This trip to the state track meet was twice as nice for the Lisbon boys.
The Lions defended their title as 1A champs, crushing the competition with 76 team points. Woodbine was second with 49 and Wapsie Valley third with 47.
“This year we kind of knew, if we did what we needed to do, we should win,” Lisbon Coach Lonnie Speidel said. “We just went about our work and weren’t braggadocious.”
The Lions were humble … but there were signs. Including the interesting hairstyles the team wore, courtesy of Tiernan Boots’ sister.
A lot of competitors were looking at the back of those decorated heads as the Lions raced ahead of them. The Lions piled up team points in the sprint events.
Baylor Speidel won the 100, 200, and ran anchor on the winning 4×100 and 4×200 relays.
“That was his big goal, to try and get four golds,” coach Speidel said.
Baylor had disqualified in the 200 at the 2023 state meet, so this was extra special. His dad/coach even tried to motivate him a bit by warning him about Mount Ayr’s Ryce Reynolds. Speidel ended up beating him by .02 seconds.
The 4×200 set a new state record, finishing in 1 minute, 28.46 seconds. Also on that relay were Boots, Dakota Clark and Reid Fridley.
Coach Speidel said their state-qualifying time wasn’t the best (the Lions had the seventh-fastest time), so the record was that much more impressive.
“To break the state record out of lane one, that was pretty special,” Speidel said.
Behind Speidel, Boots finished second in the 100, .02 seconds behind his teammate. In addition to Clark, Boots and Speidel, the winning 4×100 relay included Quinn Coleman.
Sprints definitely boosted the Lions’ team score. The sprint medley of Coleman, Clark, Boots and Michael Gadberry finished fourth, and Gage Holub was fourth in the 110 hurdles (after coming in with the 10th-best time).
“When you have some of the top sprinters in your class, a lot of good things can happen,” Speidel said. “And they showed their strength
“But as I told the guys when we were getting our trophy, it was a total team effort. We had 13 guys score in 10 different events. Yes, our sprints are our bread and butter, for sure, but it was nice to have scores in 10 different events. It was truly a team effort.”
Also scoring at state for the Lions was Daylin Schaefer, who was second in the long jump (21 feet, 8 inches) after being seeded 11th, and Michael Gadberry, who was sixth in the 800. The 4×800 relay (Teague Krob, Anthony Armstrong, Brody Speidel and Gadberry) was fifth and distance medley (Coleman, Chase McFarlane, Cole Butteris, Gadberry) finished sixth.
Lisbon now is in position to match the threepeat the program pulled off in 2015, 2016 and 2017. A lot depends on one thing.
“We are right on the border of moving up to 2A,” Speidel said. “In 1A, we’ll have the power to threepeat.”
Girls
Speed. The Lisbon girls have it too.
The Lions placed first in the 4×100 and 4×200 with the same foursome of Brynn Epperly, Ava Czarnecki, Addie Clark and Addy Happel.
Those wins helped the Lions score 30 points and finish sixth in the 1A team race. Saint Ansgar won with 40 points.
In addition, the sprint medley, with the same four runners, placed third.
Also scoring was the shuttle hurdle relay of Mykala Luzum-Selmon, Clark, Epperly, and Kaitlynn Hasselbusch. They were seventh.
Class 1A boys
Team scores (top 10) – 1. Lisbon 76; 2. Woodbine 49; 3. Wapsie Valley 47; 4. (tie) Lenox 38 and Mount Ayr 38; 6. Madrid 33; 7. (tie) ACGC 24 and George-Little Rock 24 and Bellevue 24; 10. Sibley-Ocheyedan 23.
Lisbon events
100 – 1. Baylor Speidel 10.96. 2. Tiernan Boots 10.98.
200 – 1. Baylor Speidel 22.03. 11. Dakota Clark 22.57.
400 – 23. Daylin Schaefer 53.51.
800 – 6. Michael Gadberry 1:59.32.
110 hurdles – 4. Gage Holub 15.52.
400 hurdles – 14. Gage Holub 57.43.
4×100 – 1. Lisbon (Quinn Coleman, Dakota Clark, Tiernan Boots, Baylor Speidel) 42.33.
4×200 – 1. Lisbon (Tiernan Boots, Dakota Clark, Reid Fridley, Baylor Speidel) 1:28.46. New state record.
4×400 – 9. Lisbon (Cole Butteris, Chase McFarlane, Daylin Schaefer, Reid Fridley) 3:30.30.
4×800 – 5. Lisbon (Teague Krob, Anthony Armstrong, Brody Speidel, Michael Gadberry) 8:11.33.
Distance medley – 6. Lisbon (Quinn Coleman, Chase McFarlane, Cole Butteris, Michael Gadberry) 3:37.71.
Sprint medley – 4. Lisbon (Quinn Coleman, Dakota Clark, Tiernan Boots, Michael Gadberry) 1:35.13.
High jump – 13. Mason Lehmer 5-11.
Long jump – 2. Daylin Schaefer 21-8.
Shot put – 9. Jonah Reiling 48-5.75.
Class 1A girls
Team scores (Top 5, Lisbon) – 1. Saint Ansgar 40; 2. Nashua-Plainfield 38; 3. (tie) Council Bluffs St. Albert 37 and Riverside 37; 5. Panorama 36; 6. Lisbon 30.
Lisbon events
200 – 7. Addy Happel 26.94.
100 hurdles – 23. Kaitlynn Hasselbusch 17.83.
Shuttle hurdle – 7. Lisbon (Mykala Luzum-Selmon, Addie Clark, Brynn Epperly, Kaitlynn Hasselbusch) 1:09.12.
4×100 – 1. Lisbon (Brynn Epperly, Ava Czarnecki, Addie Clark, Addy Happel) 50.06.
4×200 – 1. Lisbon (Addy Happel, Ava Czarnecki, Brynn Epperly, Addie Clark) 1:46.93.
Sprint medley – 3. Lisbon (Brynn Epperly, Ava Czarnecki, Addy Happel, Addie Clark) 1:52.45.
High jump – 19. Mykala Luzum-Selmon 4-10.
Long jump – 19. Ava Czarnecki 15-1.5.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Courtesy photos Andrea Hasselbusch

Baylor Speidel, Tiernan Boots, Dakota Clark and Reid Fridley show that Lion pride on the podium stand for the Boys 4x200 meter relay squad’s first place finish with a season best and state record.