Garner-Hayfield-Ventura Girls, West Hancock Boys Capture Top of Iowa West Track & Field Titles

On Thursday,  North Union hosted the coed Top of Iowa West Conference Track and Field Championships at the North Union High School football field and track in Armstrong. It was a good day for a couple of Hancock County teams as they walked away with conference titles.

On the girls’ side, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura were the TIC West Conference Girls Track and Field Champions with a point total of 173, edging out second-place Forest City by 33 points. The second-place finish by Forest City ended their run of four consecutive conference championships. The Cardinals finished in the top two in 15 of the 19 events on the evening, racking up eight wins with seven runner-up finishes. GHV defeated Forest City at the Cardinals’ home meet earlier in the week, and Cardinal Head Coach Scott Gaskill talked about using that performance as momentum.

Forest City and GHV were among the favorites to win the conference heading into Thursday’s meet, and the expectation was that the two schools would finish first and second. The only question was in which order? Both teams had competed against each other numerous times throughout the season, with most of the meetings very close in team score and the head-to-head record pretty split. For Coach Gaskill, it was just about finding the right combination.

Forest City got off to a solid start to the meet and actually led the team race through 7 events. GHV took their first lead following their runner-up finish in the shuttle hurdle relay. That was a lead they would not give up the rest of the evening.

High school athletes playing and excelling in multiple sports is nothing new; the North Iowa area is full of them. However, it is far less common to see high school athletes excel in two different sports during the same season. The Cardinals have three athletes who meet that criteria, as Coach Gaskill explains.

As Coach Gaskill mentioned, the GHV Girls Soccer team was on the road Thursday night in a big conference matchup with Iowa Falls-Alden. Alayna Englin, Bella Schisel, and Malia Hinz could have been on the pitch. Instead, they were in Armstrong helping their team win a conference championship. All three finished first or second in their events. Englin was runner-up in the 100m, champion in the 800m, and was a part of the champion 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. Schisel was the champion in the 200m, and a part of the champion 4×100, 4×200, and 800m sprint medley relay teams. Lastly, Hinz was the runner-up in the 200m, champion in the 100m, and was a part of the champion 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.

Full Girls Standings

1. Garner-Hayfield-Ventura – 173
2. Forest City – 140
3. Lake Mills – 89
4. Bishop Garrigan – 81
5. West Hancock – 73
6. North Iowa – 69
7. North Union – 55
8. Belmond-Klemme – 17
9. Eagle Grove – 14

On the boys’ side, West Hancock made it a Hancock County sweep as they were crowned the TIC West Conference Boys Track and Field Champions with a point total of 160. The Eagles finished in the top two in 10 of the 19 events on the night, with five runner-up finishes and five wins. They also secured three 3rd-place finishes, helping them win the conference title. The relay events were where the Eagles really racked up team points, as they finished in the top three in all seven relays. Of those seven, four were first-place finishes, 2 were runner-up finishes, and the last was a third-place finish. Head Coach Mark Sanger was proud of his team’s effort and said it has been a long time since the Eagles could call themselves conference champions.

West Hancock had come close to winning the conference meet in recent years, with team runner-up finishes in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 before finishing 3rd last year. Coach Sanger says the difference this year is that his team is more well-rounded.

The Eagles held off a late surge by Forest City, beating them by 22 points in the final tally. The Indians trailed the Eagles for most of the night, but were able to stay within striking distance of West Hancock for most of the meet. Going into the 400-meter hurdles, Forest City trailed West Hancock by 14 points, their largest deficit of the night. The Indians finished first and third in that event, cutting the deficit to just three points. Coach Sanger relied on a pair of underclassmen to step up in the 400-meter hurdles and save their team some points, and as he explains, they did exactly that.

Head Coach Mark Sanger was also honored, being selected as the TIC West Boys Coach of the Year. But to him, all the credit goes to his assistant coach, Bill Cook.

Full Boys Standings

1. West Hancock – 160
2. Forest City – 138
3. Lake Mills – 94
4. Garner-Hayfield-Ventura – 87
5. North Union – 72
6. Belmond-Klemme – 53
7. Bishop Garrigan – 49
8. North Iowa – 45
9. Eagle Grove – 42

For most teams in the conference, Thursday’s meet was the final tuneup before the state qualifying meets, which are being held statewide next Thursday, May 14. You can find the state qualifying meet locations for the KIOW area schools here.

TIC West Boys Outstanding Performer of the Year – Holden Reynolds, Junior, Forest City

TIC West Girls Outstanding Performer of the Year – Vanessa Nieto Mendez, Senior, West Hancock

TIC West Girls Coach of the Year – Kamille Goepel, West Hancock

TIC West Boys Coach of the Year – Mark Sanger, West Hancock

Photos from the 2026 TIC West Conference Track & Field Meet

All photos taken by Josiah Kleveland