At KCII we’re counting down the top 10 biggest stories in area high school sports for the 2024-2025 academic year. At number four is the Columbus Wildcats finishing fifth in team scoring at the Class 1A boys’ track & field state championships.

Columbus has become one of the most dominant boys’ track programs in the state over the last few seasons, winning three straight North division championships in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference and winning every outdoor meet but state since 2023. This spring was no exception.

The Wildcats won all nine team competitions they had during the outdoor track regular season, but they saved their best for last when they returned to the famed blue oval of Drake Stadium in Des Moines and finished in the top five in team scoring for the second time in three years.

Junior Alexander Rees and sophomore Lamar Ceant led the way for Columbus, as they had a hand in six of the seven medals that Columbus brought home from state.

Ceant was the runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles run, and he would take seventh place in the open 200 meters.

Rees ran the same races and was eighth in the 200, while he would finish fourth in the 110 hurdles.

Rees and Ceant would team up with seniors Juan Chairez and Riley Kaalberg to take fourth in the 4×100 for the Wildcats.

Rees, Ceant, Kaalberg and senior Johnathan Miranda won silver in the shuttle hurdles relay. Senior Ty Muinz rounded out a superb performance by Columbus by finishing eighth in the 3,200-meter run.

The Wildcat boys also qualified for state in four other events and would earn all-state honors for Rees and Ceant in the 110 hurdles, the shuttle hurdles and 4-by-100 relays. Head coaches Scott Dennler and Steve Riley were also voted the Class 1A Coaches of the Year by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.

Keep listening to KCII and check online at KCIIradio.com as the countdown continues tomorrow of the Top 10 Area High School Sports Stories of 2024-2025.