Brouwer going for second Iowa state 800-meter title
May 18—SIBLEY, Iowa. — A strong Sibley-Ocheyedan High School track and field season is concluding this weekend at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, and the brightest star of them all — amazingly — is just getting warmed up.
It's hard to believe that multi-talented athlete Madison Brouwer is just finishing her junior year of high school. She was a three-sport star already as a freshman, and the thought of having another year of her at the northwest Iowa high school must have coaches pinching themselves. In basketball, in cross country, and in track and field, she has proven herself time and time again as one of the state's top female competitors.
On Saturday (May 21) at 10:30 a.m., Brouwer hopes to capture a second consecutive state championship in the 800-meter run in Des Moines. Last year as a sophomore, she established a personal best and school record 2:13.18 in winning the Class 2A event at state — coming in more than three seconds faster than the runner-up, Mitzi Evans of Mid-Prairie. She also placed in the 400 open and ran on the Generals' 4x800-meter relay team.
Brouwer, whose 800-meter time was the fastest girls qualifying time in the state this spring, also qualified for state in the 400 meters, the 1500 meters and the 4x400-meter relay (along with Alyna Wingate, Olivia Hensch, Madison Marco and alternates Zoe Ackerman and Macey Hoekstra), joins several other teammates in the Iowa state meet. Individually, Alejandro Bernal qualified in the 3200-meter run, Marco in the 1500-meter and 3000-meter run (her 3200-meter time was the second fastest qualifying time in the state), and Wingate in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.
Brouwer placed second in 2021 in the Class 2A girls cross country run, in a time of 18:49.91. Her coach, Lisa Block, said Brouwer hasn't decided upon a college yet, but she has several options to choose from.
Coaching her 6-foot junior star, said Block, is a treat.
"She still shows that she has so much more in her. She's committed. She has the mindset of always knowing she can do more. And she has a God-given ability and she wants to keep it going," said the coach.
A role model for younger Sibley-Ocheyedan athletes, Brouwer dutifully does the drills and stretches that every other General track and field athlete does every day. But she also has her own practice routine, well aware of what she needs to do to get the most out of herself. She does weight training on off days to help with muscle tone.
"She is a great role model. She is one of those athletes where we're very grateful and thankful we have girls coming through like this," Block said.
As a team, the Generals struggled to find their marks early in the season due in large part to poor weather conditions. The girls also dealt with depth issues — there were only 12 of them competing on varsity. But they're dedicated athletes, Block said, and were still able to place high in some regular season meets.
The state meet, which was set for Thursday through Saturday, is seen as a way to finish strong.
"Our goal is to run our very best times and cut off more seconds," Block said.
