The Ankeny boys’ track team won only one event in the Mustang Classic on Saturday at Dallas Center-Grimes, but the lone victory reverberated around the state.
The Ankeny foursome of Sam Sandvig, Devon Akers, Jack Belding and Ethan Zuber won the distance medley relay in a time of 3:25.60. The Hawks won the race by more than 9 seconds and posted the fastest time in the state this season by more than 7 seconds.
“It was super awesome,” said Belding. “The goal was to go sub-3:30, and we crushed it! Everyone ran great.”
It was the third-fastest time in the U.S. this year, according to Athletic Net.
“We wanted to start opening up some relays to really see what this team is capable of doing so we went and had a little fun with the (distance medley), and wow was that one to watch!” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen. “They went out and ran the No. 5 time in Iowa history.”
The Hawks’ impressive clocking opened some eyes around the state.
“I just heard the Ankeny boys ran 3:25.60 in the medley,” tweeted Mike JayTrackXC. “Blue Oval (Standard) in April and May? You know it. Bring it on!!”
The win helped Ankeny to a seventh-place finish overall in the eight-team field. The Hawks finished with 50 points.
Dowling Catholic won the meet with 133 points. Cedar Rapids Prairie was second with 125.
Ankeny placed second in two other relays, the 4×100 and 4×800. The 4×800 team of Tate Brownsberger, Ike Smith, Owen Evans and Abel Squires was clocked in 8:12.09.
“The 800 group is really starting to come along!” Mullen said. “That is a process race and a lot of training goes into that group! They are progressing very nicely, and I can’t wait to see them continue to drop time every week!”
The Hawks posted a time of 43.82 seconds in the 4×100. That team consisted of Casen Carter, Dylan Dougherty, Sandvig and Caden Henkes.
“Our sprint group is very deep this year so it’s really fun to be able to put different guys together each week and compete like we do!” Mullen said. “We have ran two or three different groups this year and gone sub-44! These boys are absolutely killing it every week, and it’s really paying off!”
Two basketball players who got a late start to the track season contributed some points in the jumping events. Cade Pederson placed second in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet 7 inches, while Cash Schoolen took fifth in the high jump at 5-10.
“I am very excited where the team is sitting right now!” Mullen said. “We are having a lot of kids step up and show us that they want to be a part of this squad. Lots of competing in practice, and it’s converting over to the meets. I couldn’t ask for anything more right now. We have been preaching staying hungry and humble and healthy, and the kids have bought into this. They are going out and having a lot of fun and making a lot of noise so far. Another big part is taking one meet at a time and staying focused on our team. The boys are doing an amazing job at this and eliminating the background noise!”