put with a put of 34 feet, 10 inches.

Friday, May 19

Hurdler Sydney Anton lit up the Knights’ roster once again on Friday by advancing out of the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries for a spot in the finals set for Saturday afternoon.

Union’s Ava Mills, right, clears a hurdle on Saturday, May 20, during the Iowa co-ed high school state track and field championships Class 2A girls shuttle hurdle relay race. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Anton, a junior, took seventh in the event with a time of 15.50 and set a personal record in the process. She also competed in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday – finishing 10th with a time of 1:07.81.

Following the girls’ event, fellow Knights shuttler Logan Rosauer competed in the boys 110-meter hurdles preliminaries. Rosauer finished in 20th place with a time of 16.71.

Three Union athletes qualified for Friday’s field events including juniors Brigitte Rohrer and Alley Freemon. Rohrer finished 18th with a throw of 101 feet, 5 inches, while Freemon finished 20th with a throw of 99 feet, 11 inches.

Sophomore Justice Luke qualified for the boys’ high jump but did not clear the bar in his three attempts.

Saturday, May 20

Union’s Reagan Sorensen clears a hurdle on Saturday, May 20, during the Iowa co-ed high school state track and field championships Class 2A girls shuttle hurdle relay race. Sorensen and her teammates advanced from the event’s Thursday preliminary by placing eighth before taking sixth overall during the final held on Saturday. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

On Saturday afternoon, Amilia Condon was back on the Blue Oval, competing in the girls 1,500-meter run. She finished 14th in the event with a time of 4:58.64, setting a new personal best – her previous record was 5:02.16.

Anton was also back on the track Saturday afternoon, competing in the finals of the Class 2A girls 100-meter hurdles. She finished seventh with a time of 15.79, becoming a state medalist in the process. Anton beat Ogden’s Taydem Graden who came in eighth, while first place went to Clara Teigland of Treynor who finished in 14.92.

Union’s 4X100-meter shuttle hurdle relay team took part in the finals as well on Saturday, earning a state medal by finishing in sixth place with a time of 1:09.13.

Knights runners Ava Mills, Reagan Sorensen, Sydney Anton, and Jailyn Petersen ended up running alongside some of the fastest runners ever in the girls shuttle hurdle relay with the champion and runner-up teams from Sioux Central (1:04.67) and Ridge View (1:04.75), respectively, setting new state records.

All of Union’s state qualifiers this year were underclassmen meaning next season has the potential to be one for the history books for Knights athletes.

Union’s Jailyn Petersen, right, anchors the Knights shuttle hurdle relay team during the Iowa co-ed high school state track and field championships on Saturday, May 20 in Des Moines. Petersen and her teammates finished sixth overall, earning medalist honors. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Amilia Condon’s 3,000-meter run at state track this year was not a personal best. We regret the error.