Iowa girls’ track and field 2021: Gazette area individuals and teams to watch

Gazette area individuals and teams to watch for the 2021 Iowa high school girls' track and field season.

Individuals to watch

Meredith Bahl, jr., Western Dubuque — 3rd in the 4A high jump in 2019.

Emma Bock, jr., Solon — Part of a 3A 1,600-meter title team in 2019. 3rd in the distance medley, 6th in the 800.

Brielle Buresh, jr., Decorah — Part of a 3A 2nd-place sprint medley relay in 2019. 3rd in the 400 relay, 5th in the 100, 6th in the 800 relay.

Gabby Cortez, jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie — 5th in the 4A 400 in 2019. 7th in the sprint medley and distance medley relays.

Macy Daufeldt, jr., West Liberty — Won the 2A long jump in 2019.

Gabrielle Guilford, sr., Monticello — 4th in the 2A high jump in 2019.

Annie Gahan, sr., Iowa City Regina — 5th in the 2A 400 hurdles in 2019. 7th in the sprint medley relay.

Lily Haars, jr., Linn-Mar — 4th in the 4A 1,600-meter relay in 2019. 8th in the 400.

Danielle Hostetler, fr., Mid-Prairie — Class 2A state cross country champion last fall.

Ashlyn Keeney, jr., Iowa City Liberty — Won the 4A 3,000 and 1,500 in 2019. 2nd in the 800 and distance medley relay.

Amy Liao, sr., Iowa City West — 3rd in the 4A shuttle hurdle relay in 2019. 5th in the 400 hurdles.

Haley Meyer, jr., Lansing Kee — Member of the 1A-champion 3,200-meter relay and distance medley relay in 2019. 7th in the 1,500. 1A state cross country champion last fall.

Micah Poellet, sr., Linn-Mar — 4th in the 4A 1,500, 5th in the 3,000 in 2019. 6th in the 3,200 relay. 5th in the 4A state cross country race last fall.

Amber Swart, sr., Mid-Prairie — A member of the 2A champion distance medley relay in 2019. 3rd in the sprint medley relay, 4th in the 800 relay.

JoJo Tyynismaa, jr., South Tama — 3A state runner-up in the 100 hurdles in 2019. 8th in the shuttle hurdle relay and 400 relay.

Teams to watch

Iowa City Liberty — The Lightning climbed into the Class 4A upper tier in 2019, placing fourth behind 1,500- and 3,000-meter champion Ashlyn Keeney, now a junior. Keeney also anchored the runner-up distance medley, and seniors Chaise Lange and Devin Dunson also return from that unit.

Iowa City West — Mike Parker welcomes back seven state placewinners from a team that finished 11th in the 2019 4A competition. That nucleus includes three members (Amy Liao, Ella Woods and Matayia Tellis) from a third-place shuttle hurdle relay squad, and all four runners of a seventh-place 3,200 relay.

Linn-Mar — The Lions were fifth in the 4A team race in 2019, and eight state placewinners are back, led by senior Micah Poellet, who was fourth in the 1,500, fifth in the 3,000 and is one of four runners back from a sixth-place 3,200 relay. Senior Leah Gorsich anchors the sprint relays, and junior Lily Haars was on the fourth-place 1,600 relay and ran solo to eighth place in the 400.

Mid-Prairie — The Golden Hawks probably would have won their third consecutive 2A title in 2020, had a season occurred. They'll go for that third title in May behind freshman Danielle Hostetler, who won a state cross country title last fall, as well as Amber Swart, a senior who ran on three top-four sprint relay teams.

Solon — The Spartans have become a consistently strong program, and look to build on a Class 3A fifth-place finish of 2019 behind junior Emma Bock, who ran on the winning 1,600-meter relay and the third-place distance medley. She was sixth in the 800.

Williamsburg — Relays are the name of the game with the Raiders, and five runners who scored on state relays in 2019 are back, led by junior Kendra Eichhorn and senior Gracie Ehret, who were on three placewinning tandems.

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com