NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTOS BY STEVE BRANT – STC seniors Barrett Jesina (left) and Cadel Conner (right) both ran the 3200 at the state track and field meet. Jesina finished in 10th, while Conner finished in 7th.

DES MOINES — STC seniors Cadel Conner and Barret Jesina have pushed each other competitively all season. All of that paid off last week at the state track and field meet in Des Moines.

The distance duo finished in the top 10 of the 3200 meter run, which was held on Thursday afternoon, May 21, at Drake Stadium’s blue oval. Conner finished in a time of 9:22.17 to earn 7th place. The time earned a medal for Conner (top 8 finishers), a personal-best time, and a new-school record. Conner bettered his own school-record, which he had set two weeks earlier at the WaMaC conference meet at Benton (9:34.46).

“Heading into the 3200,” Conner said afterwards, “I wanted to run in the low 9:20s and better the school-record. I was able to do both of those and I am very grateful.”

Conner ran this season for STC after running for Grinnell his first three seasons. With the completion of his senior year at state, he took time to reflect on his one campaign with the Trojans.

“South Tama has been absolutely fantastic to me,” he said. “Coach Tapia and Eick were passionate, knowledgeable, and supportive. They cared about everyone on the team and they enjoy coaching. As an athlete, that’s what I love to see in coaches.”

The six members of the STC boys track and field team gather at the pep rally before heading to the state meet. They are (left to right): senior Timmothy Chandonia, senior Cadel Conner, senior Barrett Jesina, sophomore Ryan Brant, senior Nick Upah, and junior Josiah Houghton.

Jesina finished in 10th place in the 3200 with a personal-best time of 9:41.18. It was the final time he donned the Trojan blue jersey in his highly successful running career. The three-time state qualifier in cross country, and two-time state qualifier in track & field, will run for Central College in Pella starting in the fall. He leaves STC as one of only five runners in school history to run the 3200 in under 10 minutes (Conner, Jesina, Tommy Tyynismaa, Joe Hughes, and James Brant). He was also part of the first group of STC cross country runners to qualify for the state meet as a team in the fall of 2023.

Conner and Jesina ran against a historic field in the Class 3A 3200 race. Western Dubuque senior Quentin Nauman won with a time of 8:54. He was followed by Pella senior Canaan Dunham, who finished in 8:59.18. Nauman and Dunham are considered two of the finest distance runners in the history of the state of Iowa.

Conner also ran the 1600 on Saturday afternoon, May 23. He ran a personal-best time of 4:17.28, to, again, medal and finish in seventh place. Nauman and Dunham also finished one-two in this race, with Nauman running a winning time of 4:08.16. With the effort, Conner set his second school record this season, just edging Tyynismaa’s previous record of 4:17.35.

While in junior high, Conner had the opportunity to meet Tyynismaa because his older brother, Jonas, ran for Grinnell at the same time.

“Tommy, my brother, and other STC runners at that time were guys I really looked up to for their friendship, work ethic, humor, and humility. If you told me then that my name would be right up there alongside theirs, I would have said you were crazy,” he said.

The Trojans also had senior Timmothy Chandonia competing in the shot put at the state meet. Throwing on Friday afternoon, May 22, Chandonia finished in 20th place with a top throw of 49-00.25. Junior Greyson Hartman of Washington won the event in class 3A with a toss of 60-04.75. Chandonia graduates from STC having the second-best shot put throw in school history. His personal-best toss of 54-03.75 ranks only behind Chris Harrison (57-05.25 in 2002).

STC had one relay competing at state — the distance medley relay team of sophomore Ryan Brant, senior Nick Upah, junior Josiah Houghton, and Conner. The group ran on Friday afternoon and finished with a season-best time of 3:36.37. The performance was enough to earn them 13th place in Class 3A. Solon won the event with a time of 3:27.58.

The STC boys finished in 30th place as a team, among 40 teams, with a total of four points.