better.” Marpe currently sits in the top six in 3A in the open 200, and guys like Nolan Zehr and Ethan Wilcox give the Tigers depth in the sprints. The shuttle hurdle foursome of the Rash twins, Aidan and Ethan, Reggie Chittenden, and Brady Hurn broke a school record as well with a clocking of 1:03.86 early this season. And like the sprint relay, sophomore distance standout Logan Bleich hit his own blue standard to qualify for Drake in the 3,200 with a time of 9:14.87. That would have placed him third at
state a season ago, and his best 1,600 time of 4:20.97 this season would have earned him a state medal a season ago also. Add in the fact that Carson Squiers is also among the top mile and two-mile runners in the class and you start to under- stand why the Tigers could be a contender for meet team cham- pionships throughout the 2025 campaign. Franzen has been particularly pleased with the strides made by Squiers, who like Bleich is a two-time all-state cross country runner. The duo both placed in-
side the top 10 at the 2024 fall state meet when Gilbert broke the 3A team scoring record en route to its second straight state title. “Carson reminds me of Wil- liam Wadsley,” Franzen said. “The build William made from his freshman season to his sen- ior season, that’s what Carson is doing. He’s also shown me he has some speed.” Both Bleich and Squiers will have to contend with two of the state’s premier distance runners when the state meet rolls around. Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman and Pella’s
Canaan Dunham have both run sub-9:14 in the 3,200 and sub- 4:16 in the 1,600. Emmett Barber, Emrick Ryan and Preston Stensland, three more of those vaunted cross country runners, give Gilbert quality racers in the middle dis- tance events, as does Liam Trampel. Barber and Stensland both ran on the 2024 4x800 relay that medaled at state, while Ryan and Barber com- peted in the 4x400. Gilbert took a number of events to the state meet a sea- son ago — nine, to be exact — but came away with only four team points. The opportunities will certainly be there to score more this spring, as the Tigers look to chase down Raccoon River Conference power ADM, which finished second as a team behind only Western Du- buque at state in 2024. “ADM just always seems to have a lot of really good guys,” Franzen said. “Our conference is always tough and it will be again.” One thing working in Gilbert’s favor is it will get to run in front of its home fans when it hosts the league meet on May 7. “This is just one of those years where we’ve got guys ac- ross the board,” Franzen said. “I really like where we’re at.”
THURSDAY, MARCH 27: ADM EARLY BIRD Information: At Adel, 4:15 p.m. start time
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7: RACCOON RIVER CONFERENCE MEET Information: At Tiger Stadium, Gilbert, 4 p.m. start time
FRIDAY, APRIL 4: ROLAND-STORY COED Information: At Story City, 4:30 p.m. start time
THURSDAY, MAY 15: CLASS 3A STATE QUALIFYING MEET Information: At TBA, 4 p.m. start time
TUESDAY, APRIL 8: GILBERT COED Information: At Tiger Stadium, Gilbert, 4:30 p.m. start time
THURSDAY, MAY 22-SATURDAY, MAY 24: STATE MEET Information: At Drake Stadium, Des Moines, 9 a.m. start time each day
SATURDAY, APRIL 12: JIM DUNCAN INVITE Information: At Drake Stadium, Des Moines, 8:30 a.m. start time
Name
Gr Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr.
Name
Gr Jr. Jr. Jr.
MONDAY, APRIL 14: SOUTHEAST VALLEY INVITE Information: At Gowrie, 4:30 p.m. start time
John Artz
Aidan Rash Ethan Rash Emrick Ryan William Soupir Carson Squiers Preston Stensland Lucas Anderson Logan Bleich Marcus Jacob Micah Leyva Jordan Martinek Jace Tickle Liam Trampel Adrian Wallace Tayton Warg
Nathan Baldwin Emmett Barber Will Hawthorne Brayden Howard Danny Buss Brady Hurn Bowen Kruse Tristan Limoges Andrew Soupir Ethan Wilcox Nolan Zehr Emerson Congdon Zach Noe Wyatt Pink
Jr. Jr. Jr.
TUESDAY, APRIL 15: FRED SMITH RELAYS Information: At Ankeny, 4:30 p.m. start time
So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. Fr. Fr.
THURSDAY, APRIL 17: SAYDEL INVITE Information: At Des Moines, 4:30 p.m. start time
THURSDAY, APRIL 24-SATURDAY, APRIL 26: DRAKE RELAYS Information: At Drake Stadium, Des Moines, TBA for event start times
THURSDAY, APRIL 24: CARROLL TIGER RELAYS Information: At Carroll, 4:30 p.m. start time
Jack Dyche Ean Eldred Gabe Fierce
Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr.
Cam Zehr
Reggie Chittenden
Jace Davison Joshua Fink
Ayden Folkerts
Fr. Kaedan Mckernan-Nichols Fr. Teddy Pistilli Fr. Clark Savage Fr. Brody Soma Fr. Charles Wadsley Fr. Korben Wirth Fr.
MONDAY, APRIL 28: GILBERT COED RELAYS Information: At Tiger Stadium, Gilbert, 4:30 p.m. start time
Eli Hague
Lual Kenyang Tate Larson Landon Lucht Paul Marpe Cael O’Brien
Row 1: Nolan Zehr, Brayden Howard, Wyatt Pink, Nathan Baldwin, Tristan Limoges, and Zach Noe. Row 2: Will Hawthorne, Emmett Barber, Ethan Wilcox, Bo Kruse, and Brady Hurn.
FRIDAY, MAY 2: SOUTH HARDIN INVITE Information: At Eldora, 4:30 p.m. start time
SPRING 2025 | GAME ON 29
28 GAME ON | SPRING 2025
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