Woodward-Granger track wraps state with new records, esports places third

As baseball and softball take their first swings for Woodward-Granger, the Hawks had a handful of performances on the state’s biggest stage. (Events covered May 20-26)

Girls Track

It has been over 20 years since the Hawks had a sprinter make it to a state finals race. That was changed by Hayden Thomas at this year’s state meet on May 24, where she placed fifth, breaking her own school record in the process.

Running in Thursday’s prelims, Thomas made the cut in eighth place with a time of 12.64 seconds, fractions from her record. She geared up again on Saturday afternoon and found a new gear up against Pella Christian’s new state meet record holder. That seemingly brought the best out of nearly the entire field, with six of eight finalists setting a new PR, including Thomas, now holding the school record at 12.45 seconds.

“I worked really hard in the offseason for a type of race like this. The explosiveness, the blocks, it’s my favorite race. I get a lot of adrenaline from it,” the record-breaking sophomore said Saturday. “I almost PR’d every single meet. I kept getting better and better.”

Thomas was involved in two more record performances. First with Jaidyn Achenbach, Kristyn Crouse, and Andrea Nardini in the 4×100 relay running a new school record 50.92 seconds for 17th place. And also in the 4×200 with Crouse, Nardini, and Riley McCaulley with a new season-best 1:47.65 for 18th place.

“We learned a couple of new handoff drills we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks,” Nardini said after the 4×100, with the group noting they’ve been running together all season rather than mixing groups at all, bringing their time down from their original time of 53.05 seconds.

Adding to the team’s schedule, Achenbach placed 20th in the long jump (15-foot-5 ¼) and 100-meter hurdles (16.39 seconds). She previously set the school long jump record this season at 16-foot-5 ¼.

And in the field, the Hawks earned a couple more points on the scoreboard thanks to Kiki Gregory climbing the discus leaderboard. Coming ranked 14th, Gregory’s throw of 118-foot-10 added nearly five feet to her PR and moved her into seventh place. She also placed 11th in the shot put.

Boys Track

Woodward had five events at this year’s state meet, and ended on a high note for a number of their athletes.

Placed 16th last season in the 400-meter hurdles, senior Chandler Drake closed his high school career with a 15th place performance with a new season-best 56.77 seconds — almost a half-second improvement from last year’s mark.

“It was way less stressful this year,” Drake said. “Wish I could have done a little more as people passed me, but these are some of the top athletes in Iowa.”

Drake also helped set a season-best in the 4×800 relay with Alex Younts, Vinny Sebastian, and Cael Leighton. Their new time of 8:22.24 was good for 19th place.

Leighton was also involved in the long jump, returning to Drake Stadium in a solo event for the second year in a row. A junior, he looks to make it a third year in a row in 2026. He placed 22nd in the long jump at 19-foot-10. He previously set the school record at 21-05 this season.

Yet another dual-event participant, Kane Mahler-Moreno closed out his junior campaign tagged 11th and 15th in the discus (146-03) and shot put (48-08 ¾). 

esports

The spring season wrapped this month with the Hawks placing third in Class 1A at this year’s state tournament. Woodward came into the championships with a 7-0 regular season record. At the end of the season, the Hawks were one of just two teams that had 10 team wins this season and led the state with 21 game wins.

Girls Golf

Mallory Polito kept the season alive for the Hawks after advancing to the second round of regionals. On May 21, she took on the greens in West Marshall where she placed eighth with a score of 89, bringing her season to a close. The standout sophomore previously tied the 45-year-old school record with an 80 this season.