The Ankeny boys’ track team took advantage of the favorable conditions to run an historic race on Saturday.
The 4×200 relay team of Logan Fairchild, Devon Akers, Jack Belding and Tyler Sickerson blazed to a record-setting victory in the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium. The Hawks posted a time of 1:26.12, the fastest clocking in state history.
“Our goal going into the race was just to run a great time, but we knew if we ran well we’d have a good shot at breaking the record and we did,” said Akers. “We knew what the record was so it was pretty electric when we saw the time show up on the clock. It was a good day to break it with how nice and warm it was.”
Ankeny easily broke the school record of 1:28.12 that was set at last year’s Class 4A state meet by a full 2 seconds. Akers and Sickerson also ran on that unit.
What should scare the Hawks’ opponents is that Sickerson said the team is capable of running even faster.
“We knew what the record was, and we were definitely planning to break it,” said Sickerson. “Our handoffs were pretty bad so I think we can definitely go faster, to be honest.”
Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen said the race capped off an outstanding meet for the Hawks.
“That was the cherry on top,” he said. “The 4×2 kids and the team were looking forward to stacking that one, and it didn’t disappoint! It was a very fun race to watch and be a part of!”
Ankeny Centennial won a different heat of the 4×200 relay and placed second overall in 1:28.30. The team consisted of Robert McGhee, Lawson Langford, Braeden Jackson and Elijah Porter.
Senior Connor Welsch, who did not run for the Jaguars, praised his teammates and his crosstown rivals.
“I thought some guys stepped up and ran solid for us!” Welsch said. “And congrats to Ankeny. I’m not really surprised by what they did. They have a lot of kids on their team that only do track so you kind of expect them to put up some good times.”
Earlier, Fairchild and Sickerson raced to a near dead heat in the 100. Both of them were clocked in 10.95–separated by a mere thousandths of a second.
In the end, Fairchild won the race in 10.941. Sickerson was the runner-up in 10.948.
“We brought the 1-2 punch in the 100!” Mullen said. “They both ran amazing into a stiff headwind, making a statement in that event!”
Fairchild, a junior, has been a huge addition to the team after transferring to Ankeny from Winterset.
“Training with Logan has been good, and we push each other every day in practice and in every race,” Sickerson said. “I’m excited to see what we can do in May.”
Ankeny also won the distance medley relay. The foursome of Sam Sandvig, Gavin Wise, Tate Brownsberger and Jake Bosch posted a time of 3:33.93.
Bosch ran the 800-meter anchor leg in a 1:56 split.
“It was awesome to see Jake back on the track from being a little banged up, but he didn’t miss a beat,” Mullen said. “So we’re very excited to have him back.”
Another highlight for the Hawks came in the 3,200, where Ethan Zuber broke his own school record with a time of 9:10.73. He set the previous mark of 9:11.58 at last year’s Drake Relays.
However, like that race in the Relays, Zuber didn’t cross the finish line first. He settled for the runner-up spot after Tony Anania of Norwalk ran the final 400 yards in 59.39 seconds to win the race in 9:09.62.
“I knew the race would be fast with such good conditions and good competition,” said Zuber, who led almost the entire way. “I believed my primary competitor was going to be Cade Dunnum (of Pella), who also ran a great race (and placed third), but it turned out to be Tony. I didn’t expect Tony to have such a performance, but that’s how things go. Guys get better, and now I have to adapt.”
Belding added a second-place finish in the 200, posting a time of 21.88. He was edged by Uriah Allen of Waukee, who was clocked in 21.85.
Centennial’s Cael Woods placed third in both hurdles events. He posted times of 15.40 in the 110 hurdles and 55.30 in the 400 hurdles.
JJ Morgan placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet 10.75 inches. McGhee took fifth in the 200 in 22.65.
Placing eighth for the Jaguars were Gavin Humphrey in the shot put (46-0.25) and AJ Schermerhorn in the 3,200 (9:34.46). Finishing ninth were Noah Ross in the 100 (11.44) and Jackson Reed in the 400 (50.64).
Ross also teamed up with Porter, Langford and Max Snyder for a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay. Centennial posted a time of 42.84 seconds.
“I’m pretty excited with our times, especially with Connor out!” Langford said. “Hopefully, we can continue to improve!”
Corbin Vander Weerdt helped the Jaguars to fifth-place finishes in both the 4×800 and distance medley relays. The Jaguars added an eighth-place finish in the sprint medley relay.
Ankeny, meanwhile, got a sixth-place finish in the 110 hurdles from Hayden Carlson, who posted a time of 15.76. Abel Squires took ninth in the 800 in 2:01.98.
Carlson also ran on the sixth-place shuttle hurdle relay, while Squires ran on the seventh-place 4×400 relay. The Hawks earlier opened the meet with a fourth-place finish in the sprint medley relay, and they never looked back.
“The sprint med started the spark. We have a bunch of young kids wanting to be a part of something special, and they are absolutely killing it,” Mullen said. “After that race, we just kept it rolling the rest of the day! It was a total team effort, and I was very impressed with the Hawks. We got everyone back, and we’re firing on all cylinders!
“There is no ceiling for this team. They can go as far as they want if we keep having fun and stay hungry,” he added.
Ankeny placed second at last year’s state meet behind CIML Conference rival Johnston. But the Hawks may have already established themselves as the team to beat next month.
“I’ll leave that for others to decide, but we know what we’re capable of,” Akers said. “If we stay healthy, we think we’ll be pretty hard to beat.”
