Examining the 2025 area conference high school track and field meets: MVC, Wamac, River Valley and Tri-Rivers

The Martha Parsons Family Athletic Complex will host its first conference track and field meet Thursday.

The home team — the girls’ team — will be one of the star attractions.

Mount Vernon is favored to repeat as the Wamac Conference girls’ champion, with Marion providing a formidable challenge. Clear Creek Amana is the team to beat on the boys’ side.

The South Iowa Cedar League meet Tuesday — won by the HLV/Tri-County girls and the Iowa Valley boys — kicked off conference-championship week. The rest of the league titles will be divvied out Thursday.

Like the Wamac, the River Valley and Tri-Rivers will hold their boys’ and girls’ competitions together. The RVC is at Tipton, the TRC at Alburnett.

As for the Mississippi Valley Conference, that pie is split four ways. In the Mississippi Division, the girls are at North Liberty while the boys congregate at Saints Field. In the Valley Division, the girls are at Kingston Stadium, the boys at Dubuque.

Cedar Falls (MVC Valley Division) and Mid-Prairie (River Valley) are projected to sweep the titles of their respective leagues.

Here is a form chart for each of Thursday’s area meets:

MVC Mississippi Division

GIRLS (4:30 p.m., at North Liberty)

Field events fueled Linn-Mar to a divisional championship last year, and field events should help trigger a title repeat. Junior Abby Mecklenburg has soared more than 20 feet in the long jump on multiple occasions this season. She also is a major part of the Lions’ highly regarded sprint relays. In all, Linn-Mar is top-seeded in seven events. Western Dubuque, Iowa City West, Dubuque Senior and Cedar Rapids Kennedy comprise the chase pack.

Projected leaders: Linn-Mar 184, Western Dubuque 118, Iowa City West 102, Dubuque Senior 98.

BOYS (4:30 p.m., at C.R. Xavier)

Iowa City West is a team with no detectable weakness. The Trojans are projected to score 50-plus points in the field events, and are top-seeded in four relays. That combination gives them an advantage over Cedar Rapids Kennedy. The Cougars will rely on their sprint crew and their hurdlers to make a push. Western Dubuque has the individual star in junior Quentin Nauman, the Drake Relays champion in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

Projected leaders: Iowa City West 179, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 158, Western Dubuque 125, Dubuque Senior 87.

MVC Valley Division

GIRLS (4:30 p.m., at Kingston Stadium)

Two hundred points? Perhaps. Cedar Falls is expected to double-score in every individual running event, and could go 1-2 in the 800 and 1,500. The distance races are the domain of freshman Charlee Gall, who won twice at the Drake Relays. Cedar Rapids Prairie and Iowa City High are in a dead heat in the race for second. Sophomore Baylee Whitehill and freshman Paisley Joens are a pair of good young hurdlers for Prairie; City is led by junior thrower Rachel Haack.

Projected leaders: Cedar Falls 202, Cedar Rapids Prairie 141, Iowa City High 139, Dubuque Wahlert 85.

BOYS (4:30 p.m., at Dubuque)

One of the Class 4A favorites at the state meet in two weeks, Cedar Falls is the deepest and best team in this division. The Tigers will be top-seeded in nine events, including five relays. Their strength is most obvious in the distance events, headlined by juniors Jaden Merrick and Brennen Hoyer. Cedar Rapids Prairie will score more than its share, led by hurdles star Quinton Alexander. In a bit of a surprise, Waterloo West appears on paper to be the third-best team.

Projected leaders: Cedar Falls 195, Cedar Rapids Prairie 138, Waterloo West 112, Iowa City High 95.

Wamac Conference

(4 p.m., at Mount Vernon)

GIRLS

Marion has enough to match Mount Vernon on the track. It’s the stuff outside the oval that figures to swing the pendulum in Mount Vernon’s favor. Led by senior thrower Libby Dix, the Mustangs could approach 40 field-event points. Sophomore Evelyn Moeller paces the Mustangs’ distance corps. Marion has a tremendous sprinting duo in Abby Cave and Kenzie Lovell, with Kyra Cordes and Addison Dabroski leading the distance crew. Williamsburg is a third team capable of hitting 100 points.

Projected leaders: Mount Vernon 146, Marion 125, Williamsburg 102, Solon 84, West Delaware 76.

BOYS

Clear Creek Amana has a sure thing in both throwing events (senior Landon Prince is the Drake Relays champion in both and seemingly improving every meet), a young talent in sophomore sprinter/hurdler Tay Seals and enough sprinkled around elsewhere to enter as a solid favorite. Center Point-Urbana, led by senior Nathan Miller, appears to be the Clippers’ lone legitimate threat for the throne. CCA’s field-event superiority is likely to provide the final margin.

Projected leaders: Clear Creek Amana 137, Center Point-Urbana 114, Grinnell 86, Williamsburg 72, Mount Vernon 69.

River Valley Conference

(4 p.m., at Tipton)

GIRLS

Mid-Prairie remains competitive in its traditional bread and butter, the distance events. But the Golden Hawks’ biggest weapon comes in the sprints; freshman Jeorgia Evans is the top seed in the 100 and 200. Tipton senior star Noelle Steines is back in action after an early-season injury, so give the Tigers a slight edge over Maquoketa in the chase for the runner-up slot. The distance duels between Steines and Maquoketa’s Izzy Hardin will be must-see.

Projected leaders: Mid-Prairie 142, Tipton 112, Maquoketa 106, Cascade 63, West Branch 59.

BOYS

Look for Mid-Prairie to make a championship sweep of it. The Golden Hawks are steady throughout their lineup, with the distance trio of Emmett Swartzentruber, Jayse Yoder and Preston Yutzy likely to play a pivotal role in the competition. Tipton should snag a good amount of middle-distance points, and Bellevue should do likewise in the sprints. The top individual? That’s easy ... it’s Camanche senior Tyson Seeser, who has cleared 7 feet, 1 inch in the high jump.

Projected leaders: Mid-Prairie 116, Tipton 71, Bellevue 69, Anamosa 56, Monticello 54.

Tri-Rivers Conference

(4 p.m., at Alburnett)

GIRLS

Perhaps the tightest two-team race of any on Thursday’s area slate. If you’re a small school and can score across the board, you’re ahead of the game. And that’s where Maquoketa Valley is. The Wildcats are seeded in the top two in five relays, and are strong in the middle distances. That ought to be enough, by just a bit, to offset the sprinting prowess of Edgewood-Colesburg juniors Kaitlyn Hahn and Rylee Atkinson.

Projected leaders: Maquoketa Valley 129, Edgewood-Colesburg 117, East Buchanan 82, Lisbon 74, Alburnett 67.

BOYS

Lisbon is the two-time defending Class 1A state champion, and has ruled the Tri-Rivers in recent years. The Lions have star power in seniors like Tiernan Boots, Gage Holub and Daylin Schaefer, and they also have depth to score big in all seven relays. However, with the rise of Alburnett, Lisbon won’t “lap the field” as it has recently. Sophomore Laken Caves is a rising sprint ace for the Pirates, and junior Logan Ossman is the top seed in the 400 hurdles.

Projected leaders: Lisbon 170, Alburnett 140, Springville 95, Maquoketa Valley 86, Midland 54.

Thursday’s other area conference meets

IOWA STAR: 4 p.m., at Baxter (G/B)

NORTH IOWA CEDAR: 3 p.m., at Jesup (G/B)

NORTHEAST IOWA: 4:30 p.m., at Waukon (G/B)

SOUTHEAST: 4:30 p.m., at Fairfield (G/B)

SOUTHEAST IOWA SUPERCONFERENCE: 4 p.m., at Wayland (G/B)

UPPER IOWA: 4 p.m., at Monona (G/B)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com