Ogden column: A special time and special athletes

It came in a text from my oldest son:

“Kids are too fast now ... Sheesh.”

The subject was Western Dubuque phenom Quentin Nauman after running the fastest 800- and 1,600-meter races in Iowa history at the state track and field championships in Des Moines last month.

My son, by the way, was a Drake Relays champion in the 4x800 relay during his senior year at UNI.

It was a remarkable performance from Nauman — 1:49.41 in the 800 and 3:59.60 in the 1,600. Those are the first sub-1:50 800 and the sub-4-minute 1,600 in state history.

And he did it on the same day. And he’s only a junior.

A special talent for sure, and we get to enjoy him for another season before he heads to the University of Oregon and the land of Steve Prefontaine. A track mecca for an elite runner.

But it’s more than just Nauman.

With the spring state sports season winding down this week with boys’ and girls’ soccer, it seems like we are witnessing a bit of a golden age of high school athletics.

Tennis players from Cedar Rapids Prairie and Xavier are reaching new heights, and the Saints’ Gabi Fleming is halfway to becoming a four-time state champion.

Maybe it seems like this every year; maybe it’s my age. But it does seem like young athletes are faster, bigger and stronger than they’ve been in the past.

We inside The Gazette sports department just completed our voting for 2025 Athlete of the Year honors. And the winners are ... you’ll have to wait until mid-July for the rest of that sentence.

These awards are special to me for many reasons, especially since they honor my late father, Jack Ogden. We’ll announce the semifinalists in the July 7 newspaper, the winners July 14.

But the list of nominees, as usual, was very impressive and figuring out a Top 5 on my ballot was not easy. It never is, but this year seemed a bit more difficult.

The girls’ list includes a 14-time state qualifier in North Linn’s Mackenzie Bridgewater, who also happened to be a four-sport athlete. There also is Libby Fandel of Cedar Rapids Xavier, the Miss Iowa Basketball who also was a three-time all-state volleyball player; Jayden Kuper of Monticello, a two-sport all-stater; Chloe Meester of Mount Vernon, an all-stater in volleyball and basketball; and Morgan Rupp of Linn-Mar, a three-time state golf champion.

There also were a pair of two-time state wrestling champions who ran track and played soccer or softball, as well, and an all-state basketball player who took up soccer as a senior and led her team in scoring.

At least one was her school’s valedictorian.

The boys’ list includes Anamosa’s Vince Diers, who played six different sports in high school and earned 14 varsity letters; Ryker Dengler of West Liberty, a five-sport athlete who played basketball and wrestled this past winter; Mason Bechen of North Linn, an all-stater in basketball and baseball who rushed for 900 yards in football as a sophomore before injuries ended his gridiron career; and Center Point-Urbana’s Nathan Miller, who won four state track titles last month.

The boys’ list also includes all-state football players (The Gazette’s player of the Year in Williamsburg’s Rayce Heitman), all-state basketball players and state wrestling placewinners galore.

The vast majority will continue their careers in college — from Coe, Wartburg and Kirkwood to Iowa, UNI, the Air Force Academy, Kansas and Louisville.

Every year I’m impressed, and a bit jealous, by these great lists. Did I do enough in my high school years? That’s a story for another day.

Enjoy these special times, these special athletes. Next year’s batch of seniors, which very likely will include Nauman, could be even better.

Comments: (319) 398-5961; jr.ogden@thegazette.com