STATE-BOUND WARRIORS — Members of the North Union Warrior track & field team competing in the Iowa Class 1A state meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines starting on Thursday include, front row (l-r): Beth Streuber, Naomi Jones, Shelby Fraker, Ella Ulrich, Libby Stevens, Hannah Morphew and Olivia Merrill. Back: Preston Guerdet, Gavyn Morphew, Landon Price, Bryer Prochniak, Caden Laabs and Colin Rasch. (Photo courtesy of Loren Looft)

DES MOINES — When Bryer Prochniak settles into the starting blocks at Drake Stadium during the Iowa Class 1A state track & field meet, the North Union senior sprinter will take aim at a rare triple-double.

Prochniak, who holds the Warriors’ school record in both the 100-meter dash (10.84 seconds) and open 200 (22.16), will have a 2-hour respite between Thursday’s two sprint preliminaries in Des Moines.

Prochniak, a Minnesota State University-Mankato football commit, will look to close out his high school track career with a combined six state medals in the 100 and 200.

The North Union standout captured all-state honors by placing seventh (11.15) in the 100 and fifth (22.8) in the 200 last spring. Prochniak garnered a sixth-place medal in the 100 (11.36) during the 2021 state meet and added an eighth-place medal in the 200 (23.27).

“Bryer’s career speaks for itself,” said North Union head coach Loren Looft. “He’s a hard worker, takes care of all the details and deserves everything he gets.”

Prochniak, who won the District 7 crown in the 200, will line up for the preliminaries in Lane 4 during Heat 1 at 11 a.m. Thursday. The 200-meter dash’s final is set for 2:05 p.m. Saturday.

Prochniak returns to the starting blocks in Lane 3 of Heat 3 at 1:05 p.m. Thursday for the open 100 prelims. The event’s final is scheduled for 12:55 p.m. Saturday.

North Union throwers Olivia Merrill and Colin Rasch, along with sprinter Shelby Fraker, will join Prochniak at Drake Stadium on Thursday.

Merrill, who claimed second place in the shot put during the district meet with a heave of 37 feet, 6 1/4 inches, will represent the Warriors at 9 a.m. during Flight 2. Merrill is the fifth thrower in the 12-qualifier flight.

“Olivia Merrill has really stepped it up coming down the home stretch,” said Looft. “She had three throws over 36 (feet) at the district before clearing 37.

“If she could pop another 37, I’d think she’d have a good chance at medaling at state. She’s definitely peaking at the right time.”

Rasch, who delivered a school-record shot mark of 50-3 earlier this spring, enters Thursday’s 11:30 a.m. state competition on the heels of a gold-medal toss of 50-1 1/2 during the district meet. Rasch will be the eighth of 12 throwers in the second flight.

“Colin enters as the fifth seed after clearing 50 (feet) during the last couple of meets,” said Looft. “He’s really become more consistent as the season’s progressed, and also has a good shot at earning a state medal.”

Fraker begins her hectic schedule at Drake Stadium by running the 100-meter prelims at 12:50 p.m. Thursday. Fraker, who placed fourth at districts with a time of 13.04, will line up in Lane 3 of Heat 3. The event’s final is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. Saturday.

“Shelby will stay busy at state by running the open 100 on Thursday, anchors both the 4×200 final and 4×100 prelims on Friday before running the third leg on the sprint medley final on Saturday,” said Looft. “Shelby, Ella (Ulrich) and Naomi (Jones) have history at state after being part of our 4×1 that placed eighth in 2021.”

Ulrich, Jones, Libby Stevens and Fraker will run in Lane 6 of Section 1 at 11 a.m. Friday in the 4×200 finals. The quartet placed third at districts with a time of 1:50.83.

Landon Price, Gavyn Morphew, Preston Guerdet and Prochniak — which set a school record of 1:34.41 by placing third in the district — will run in the 4×200 boys final at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The Warriors’ foursome will run out of Lane 3 in Section 1.

Ulrich, Jones, Stevens and Fraker then return to the blue tarred surface for the 4×100 prelim at 12:40 p.m. Friday. The fleet-footed foursome, which posted a second-place time of 51.93 in the district, will run out of Lane 6 in the second heat race. The 4×100 finals are set for 3:25 p.m. Saturday.

Ulrich, Stevens, Fraker and Jones then compete in the 800-meter sprint medley final at 9 a.m. Saturday. The quartet, which placed third at districts in 1:57.21, will run out of Lane 1 of Section 1.