The members of the Ankeny boys’ track team shared some hugs on the infield turf as the crowd exited Drake Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks had just made some history in the Class 4A state meet, racking up a record 112 points to win the school’s first state championship since 1972.
“I didn’t know how many points we could score,” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen, who appeared to be on the verge of losing his voice. “I knew 90 would win the meet, so that’s what we were going after. We just had three immaculate days. It was just a dominant statement.”
Cedar Falls and Dowling Catholic took turns challenging Ankeny throughout the three-day meet, but in the end the Hawks’ depth proved to be the difference. The Tigers placed second with 86 points, finishing four points ahead of Dowling for the runner-up spot.
Ankeny won the title without any points from junior Tyler Sickerson, one of the state’s top sprinters. He injured his hamstring during the Drake Relays last month and was unable to recover in time for the state meet.
It didn’t matter.
“I remember Varsity Bound put out a school ranking, and we didn’t make the top 10,” said Ankeny senior Jake Bosch. “They said we were a team of five runners, but we came out here and showed them that we have a deep team throughout the season. Losing Tyler–a kid of that caliber–it sucks. You hate to see it, but the team showed out. They wanted to win for people like him and the team.”
The Hawks won six events overall, capped off by a victory in the 4×400 relay. Bosch teamed up with Logan Fairchild, Tate Brownsberger and Jack Belding to win the race in a time of 3:14.90–the 24th-fastest clocking in the U.S. this year.
Bosch ran the third leg in 48.5 seconds to put Ankeny into the lead. Belding followed with a split of 46.7 to finish nearly 3 seconds ahead of runner-up Cedar Falls.
It was a dominating win in a meet full of them.
“I definitely found a lot of energy in myself after having a long weekend,” said Belding. “I was just thinking, ‘This is my last (race) here, so I might as well make it count.'”
The 4×400 was the fourth event of the meet for Belding, Bosch and Fairchild. But it was the first race for Brownsberger, who didn’t step onto the blue oval until the 4×400 preliminaries on Friday night.
“It feels great,” said Brownsberger. “This is my first race at state this year, and I can’t have a better team. They’re everything…they’re family.”
Brownsberger and Bosch were not even in the stadium when Ankeny clinched the team title. The Hawks wrapped up the crown about an hour earlier when junior Ethan Zuber placed second in the 1,600.
“Watching Zuber run (online) got my heart pumping,” Brownsberger said. “Me and Jake were watching him in the car today with the AC on. It was fun.”
Zuber came within an eyelash of winning four gold medals. He lost an epic battle in the 1,600 against Tony Anania of Norwalk–one that ended with both runners stumbling across the finish line.
Zuber surged to the lead midway through the race, but was unable to hold off a late charge from Anania. Anania, who ran the final 400 meters in 57.3 seconds, posted a time of 4:11.90.
Zuber was clocked in 4:11.94.
“I gave it everything I had,” said Zuber, who had already won the 3,200 and anchored the winning 4×800 and distance medley relays. “I was just trying to get to the finish line first, but he’s got a good kick. He’s a good athlete who has had an outstanding season. I’ve got adjustments to make, but there is no excuse. I could have won that. He outworked me that last 100 meters, and the title is his.”
Despite the narrow loss, Zuber’s effort still impressed his teammates.
“Words can’t even express how good of an athlete that kid is,” Belding said. “I’m really excited to see what he can do next year.”
Earlier, Fairchild raced to a victory in the 100. The junior posted a time of 10.89 seconds into a headwind, edging Uriah Allen of Waukee by .01 seconds.
“It’s the same feeling as (winning) the Drake Relays,” said Fairchild. “Just unimaginable. Undescribable.”
Fairchild overcame a rocky start to capture his first individual title. He placed in three events in Class 3A a year ago while competing at Winterset.
Fairchild then transferred to Ankeny to run with Belding and Sickerson, his club teammates.
“(Winning the 100) was kind of the goal coming here,” Fairchild said. “I thought maybe it would be Tyler winning it, but I’m happy with the result obviously.”
Belding and Fairchild later placed second and third, respectively, to bring the Hawks to the brink of the Class 4A title. Belding posted a time of 21.75 seconds, while Fairchild was clocked in 21.92.
Iowa City West star Izaiah Loveless won the race in 21.69.
“I just felt smooth,” Belding said. “I’ve had a long weekend, and my biggest goal was just to stay relaxed and finish hard. I really laid it all out there.”
Belding said he was inspired by Fairchild’s earlier victory.
“I’ve got some great teammates,” he said. “Logan and Tyler pushed me all season to get here. Also, a lot of respect to Logan for just coming off the open 100.”
Ankeny opened the day with a second-place finish in the sprint medley relay. The foursome of Samuel Sandvig, Caden Henkes, Devon Akers and Belding posted a time of 1:30.54, the third-fastest time ever in Iowa.
Jordan Townsend of Cedar Falls anchored his team to the win in 1:30.32.
“We knew Cedar Falls was the team to beat, and we knew we had to run our best race. I think we did,” said Sandvig. “It’s hard to beat the No. 2 time all-time. We ran the No. 3 time. We scored some big-time points, and we started the day off with a bang.”
Townsend used a late surge to pass Belding.
“I kind of saw him the last 40 meters or so,” Belding said. “I knew he was right there. He just outkicked me–that’s it. I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but it was a great race with some really tough competition. We did the best we could, so I’m happy about that.”
Ankeny then added a second-place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay, where the Hawks also lost to Cedar Falls. The quartet of Landon Pote, Sam Madsen, Hayden Carlson and Gavin Wise was clocked in 58.00 seconds.
The Tigers won the race in 57.37.
“We wanted to win. That’s our only goal at Ankeny,” said Wise. “But we’ve got two sophomores and two juniors (on the relay), and we’re all coming back. We’re coming for that state title next year.”
Pote then contributed a seventh-place finish in the 110 hurdles. He posted a time of 15.08 seconds.
Quinton Alexander of Cedar Rapids Prairie won the race in 13.95.
“I was just happy to get to the finals. That was a huge thing,” said Pote. “I didn’t get last, and that was the goal. I’m glad I did as well as I did, and I have one more year left.”
Ankeny nearly scored some points in the 800 as well. Nicholas Robie won the first section of the event in a time of 1:56.79, but he placed ninth overall and missed scoring by .45 seconds.
Moustafa Teia of Iowa City West won the 800 in 1:54.24. Abel Squires placed 19th for the Hawks in 1:59.45.
“I knew I had to rely on my last little kick. That’s how I race,” said Robie. “My real goal was to win my heat. Just do my best against the people around me. For my first individual race at state, I’m really happy with it.”
After the meet, Zuber said that runners like Robie and Squires were as deserving of the team title as he was.
“It feels amazing to know that everyone on this team who has worked their butts off all season and all the alternates behind them that really really worked and competed for those spots and some even earned them, for all those guys to get a title is exactly what they deserve,” he said. “I’m only a small part of this team culture, and I wouldn’t be here without this incredible team that builds me up. So they deserve that team title for sure.”
Bosch ran on three winning relays in his final state meet. But he said the team crown meant even more to him.
“Winning a relay or as an individual feels good, but from the beginning of the season we wanted to score points for the team,” Bosch said. “We’re out here for the team. That was our goal, and that’s what we wanted. It feels good.”
Bosch and Belding will both graduate, but most of the team’s state-meet lineup will be back next season. A healthy Sickerson could make the Hawks a prohibitive favorite to defend their title.
“They’re still going to be really good next year. They’re probably going to be even better,” Belding said. “Tyler is a big part of our team, but we managed to make up for what he would have brought to us, but knowing him–if he was here–there would have been zero worries at all this weekend.”
