-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Jaxon Cherry of Webster City compete in boys 3A Discus on Thursday inside Drake Stadium

DES MOINES — The opening day of the state track and field meet resulted in a medal and three strong performances for the Webster City boys.

Jaxon Cherry earned sixth in the Class 3A discus with a personal record of 163-8, moving up three spots through the final flight.

Cherry made the finals with a throw of 152-7 on his third attempt before unleashing his top toss on his first attempt of the championship flight. The future Iowa Western football player also had a 148-10 and 145-9 on the day.

Solon’s Ben Kampman topped University of Iowa football signee Derek Weisskopf from Williamsburg for gold with a throw of 186-3.

“Jaxon was the ninth guy to qualify for finals and only nine make finals,” WCHS head coach Chad Hisler said. “But he surpassed three of those guys to earn a medal and get sixth.

“He’s had a great career and hopefully can earn another in the shot. Coach Howard has done a great job getting Jaxon ready.”

In the high jump, Keegan Hisler cleared 6-foot-1 to place 15th overall. Hisler got over the bar inside Drake Stadium on his second attempt at 5-11 before easily clearing 6-1 on his first try.

Hisler, a senior, bowed out of the competition at 6-3 as Fairfield’s Eli Zillman won it by clearing 6-9.

Jayden Weinzetl, a junior, clocked a time of 22.78 in the prelims of the 200-meter dash. He placed eighth in the first heat with a PR.

“I was really happy with the performance of all three guys,” Hisler said. “All have had great years for us. Keegan equaled his best that he had just set at the qualifier. Coach Bussan did a great job with him and Keegan looked great.

“It’s something for a 200-plus-pound kid to get that high. He had 6-3 on his first attempt but barely hit it. Jayden ran really well, topping his previous best of 23.05.”

Freshman Isabel Grossoehme’s first state experience resulted in a 14th in the 400-meter dash, as she also set a PR with a time of 1:00.00. She won the second heat over Pella’s Lizzie Neumann and Sioux City’s Avery Bitker.