Dallas Center-Grimes state track led by Arbuckle, Charlson

It was an eventful three days for the Mustangs at this year’s edition of the Iowa state track and field championships, with Dallas Center-Grimes taking on 21 events this year across both boys and girls teams. DCG’s first year in Class 4A last year saw the Mustangs make the cut in just eight events.

Boys

Leading the scoring effort for the Mustangs, senior Aidan Charlson added another layer to the illustrious history of DCG throwers. He capped his career with a throw of 53-foot-4, taking fifth place to add four points to the Mustangs’ team total.

Along with Charlson, the team saw five other seniors in their final events. John Kitenge placed 12th in the 200-meter dash prelims at 22.41 seconds. Jack Every ran in his third state tournament, taking 24th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.78 seconds. AJ Angus clocked 1:58.12 for 13th place while Sam Watkins sat in 21st at 1:59.80 in the 800-meter run. And in the discus event, Eli Rupp cleared 146-foot-10 for 13th place.

With room to grow, junior Elias Arbuckle took sixth place in the 1,600-meter run at 4 minutes 19.42 seconds. He brought the Mustangs back to the event after missing the cut last year in the transition to Class 4A.

And adding to the team’s final points of the three-day stretch, the 4x800 relay with Angus, Watkins, Sam Mora and Jack Meggison hit a new season-best time of 7:54.11 for seventh place. That was 10 seconds faster than the second place crew from 2022.

While they barely missed out on the finals, the 4x400 relay with Angus, Meggison, John Kitenge and Jimmy Seeman improved their personal record to 3:22.91 for ninth place. Like the 4x800’s improvement, that time was six seconds better their predecessors that placed third two seasons ago.

Girls

The team’s highest placement came from the Mustangs’ youngest member, as freshman Piper Messerly placed 10th overall in Class 3A in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:23.02. Junior Emily Meyers ran a time of 10:54.48 for 20th place.

Messerly also took 15th place in the 1,500-meter run. She crossed the finish line at 4:53.18, closely followed by sophomore Addison Dooley (5:00.36) in 22nd place.

Another freshman, Preslie King along with sophomore Jacey McFarland each cleared 5-feet in the high jump for 11th place, tied with six others.

The Mustang girls’ only senior solo-qualifier, Tess Meggison wrapped up her career with a 24th place tag in the 800-meter run at 2:36.48.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dallas Center-Grimes state track led by Arbuckle, Charlson