Krause, Russell prepare for state meet
May 17—On Thursday, hundreds of kids from across the state will be competing at the Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Two of those individuals are teammates Keegan Krause and Ajai Russell from Clinton High School.
Krause placed second at the state qualifier meet with a discus throw of 164-04 to earn himself an automatic appearance at state. He also placed second in shot put with a throw of 50-04. Both distances smashed his old personal bests by more than five feet.
"It was pretty good to celebrate and enjoy a weekend with good vibes," Krause said.
On the other hand, his teammate Ajai Russell had to wait until Friday to see if he made it. Russell's throw of 155-05 was good enough to post the tenth best discus distance in the state and earn him a spot.
"It felt pretty good. The coaches were telling me the whole time that they were 90 percent sure I made it in. I was pretty excited but I got to keep working to place better at state," Russell said.
Krause and Russell each look to continue their momentum going into state but have a few days of practice before they will let it loose on Thursday morning.
"We're really trying to work on our form and our fundamentals. We're not going too hard because we want to save what we got for state," Russell said.
"We've been using the bands to get into good positions and tweaking on some angles to get the disc flying," Krause added.
Russell and Krause have consistently gotten better week to week with improvements happening all the time.
"It's been great to see all the work we put in out here come through at our meets," Russell said.
For Russell this is only his junior year, which his coach Kellen Schneeberger thinks is a sign for a bright future at Clinton High School.
"We're graduating kind of a lot so Addison [Binnie], Jeremy [Galloway] and Ajai are going to be big for us. This experience is going to help build the program to the next level," Schneeberger said.
"It's cool because this is only my second year doing this. It's something new that I picked up and I've really been enjoying it," Russell said.
On the other hand, Krause is a senior who looks to make the most out of this experience.
"I'm really excited and if I can place in the top eight and get some good throws and prs I will be really happy," Krause said.
For both athletes having a teammate can help in multiple ways. The confidence boost and stress relief were both things that each athlete mentioned.
"It's a really big confidence boost to have someone there to talk to. He also helps take the nerves away from the competition," Krause said.
Both Krause and Russell look to have an exciting weekend and end their season with a bang.
"It's really exciting and we're just going to go out there and represent Clinton." Russell said.
The Iowa High School Track & Field State meet begins this Thursday, May 19 at 9 a.m. and will go until Saturday, May 21. Boys 4A discus will be Thursday morning at 11:30 a.m.
