Storm Lake girls take sixth at Tornado Relays, show depth

Silvia Kampbell and Melanie Chanthapangna kept Storm Lake competitive at the Tornado Relays, giving the girls track team two of its strongest individual marks as it finished sixth with 23 points at Tornado Stadium. Sioux Center won the meet with 139, but Storm Lake’s value was less about the team total than about how many places it could score from a roster still expanding late in the season.

Kampbell finished second in the 3,000 meters in 11:28.26, then came back for fourth in the 1,500 in 5:14.39. Chanthapangna added a second-place finish in the high jump at 5 feet, 3 inches. Those results showed Storm Lake had athletes capable of competing near the top in both distance running and field events, a useful sign as the postseason window approached.

The scoring did not stop there. Zoe McCoy, Avery DeHaan, Grace Kenkel, Kaitlyn Xiong and Ayviana Chanthavong also contributed points, giving the Tornadoes coverage across multiple events rather than relying on only one or two standouts. That spread mattered in a meet where the 4x800 relay placed fifth, the sprint medley was sixth, the 4x100 relay finished sixth, and both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays took seventh.

Coach Lily Gallagher called it the team’s most challenging meet yet, and the conditions made the results more meaningful. The Tornadoes competed through cold and wind while athletes stepped into new events, handled fatigue and kept chasing personal bests. Gallagher said the growth she has seen this season has been exciting, and the team is looking to carry that momentum into the postseason.

That timing matters in a big way. Iowa’s state qualifying meets were set to begin Thursday, May 14, and Storm Lake was already deep into its late-season schedule. Kampbell and Chanthapangna brought postseason experience into the meet, with Kampbell already known as a Lakes Conference runner-up in the 1,500 and 3,000 and Chanthapangna an eighth-place state high jump finisher. With those two leading the way and several others adding points, the Tornadoes left Tornado Stadium with a sixth-place finish that looked more like a building block than a final statement.