Woodward-Granger’s McCord places third at state, young group excited for future

In the span of three years, Woodward-Granger went from two qualifiers at the state track meet in 2022, to four in 2023 and now eight at this year’s meet Thursday and Friday in Des Moines. Success in Woodward just keeps growing, and there’s no lid to be found.

Girls

After submitting three qualifying events last year, this marked the second straight year that the girls track team enjoyed multiple events — six to be exact. And not only did the Hawks bring a truckload to Drake’s blue track, Alaysia McCord placed third in the high jump in a dramatic climax of her career.

A qualifier last year, McCord was not able to clear the opening height, leaving an empty scorecard. That left her a “little nervous” coming into the season, McCord said after her final jump Friday. That jump left her at her personal record of 5-foot-2, tied for bronze with four other girls in Class 2A, scoring the first points for W-G since before 2020.

“I just felt like I needed to push myself harder,” McCord said. “Just a lot of training and extra work in and out practice.”

Also breaking ground, the Hawks ran the distance medley with Hayden Thomas, Charissa Klocke, Riley McCaulley, and Eva Fleshner — the first relay qualifier in over five years. Placed 24th at 4 minutes 33.92 seconds, the group is excited to see what they can do in future seasons.

Not only is Thomas a freshman, she’s the first Hawk to run hit 13 seconds in the 100-meter dash, a time that placed her 16th in the event on Thursday. And despite battling an injury all season, Fleshner is now a three-time solo qualifier after placing 15th in the 3,000 meter run this year. She along with McCaulley and Klocke are all sophomores.

“We’re young. We should be back next year,” the group said. “The next few years will be really fun.”

Along with that group coming back in 2025, Lauren Rodgers has one more season after finishing her junior campaign with a discus personal record of 106-foot-8. And 800-meter qualifier Zoey Osmundson still has two years left after cracking the top-24 in the class this year, finishing her sophomore campaign at 2:37.57.

Boys

The Hawks had two qualifiers on the boys circuit, Cael Leighton in the 400-meter dash and Chandler Drake in the 400-meter hurdles. And like the girls’ side, both are due back for another go.

Drake only started running the distance hurdles halfway into the season, making it to Drake on raw power and speed. Following his 16th place finish at 57.12 seconds, Drake said he’s still working on his form and hopes to clean up for another qualifying bid his senior year.

Leighton was unable to run, but he has two more seasons to get back to the final circuit. He shed over one full second year-over-year on his 400 time down to 52.23 seconds.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Woodward-Granger’s McCord places third at state, young group excited for future