After nearly winning a state championship last year, the Ankeny boys’ track team is looking to capture the Class 4A crown in 2024.
The Hawks battled CIML Conference rival Johnston down to the wire a year ago before the Dragons edged Ankeny in the final two events to win the title with 84 points. Coach Jordan Mullen’s squad took second with 80 points, the Hawks’ highest finish at the state meet since 1970.
Ankeny returns a plethora of state qualifiers from that team.
“Our goal this year is to take one meet at a time and enjoy every moment we have together,” said Mullen. “This is a very special team this year, and they know it and we know it as a staff. We want to be really smart and stay very hungry all year. That will be the most important part to the success this season–staying healthy and having a lot of fun. If we take care of those two things, I believe we will be very happy in May again.”
The Hawks will again be led by the trio of senior Jack Belding and juniors Tyler Sickerson and Ethan Zuber. Belding and Sickerson are among the state’s top sprinters, while Zuber is one of Iowa’s premier distance runners.
Belding won a state title in the 400 in 47.94 seconds as a junior, when he equaled the 17th-fastest time in state history. He also placed third in the 200.
Belding anchored Ankeny to a runner-up finish in the sprint medley relay, where the Hawks set a school record and posted the second-fastest time in state history (1:30.78). The Kansas recruit also ran a split of 47.53 on the third leg of the 4×400 relay, lifting his team from seventh place into first.
Ankeny eventually placed second in that event in 3:15.99–one of five school records that the Hawks set over the last two days of the meet.
Sickerson, meanwhile, placed fourth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. He also anchored Ankeny to third-place finishes in both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays, setting a pair of school records with times of 41.94 and 1:28.12.
Zuber placed third in both the 1,600 and 3,200, setting a school record of 4:14.39 in the 1,600. He anchored the third-place distance medley relay and also ran on the ninth-place 4×800 relay.
Last fall, Zuber won the Class 4A state cross country title.
“I know a lot of kids have some very high goals this year, and I know a few of them have already had to reset them before the outdoor season,” Mullen said. “We talk to the kids a lot, and they know we are behind them 100 percent to make those goals become reality.”
Seniors Jake Bosch and Abel Squires and junior Gavin Wise are among the team’s other returning state qualifiers. Wise placed 21st in the 110 hurdles and anchored the fifth-place shuttle hurdle relay.
Squires, a Dordt University recruit, placed 12th in the 800 and joined Bosch on the 4×800 relay. Bosch also ran on the distance medley and 4×400 relays.
Last week, Ankeny competed in a pair of indoor meets. The Hawks went to Mason City on March 4 before turning in some tremendous performances on Thursday in the Iowa State Indoor meet at Ames, where they claimed the team title.
“What I have seen this season so far has been absolutely electric!” Mullen said. “The kids that went to Mason City showed me they are ready for this year and we had a lot of PRs, but most importantly they set the tone for the team on Thursday up in Ames. That Ames meet was a total team effort!”
Junior Logan Fairchild has emerged as another quality sprinter for the Hawks. He placed third in the 400, fourth in the 200 and seventh in the 100 in Class 3A a year ago while competing for Winterset before moving to Ankeny over the summer.
Sickerson (6.83) and Fairchild (6.85) took the top two places in the 60-meter dash at Ames. Belding raced to an easy victory in the 400 (48.66).
Those three then swept the top three places in the 200. Sickerson won the race in 21.38, followed by Fairchild in 21.42 and Belding in 21.77.
“That was an event that really got me going,” Mullen said. “I told the kids to just go have fun, but I wanted to sweep it after Sickerson and Fairchild had already ran 2 60s on the day and then Belding dropped a massive 400 time for March. They came out and got the sweep in a fashionable way. The entire team made a statement on Thursday!”
Ankeny will open the outdoor season on March 28 by competing in the Early Bird Relays at Waukee Northwest.
“The Hawks are very hungry and humble, and we will continue to bring all the noise this year!” Mullen said.