Ballard's Paityn Noe breaks two 3A records at state co

Ballard senior Paityn Noe finished off her legendary career as a distance runner by setting Class 3A records in the girls 3,000 and 1,500-meter running events at the state co-ed track and field meet last Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Noe also helped the Ballard girls distance medley team set a school record and place fifth in 3A and the 4x800 team come in seventh.

The Bomber boys track and field team had a breakout performance at state. The Ballard 4x800, 4x400 and sprint medley relay teams, open 400 runners Chance Lande and Jameson Witt and long jumper Chase Ihle all far exceeded expectations.

The Ballard boys placed third in the 3A 4x800 after entering state ranked 15th, the 4x400 team took seventh in the 4x400 after coming 18th and the sprint medley team set a school record and placed 13th after entering the meet 21st. Lande and Witt went eighth and 12th, respectively, in the open 400 after coming in 13th and 16th and Ihle placed fourth after his qualifying jump ranked 15th.

The Collins-Maxwell girls saw Chloe Wierson place 11th and 17th, respectively, in the 1A 100 and 200 prelims and 16th in the girls high jump. Mary Staudt wrapped up her throwing career by taking 20th in the discus.

The Spartan boys had Luke Huntrods place 15th in the discus, Ethan Haus 16th in the 3,200 and their distance medley team 24th in 1A. The Ballard golf teams wrapped up their seasons last week.

The Bomber boys tennis team defeated North Polk in the 1A substate round, 5-4, May 17 at Alleman to advance to the 1A boys state team tournament. The 1A state team tournament will be held May 31-June 1 at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center in Iowa City.

The Ballard girls tennis team ended its season with a with a 5-1 loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier in the 1A Region 3 finals May 16 at Cedar Rapids.

The Ballard golf teams wrapped up their seasons last week.

The Bomber boys just missed out on qualifying for state after placing third at the 3A district meet held at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club with an 18-hole score of 322. The Ballard girls took fifth at the 3A regional final meet at the Carroll Country Club with an 18-hole score of 401.

The Ballard girls soccer team also saw its season come to a close. The Bombers finished the season with a 5-0 loss at home to Bondurant-Farrar in the final game of the regular season May 16 and a 3-1 setback against Solon in the opening round of 1A regionals.

The Ballard boys soccer team defeated Panorama by a 2-0 score in the first round of 2A regionals at Huxley May 15. The Bombers improved to 5-10 with the win.

The high school baseball season also began last week.

Ballard started off 3-1 with a 4-1 loss at Dallas Center-Grimes May 15, a 13-3 victory over Webster City at Nite Hawk Field in Slater May 18 and doubleheader sweep of Grinnell Friday at Grinnell with 11-1 and 6-1 victories. Collins-Maxwell won its opener over Ogden by a 7-3 score May 16 at Collins then suffered 6-3 losses at Lynnville-Sully May 17 and at I-35 Friday.

Here is what we learned from this week's Ballard and Collins-Maxwell high school sports competition.

Noe finished her remarkable career as one of the all-time great female distance runners in Iowa high school history with her stellar performance at the state co-ed track meet.

Noe ran a 9:38.82 in the 3,000 Thursday to shatter the old 3A mark of 9:55.17 set by Davenport Assumption's Joy Ripslinger. Noe won the race by 51.78 seconds over Adel-Desoto-Minburn's Geneve Timmerman.

"I didn't know exactly what it (the record) was and then when I was running I actually heard him say it," Noe said. "I was like, I can get that."

Noe got it with ease. She dominated the 3A girls 3,000 field, winning the race by 51.78 seconds over long-time rival Geneva Timmerman of Adel-Desoto-Minburn.

Two weeks ago, Noe won the 3,000 at the Drake Relays in 9:28.89, finishing just shy of the Relays record of 9:26.87. She got caught in a crowd early at Drake and was determined not to let that happen at state.

Noe broke free of the pack early at state and left no doubt.

"Going into it that was my goal, to not get locked in that first lap," Noe said. "I was really happy when I was out right away. I really just got into the groove of it from there."

Once she was out in front there was no stopping her. Noe built a huge lead entering the final lap. As she began the final 400 meters, Noe received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted until after she crossed the finish line.

"The entire way people were cheering me on," Noe said. "You're like wow...this is so amazing. I grateful I'm even in this position. It was pretty awesome."

Ballard's Ava Vance took 19th in the race with a time of 11:39.45.

Later Thursday, Noe anchored Ballard's 4x800 team to its seventh-place finish. Annika Larson, Brenna Baumgardner and Ava Richardson ran the first three legs in helping Ballard finish in 9:49.61.

On Friday Noe anchored Ballard to its school-record time of 4:12.70 in the distance medley. Noel Boettger and Kate Miller ran the two 200 legs and Katie Tollefson took the 400 before handing it off to Noe to run the final 800.

"I've run this race three years at state," Katie Tollefson said. "It's cool to finally get the record. We've broken it twice this year, so I'm proud of us for doing that."

Saturday saw Noe end her career with another record performance. She ran a 4:28.80 in the 1,500 to break the previous 3A mark of 4:36.96 set by future Arkansas teammate Ainsley Erzen of Carlisle last season.

"Going into it I knew Ainsley Erzen and her past record, so I kind of had that in mind," Noe said. "Last lap when he said I think she has a chance...send her home, the crowd got really loud and it was just pushing me at the end."

Noe won the race by 18.64 seconds over Pella freshman Marissa Ferebee. It was the perfect capper to her senior season and overall career for the future Arkansas Razorback.

"I don't know if it's set in completely because I have a lot more to come," Noe said. "I'm done with one small step in my entire journey, but maybe over the next few days talking to my teammates it will hit me a little bit more. I am so grateful for Ballard introducing me to running, helping me get better and better and loving the sport along the way. It's been awesome."

After missing her freshman season of track due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Noe placed fourth in the 3,000 and fifth in the 1,500 as a sophomore and won the 3,000 and took second in the 1,500 as a junior before pulling off a record-setting championship sweep of the events as a senior. She also helped Ballard take sixth in the 4x800 as a junior before leading the Bombers in two top-seven relays as a senior.

In cross country, Noe placed third individually as a freshman and second to teammate Shewaye Johnson as sophomore before winning the last two 3A state championships. Her 16:48.58 time as a senior is not only the best 5k time in history for Iowa high school female runners by over 35 seconds, it marks the first time anyone in the state has ever broken 17 minutes.

Noe was part of two 3A team champions and a pair of second-place teams in her four years of cross country at Ballard.

"Paityn was the face of Ballard cross country and track and field for the last few years and through her development as a runner she emerged as the face of girls distance runners for the state of Iowa," Ballard coach Scott Barth said. "She gave a whole new generation of Ballard and Iowa girls a role model in both her running accomplishments and also in how she handled her success with humility and grace. She is leaving a legacy that inspires all athletes."

Larson and Vance will try and help fill the void of Noe's absence next season. Larson took 12th in the 3A girls 1,500 Saturday with a time of 4:58.18 and she came in 16th in the 800 with a time of 2:23.63.

Boettger also ran in an individual event at state for the Ballard girls. The Bomber senior finished 20th during Thursday's 3A 200 prelims with a time of 26.91.

As a team the Ballard girls took ninth in 3A with 26 points.

The Ballard boys track team has been in the shadow of the girls program over the last few years as the Bombers struggled to get athletes to the state meet.

That changed this weekend. The Bombers served notice by not only qualifying in five events, they outperformed their seeding in each of them in placing 19th in 3A with 14 points.

On Thursday, the Bomber 4x800 team placed third in Class 3A after entering state 15th and Chance Lande and Jameson Witt go from being ranked 13th and 21st to finishing eighth and 12th, respectively.

The Ballard 4x800 team of Trent Payne, Jameson Witt, Jakson Fleischmann and Chance Lande clocked in at 8:06.16 to trail only North Polk's 7:58.17 and Western Dubuque's 8:03.64. Lande ran the 400 in 50.55 and Witt finished in 51.01.

Friday saw Chase Ihle come in 15th in the long jump and finish fourth and Ballard's 4x400 team advanced to the finals after coming in ranked 18th.

Ihle jumped 21-8.25. The only athletes to beat him were Charles City's Josiah Cunnings (22-2.5), Bishop Heelan's Sean Schaefer (21-9.75) and Harlan's Brehden Eggerss (21-8.5).

The Bomber 4x400 team of Witt, Jakson Fleischmann, Eli Rouse and Lande ran a time of 3:25.07 in the prelims to take seventh and advance to the finals.

Saturday saw a Bomber sprint medley team go from 21st to 13th and set a school record with a time of 1:35.40, and the 4x400 team ended up placing seventh with a time of 3:23.87.

"My grade and the grade above me completely changed the trajectory of Ballard track," Lande said. "We kind of brought it back from the ashes and made a great impact here."

Lande, a junior, was joined by Jayden Swain, Jaden Peasley and Eli Rouse in the sprint medley Saturday. He had a simple solution as to why Ballard did so well over the three days at state track.

"Honestly, I think it's the crowd," Lande said. "It gets me going and I know it gets the guys going. I just makes you want to go out and put on a show for everybody and I think we came out here and did that."

Collins-Maxwell's Chloe Wierson and Luke Huntrods both placed in the top 15 during a Class 1A event at the state track meet.

Wierson took 11th in the 1A girls 200 prelims and Huntrods placed 15th in the boys discus. Wierson ran a time of 27.01 and Huntrods peaked with a throw of 129-9.

Wierson also competed in the 1A girls 100 prelims and high jump. She took 17th in the 100 with a time of 13:39 and placed 16th in the jump with a jump of 4-10.

Mary Staudt threw the discus for the Spartan girls at state. She came in 20th with a throw of 100-9.

Ethan Haus ran the 1,600 for the Collins-Maxwell boys. Haus finished 16th in 10:20.46.

The Spartan boys also ran the distance medley. Jace Huntrods, Caleb Dvorak, Josef Dvorak and Haus teamed to run a 3:51.82 and place 24th.

The Ballard boys tennis team came through when it mattered most May 17.

The Bombers outlasted North Polk in the 1A Substate 7 finals by winning the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles matches then taking the Nos. 2 and 3 matches in doubles play.

In singles play Jace Krogh defeated North Polk's Derrick Rhoads in straight sets, 6-3 and 7-6 (10-8), during the No. 4 match and Dawson Brekke rallied from a 7-6 (7-1) loss in the first set to the Comets' Vance Rupp to take the next two by identical 6-2 margins for the victory in the No. 5 match. Isaiah Zeigler won the No. 6 match over North Polk's Elijah Dickinson with a 6-3, 6-1 sweep.

Caden Miller and Brekke gave Ballard a victory in the No. 2 doubles match. They defeated North Polk's team of Rupp and Landon Murch in straight sets with a pair of 6-2 victories.

Krogh and Ryan Culp won the No. 3 doubles match over North Polk's team of Rhoads and Dickinson. The Bomber duo pulled off a 6-3 win in the first set, lost the second in a 7-5 battle then won the third with a 6-0 shutout.

The Ballard girls tennis team picked up one victory against Xavier during its regional final match.

The Bombers scored a victory in the No. 5 singles match. Ellie Volkman swept the Saints' Isabel Barnes by 7-5 and 6-2 scores.

Gracie Ross pushed Xavier's Isabel Tobin to a third set in the No. 3 match. Ross won the first set by a 6-1 score, but then dropped the second by a 6-4 score and then fell in the ultimate tiebreaker, 1-0.

With its five wins in singles play Xavier secured the victory, so there was no doubles competition. Ballard ended its season with an impressive 11-3 record.

The Ballard boys golf team came close to reaching state, finishing just nine strokes behind Winterset's runner-up score of 313 at the 3A district meet in Atlantic.

ADM won with a score of 300.

Brady Kruger and Mason Gatchel both shot under 80 to lead Ballard individually. Kruger tied for eighth with a 78 and Gatchel took 11th with a 79.

Brenden Wright tied for 13th with an 82 and Andrew Princehouse shot an 83 to tie for 16th as the other Bombers to turn in counted scores. Lincoln Miller placed 22nd with a 90 and Jake Oldenkamp was 26th with a 102.

The Ballard girls finished just two strokes out of fourth at the 3A regional final meet in Carroll. The Bombers came in behind Gilbert (321), Nevada (350), Atlantic (395) and ADM (399).

Chastyn Gering tied for 13th with a 95 to pace the Bomber girls. Alliyah Thompson tied for 15th with a 97, Maddie Kielsmeier took 26th with a 104 and Madison Maire tied for 29th with a 105 to round out Ballard's scoring.

Aubrey Estrem placed 36th with a 107 and Madelyn Baltes 46th with a 113.

The Ballard boys soccer team scored 1 goal in each half and played great defense for all 80 minutes to get past Panorama and into the 2A substate semifinals.

Luis Renk de Moura and Jack Nelson each scored 1 goal and Logan Huntrods and Caleb Lehmkuhl dished out one assist apiece for Ballard in the win. Parker Becker stepped up with 15 saves at keeper.

The Ballard girls fell behind 4-0 at the half and never recovered in their loss to Bondurant-Farrar. Maddie Catron had five saves and Kora Johnson one.

Lily Beall and Megan Rowedder each had two shots on goal for Ballard in the loss.

The Bombers trailed Solon 2-1 at the half and could not get anything going on offense over the final 40 minutes in the 1A Region 2 semifinals. They finished the season with a 7-8 record.

Katie Tollefson scored the lone Ballard goal against Solon off an assist from Rowedder. Catron made six saves.

The Ballard baseball team did not have much success at the plate in its opening game against DCG.

The Bombers scored their only run in the top of the seventh inning. They finished with just one hit on a single from Zach Bradfield.

Jacob Luster walked and scored Ballard's run. Eli Rouse walked three times and stole a base and Trent Payne drew two free passes.

Great pitching kept Ballard in the game. Rouse gave up two earned runs on two hits with nine strikeouts and four walks in 6 2/3 innings as the losing pitcher.

Ballard atoned for its poor offensive outing against DCG with an explosive game against Webster City followed by two more strong outings at the plate versus Grinnell.

Nicolas Schonhorst doubled, tripled and drove in three runs, Miles Mudd went 3-for-3 with two runs and Rouse, Owen Greco and Peasley each had two hits and runs apiece, with Peasley also picking up an RBI against the Lynx. Greco gave up four hits and struck out 10 with one walk in five innings as the winning pitcher.

In the 13-3 victory over Grinnell Luster drove in three runs, Peasley was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs and RBIs apiece and Mudd and Jaren Njos each chipped in two RBIs.

Peasley got the win after allowing one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in five innings.

In the 6-1 victory over the Tigers Peasley doubled and drove in a run, Greco was 1-for-2 with a double, run and RBI apiece and Luster singled and scored twice. Mudd gave up one unearned run on one hit with five strikeouts and three walks in six innings as the winning pitcher.

Freshman Cooper Wierson had a solid pitching outing to get the Collins-Maxwell baseball team past Ogden in its opener.

Wierson gave up one run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings as the winning pitcher. He also walked twice and scored a pair of runs on offense.

Caleb Dvoark hit a solo home run and scored twice and Josef Dvorak and Dillon Howerton each drove in a run.

Collins-Maxwell scored three times in the first inning then went cold in its loss to Lynnville-Sully.

Wierson went 2-for-4 with a run, Luke Huntrods was 1-for-3 with one run and RBI apiece and Blake Huntrods and Josef Dvorak each added an RBI. Jace Huntrods took the loss against the Hawks after allowing five earned runs on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

The Spartans were hurt by an early 6-1 deficit in their loss to I-35.

Jace Huntrods was 1-for-4 with one run and RBI apiece, Josef Dvorak singled and drove in a run and Wierson was 1-for-2 with three steals, two walks and a pair of runs. Luke Huntrods took the loss against the Roadrunners after giving up six earned runs on two hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.