NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – Junior Timm Chandonia competes in the discus at the state qualifying meet in Mount Vernon. Chandonia finished seventh in the discus and qualified for the state meet in the shot put.

MOUNT VERNON — The list of athletic accomplishments for STC junior Barrett Jesina is already quite impressive. He has qualified for the state cross country meet — both individually and as a member of a team-qualifier. Along the way, he has won and placed high in many races in both cross country and track. However, one thing has alluded Jesina to this point in his career: a trip to the state track and field meet in Des Moines. Having gone the two previous seasons as an alternate, Jesina has yet to run on the famous blue oval at Drake.

But not any longer. Jesina punched his ticket to the state meet by finishing in third place in the 3200 at the state-qualifying meet on Thursday, May 15, at Mount Vernon High School. Jesina (10:28) finished behind Grinnell’s Cadel Conner (9:56) and Newton’s Lance Zaabel (10:20). With the top two finishers automatically qualifying for state, Jesina had to wait to see if he qualified as one of the runners with the next eight best times from across all Class 3A state-qualifying meets that evening.

It was an anxious wait for Jesina.

“The race went out fast, which I like for the two-mile,” he said after the race. “Around the 1-mile mark, the wind and the heat started to get to me. My legs got heavy, but I tried to push through it.”

Battling the elements, Jesina clocked in with a time that was 19 seconds off his personal best (10:09).

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC Senior Tyrus Clegg runs the third leg of the Spring Medley relay team.

“I was a little bit defeated at the end of the race when I saw my time, but as I started to see some other times from around the state, I realized that everyone was battling the weather as well,” he said.

Jesina assessed the situation accurately and ended up qualifying with the fifth best at-large time. At Drake Stadium this week, he will be seeded 17th out of 24 runners in the 3200.

“I’m really excited to run at Drake,” he said. “The atmosphere there is great, and I get to run against the best competition in the state. It should be really fun and I’m really excited to have this opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Trojan junior Timm Chandonia became the second Trojan athlete to qualify for state after he finished third in the shot put in Mount Vernon with a throw of 50 feet-8.75 inches. Finishing outside of the top two, Chandonia, like Jesina, waited the evening out to see if he qualified as an at-large thrower. His patience was rewarded, as Chandonia qualified as the third-best at-large competitor. Chandonia will be seeded 13th overall heading into state.

For the boys coaching staff of head coach Danny Mayo, distance coach Robert Tyynismaa, and throwing coach Sam Cantonwine, it marks another season of multiple state-qualifying athletes. After the meet in Mount Vernon, Coach Cantonwine reflected on Chandonia’s accomplishment. “Timm deserves this. He works so hard and puts in a lot of time. He watches videos, he wants to get better, and he looks for ways he can improve. He’s humble and he doesn’t realize just how good he really is,” he said.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – Freshman Ryan Brant runs the anchor leg of the Spring Medley relay team for STC.

Looking ahead to the state meet, Cantonwine is encouraged by Chandonia’s potential.

“I’m so proud of what he’s accomplished this season and we are hoping for a personal best throw at state,” Cantonwine said. “He’s been consistent in practice with some big throws, so hopefully he can bring home some hardware.”

In other action from the state-qualifying meet, four STC athletes or teams finished less than one second away from qualifying for the state meet. Sophomore Josiah Houghton finished fourth in the 400 hurdles with a personal best time of 57.25.

It was an impressive effort for Houghton, who ran the 400 hurdles for the first time in his career this season. He just missed qualifying for state, where the highest at-large qualifying time was 56.82. In a similar fashion, senior Cody Blocker and junior Nick Upah both found themselves just on the outside of qualifying in the 100-meter dash. Blocker finished fifth in Mount Vernon (11.72), and Upah came in sixth (11.84). The highest at large-qualifying time for State in the 100 was 11.25. Finally, the 4×100 team of sophomore Michael Henry, Blocker, senior Tyrus Clegg, and Upah finished in an impressive third place, with a time of 44.16. But they too barely missed qualifying for state, where the highest at-large time was 43.90 by West Burlington.

In other notable results from the evening, STC had three relay teams that secured points in the team standings. The 4×200 team of Upah, freshman Izak Schroeder, Henry, and Blocker finished in fifth place with a time of 1:35.18. The Distance Medley team of Houghton, freshman Ethan Page, freshman Ryan Brant, and senior Jerome Kapayou tallied 3 team points by finishing in 6th place (4:01.91). Finally, the 4×800 team of junior Carver Cecak, freshman Brady Jesina, freshman Henri Martinez-Alvarado, and Kapayou ran a time of 9:04.68 to finish in seventh place.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC junior Barrett Jesina finds himself in third place during the 3200. Jesina's time of 10:28.25 qualified him for the 2025 state track and field meet in Des Moines.

The Trojans finished in eighth place as a team at the state-qualifying meet with a total of 48 points. Newton dominated the meet on the boys’ side, winning with a total of 178 points. They were followed by Mount Vernon (102) and Grinnell (94).

The Boys State Track Meet will be held this week, May 22-24, in Des Moines. Jesina will run the 3200 on Thursday morning, May 22, at approximately 10:30 a.m. Chandonia will participate in the shot put on Friday, May 23, at 11:30 a.m.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – Junior Nick Upah explodes out of the starting blocks in the 100-meter dash. Upah finished in sixth place in the event.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – Freshman Izak Schroeder completes the second leg of the 4x200 relay. His team finished in fifth place at the state qualifying meet in Mount Vernon.