Ankeny Centennial’s Riley Moss felt kind of tight before his 110 hurdles race at the Hi Covey Relays on Thursday at Ames.
Moss shook off his nerves to win the event with a time of 14.05 seconds, setting both a meet and school record.
“The next fastest kid in the state was there (Terrell Jordan of Cedar Rapids Kennedy), and I was nervous about the race,” Moss said. “So I warmed up really extensively and turned on some Eminem to get pumped up.”
Moss is the defending Class 4A runner-up in the 110 hurdles. He ran 14.62 at last year’s state meet.
“If you had told me that I would run 14.05 this early in the season, I would have called you crazy,” Moss said. “But I guess it happened, which is still surreal.”
The favorable weather conditions contributed to Moss’ fast time. The meet was held under temperatures in the 60s.
“The conditions were really good compared to the freezing temps we have been having,” Moss said. “It was nice being able to warm up and actually get your muscles warm instead of the cold weather making you tight.”
Centennial placed second in the 13-team field with 93.4 points. The Jaguars won three events.
“It was a great team effort,” said Centennial coach Nate Smith. “That’s a loaded meet with great track teams.”
Valley easily defended its team title, racking up 122 points. The Tigers got victories from Jacob Gass in the 400 and Trayvon Williams in the high jump.
Moss anchored Centennial to a win in the 4×100 relay. He teamed up with Ryan VanBaale, Avery Gates and Jensen Gates to post a season-best time of 42.59 seconds, defeating runner-up Ames by almost a full second.
The Jaguars also won the 4×200 relay. The foursome of VanBaale, Gates, Josh Decker and Brendan Hoy was clocked in 1:30.56.
Centennial’s Camden Cox placed second in the 800 and also ran on the runner-up 4×800 relay. The Jaguars placed third in the shuttle hurdle relay.
“The varsity squad competed well as did the JV,” Smith said. “Many of our athletes are making progress. We just need to keep everyone healthy.”