Last spring saw a couple of big surges from Woodward-Granger on the track and the field. Now it’s just about time to see what this next chapter holds for the Hawks.
Boys Track
Two Hawks made it to the state’s biggest stage last season and hope to make a return flight in 2025 and see who can tag along.
As a junior, Chandler Drake placed 16th in the 400-meter hurdles while sophomore Cael Leighton was not able to finish in the 400-meter dash after qualifying inside the top 24. Leighton was also the team’s top long jump specialist.
The Hawks have a couple of big spaces to fill with their top two 100-meter dash performers graduated from the previous year, as well as their top high-jumper.
W-G’s first peak at their status among their peers comes April 1 at East Marshall.
Girls Track
It was a wild year for the Hawks, bringing a Woodward-Granger record seven girls to the state track meet across five solo events and one school-record-breaking relay team. With the exception of Alaysia McCord who finished her career with a third place mark in the high jump, the rest of the group has a chance to get back to the state’s biggest stage.
A mainstay for the Hawks now after multiple state cross country appearances on top of her solo qualifying event in the 3,000-meter run last season is Eva Fleshner. She anchored last year’s spring medley team alongside Hayden Thomas (100-meter dash qualifier as a freshman), Charissa Klocke and Riley McCaulley.
Breaking through in the field events, Lauren Rodgers set her shot put personal record at Drake Stadium last year as a junior. Zoey Osmundson was also a qualifier in the 800-meter as a sophomore.
The Hawks’ return trek begins on April 1 in Earlham.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Woodward-Granger track stars get set for new season
