The Ankeny boys’ track team tuned up for next weekend’s Drake Relays by easily winning the Waukee Relays on Thursday.
The Hawks won six events and racked up 142 points in the Class A division, 20 more than runner-up Carlisle.
“With Tuesday’s (Fred Smith Hawk Relays) getting cancelled, we brought a little more powerful lineup to Waukee,” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen. “It was a lot of fun watching the kids compete! We are really starting to come around and starting to look really strong as a team. We keep having kids make big improvements and getting themselves into possible scoring positions for May!”
Ankeny Centennial, meanwhile, placed third in the 13-team field. The Jaguars won five events and scored 120 points.
“I believe the team is coming around well all across the board–whether it is our distance guys getting the Blue Oval standard in the 4×800, the sprinters getting a handful of relays in or our field events putting up impressive numbers,” said Centennial senior AJ Schermerhorn. “This is one of the most elite teams our school has had, and I’m eager to see how state turns out.”
Ankeny’s Tyler Sickerson won the 100 in 10.42 seconds, breaking his own school record and posting the third-fastest clocking ever in Iowa.
“I felt fast during my warmups, and I felt like that was my best executed 100 of the year so far,” said Sickerson. “Ironically, I told my dad 25 minutes before the race that I was going to run 10.42.”
The Hawk sprinters later added another win in the 200, where Logan Fairchild raced to the victory in 21.72 seconds.
“Sickerson is firing on all cylinders right now and is a very special one to watch!” Mullen said. “Logan stole the show in the 200 and looked amazing as well!”
Ankeny’s Ethan Zuber won the 800 in a time of 1:55.53. He finished more than 3 seconds ahead of Cade Dunham of Pella.
“Zuber is continuing his story of becoming one of Iowa’s greats in the distance events!” Mullen said.
Zuber came up just shy of the school record of 1:55.19.
“It was a good race, and it played out how I thought it would,” said Zuber. “The 400 kid took it out fast and then I closed in the second lap as planned. I am content with the time and ready to put out a better one in May.”
Landon Pote won the high jump for the Hawks, clearing the bar at 6 feet. Teammate Cash Schoolen was the runner-up at 5-10.
Pote teamed up with Sam Madsen, Hayden Carlson and Gavin Wise to win the shuttle hurdle relay in a time of 1:01.37. Pote also placed second in the 110 hurdles, while Carlson finished third–both were clocked in 15.16.
“We now have two 15.1 hurdlers, and our shuttle is running really strong in any kind of conditions which is very exciting to see!” Mullen said. “I know they fell just a touch short of the Relays, but they beat the No. 1 team in the state head-to-head on Thursday! That was a massive positive! They are ready to go sub-60 in the right race!”
Ankeny’s other win came in the 4×200 relay. The foursome of Chase Bradley, Devon Akers, Sam Sandvig and Caden Henkes posted a time of 1:31.79.
Ike Smith placed second for the Hawks in the 1,600 in 4:29.48. Tyson Miller was third in the 400 in 53.48.
“I will always use the term total team effort because I know I don’t get to mention everyone on this team, but how far these kids have come again this year is very special to get to be a part of!” Mullen said. “They all want to get better, and I couldn’t ask for more right now!”
Centennial was led by Cael Woods. He won the 110 hurdles in 15.01 and the 400 hurdles in 56.60.
JJ Morgan captured the long jump with a leap of 22 feet 6 inches. Schermerhorn took the 3,200 in a time of 9:38.59, winning by about 25 seconds.
“Overall, I was not thrilled with my time,” Schermerhorn said. “I had big hopes in qualifying the 3,200 for Drake. Unfortunately, things never did line up.”
The Jaguars also won the 4×100 relay. The quartet of Elijah Porter, Connor Welsch, Lawson Langford and Braeden Jackson was clocked in 42.75 seconds.
