The Ankeny boys’ track team set four meet records and placed second overall in the Ruth Marske Indoor Invitational on Saturday at Brookings, S.D.
Sioux Falls (S.D.) Lincoln won the meet with 93.5 points. Defending champion Ankeny finished with 77 points, four more than Waukee Northwest.
“We are firing on all cylinders right now!” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen. “I couldn’t be more proud of what the boys did! We scored in every event (that we entered). It was a total team effort!”
Logan Fairchild led the way with a pair of victories. The junior set a meet record in the 100 with a time of 10.65 seconds and also won the 400 in 48.43.
After placing third in the 100 in 10.96, Ankeny senior Jack Belding set a meet mark in the 200 in 21.72, which was also a personal record. It was the third-fastest time in Iowa in 2024 and the 58th-fastest in the U.S.
Ike Smith set a meet record in the 1,600 in 4:21.60, the 10th-fastest time in Iowa this year. The sophomore also placed third in the 800 in 2:01.22.
“Ike had an absolute monster performance in the mile, setting a personal best by over 15 seconds that sparked our team and set the tone for the day,” Mullen said. “The kids just fed off that energy.”
Ethan Zuber added another victory in the 3,200, setting a meet record of 9:16.07. It was the fastest time in Iowa in 2024 and the 74th-fastest nationally.
Zuber also teamed up with Abel Squires, Tate Brownsberger and Owen Evans to place third in the 4×800 relay. The Hawks were clocked in 8:14.21.
“This meet really stood out to us. At the end of the day, we accomplished everything we went up there to do,” Mullen said. “The team is having so much fun right now, and we’re going to keep having more! We’re going to keep focusing on us and keep building a stronger team each week while staying hungry and humble!”
