-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Rihanna Myers of St. Edmond compete in girls 1A Discus on Friday inside Drake Stadium

DES MOINES — Rihanna Myers capped off her freshman season with her best throw yet.

Myers placed 11th in the Class 1A discus here Friday at the state track and field championships for St. Edmond, setting a new personal record by three inches.

The only other freshman in the 1A field was Kooper Martin of Lisbon, who placed 23rd overall. Of those finishing ahead of Myers, six are graduating, including event winner Lindsay Kruse of Saint Ansgar.

“What a great day for Rihanna,” SEHS head coach CJ Tracy said. “You could tell the nerves were there but she settled in and popped a big throw.

“This was a great experience for her and we’re very excited to see how the next three years go.”

Myers saved her best for her third and final attempt with a throw of 111-4. Her other throws went 96-8 and 91-5.

“A huge thank you to Coach (Cory) Naughton for all he did with her this spring,” Tracy said. “He devoted his time to working with our throwers and guided Rihanna to the state meet.”

Mariah Myers, her older sister, did not compete in track and field as a freshman while attending Fort Dodge. She qualified for state as a sophomore with the Dodgers before winning a shot put title with St. Edmond as a senior.

The current University of Iowa softball player set school records in both the shot put and discus, also placing second in the shot put as a junior while qualifying in the discus for state.

St. Edmond will be in action on Saturday for the third and final day of state in two events. Aaron Hindt runs in the 200-meter dash finals at 2:30 p.m. while the girls sprint medley relay of Kenzie Nolte, Breckyn Ulrich, Ava Bradley and Anna Lursen hits the Blue Oval at 9 a.m.

Hindt earned the No. 8 seed in the finals with a personal best time of 22.47 in the prelims on Thursday. Landon Grell of Lawton-Bronson clocked the fastest time at 22.16, as Braydon Anderson from English Valleys, Wyatt Minter of George-Little Rock, Trevon Keely of Paton-Churdan, Clancey VanOort from North Cedar, Camryn Bartels of North Butler and Brodyn Pryor of Woodbine complete the field.