Taking advantage of the perfect weather conditions, Ankeny’s duo of Tyler Sickerson and Jack Belding both qualified for the final in the boys’ 100-meter dash at the Drake Relays on Friday morning.
Sickerson won his preliminary heat in a time of 10.70 seconds. Belding was third in the same heat in 10.84 and also advanced.
“I came out here today focusing on the 400,” said Belding. “I was actually thinking about scratching for the finals after qualifying in the 100, but I decided just to run it. I’m happy that I did because it was a fun race.”
Sickerson, a sophomore, went on to place fourth in the final about five hours later. He was clocked in 10.94.
“I’m a little disappointed, but the conditions weren’t as good as they were earlier and I just didn’t execute like I wanted to,” said Sickerson. “I felt like I had a good reaction (at the start). I don’t know what it is, but I felt like I tightened up a bit.”
Belding, a junior, finished sixth in 10.96.
“I did it for the medal,” he said.
Miles Thompson of Cedar Rapids Washington easily won the race in 10.54. He finished .19 seconds ahead of teammate Michael Blank.
Thompson earlier set a Relays record with a time of 10.37 in the preliminaries.
“That’s kind of what I expected from him in good conditions,” Sickerson said. “I just wish I would have ran better in that final.”
Belding then returned to the track later in the afternoon and placed fourth in the 400. He posted a time of 48.90 seconds despite coming out of Lane 8.
“That was definitely a challenge for me given that I had no idea how I should pace myself, and I think if I had someone to chase that my time would have ended up being faster,” Belding said. “Still, though, I am very happy with getting fourth and knowing I’m only going up from here.”
Ryce Reynolds of Mount Ayr won the race in 48.46.
Ankeny competed in four other events on Friday, including the preliminaries of the 4×400 relay later in the evening. The foursome of Bram van de Mortel, Tyson Miller, Belding and Jake Bosch was the top qualifier for Saturday’s final with a time of 3:20.32, edging Mount Vernon by .05 seconds.
Belding ran the third leg in 48.63.
“I am more than happy with what I was able to do today and reached some of the goals I had been aiming for,” Belding said.
Earlier, the quartet of Aiden Adamson, Devon Akers, Jazan Williams and van de Mortel placed 13th in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:30.25.
Williams and van de Mortel each ran a split of 21.95 seconds on the last two legs.
“There were some great teams in that race,” said Akers. “I think we could have closed a little bit harder. We ran out of gas, I guess.”
Johnston won the race in 1:27.29.
Akers also placed 17th in the long jump on Friday morning. He recorded a leap of 20 feet 3/4 inch on his first attempt.
Abu Sama of Southeast Polk jumped 23-6.25 to defend his Relays crown. Nobody else surpassed 22 feet.
“I would have liked to do have done better, but it’s only my second time doing it,” Akers said. “I can’t be disappointed.”
Akers was also a part of Ankeny’s distance medley relay team that also included Williams, van de Mortel and Bosch. Unfortunately, the Hawks dropped the baton when Williams and Akers could not make the first exchange.
“This is just a warmup for state,” Akers said. “We still have time to get better.”