Senior Landon Pote is one of 12 returning state qualifiers for the Ankeny boys’ track team. He helped the Hawks to the Class 4A championship a year ago for the program’s first state title since 1972.
Pote placed third in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet 3 inches and finished seventh in the 110 hurdles in 15.08 seconds. He also teamed up with Sam Madsen, Hayden Carlson and Gavin Wise to place second in the shuttle hurdle relay in 58.00.
Here is some inside info on Pote:
How is the season going thus far?
The season is going pretty well. I’ve already had a new PR in the high jump and the 60 meter hurdles. Our shuttle hurdle team is also coming back very strong and while running the 60 meter shuttle we are looking really fast with multiple things we still need to work on.
Did you go anywhere for spring break, or did you stay here in town?
My family and I went out to Arizona for my senior trip. I wanted to go somewhere where I could both go skiing and mountain biking/hiking, so my mom figured Arizona would work perfectly. We got an Airbnb in Prescott, right between Flagstaff for skiing and Phoenix for mountain biking. We are still driving to Springfield for a concert as I am writing this, and this has still been one of the best vacations I’ve ever been on.
You were a state placewinner in both the high jump and 110 hurdles last season–and London Stone of Dowling Catholic was the only other athlete in Class 4A to place in those two events. Do you see very many of the same competitors in those two events, or is that kind of a unique combination to excel in both of them?
I do see a lot of the same athletes in those events, although I would say there are many more people who pair the high jump and the shuttle hurdle together, leaving out the 110 hurdles. Being in those events with London has been super fun and I have fun getting to compete against him in both events, seeing as he also has to juggle the two.
Is it hard sometimes to juggle those two events if you have to run back and forth between them?
Honestly, I love being able to do multiple events, and for the most part it is completely fine. Schedule-wise for all regular meets, I don’t have a ton of overlap, and if I do, the officials give me ample time to get my legs shaken out. The only time I have been upset about doing both is at the state meet. I was in the middle of high jump, and just after hitting a huge PR I was to go run in the shuttle hurdle, and that wasn’t too bad. Although I didn’t get to warm up for the hurdles specifically, I was pretty warm and ready to run. The real problem was after the shuttle I was hurried back over to the high jump pit where they told me I had about 30 seconds to switch my spikes if I wanted, otherwise they needed me to jump right away. After just running the shuttle, my legs were tired and I couldn’t get a single jump under them. My legs would buckle every time. It was very disappointing on my part since I had just had a huge 6-3 jump before.
Do you have a favorite event, or do you love competing in both of them?
I like to say that my favorite event is whichever one I had done most recently. I love both of them.
You also ran on the state runner-up shuttle hurdle relay team that returns all four runners this season. Do you feel good about your team’s chances to win a state title in that event?
The Ankeny Hawks’ shuttle hurdle team is coming with a vengeance this year, and I have a very strong feeling that we will do something this year that won’t be touched for a while.
Cedar Falls is the defending champ in the shuttle hurdle. Do you know how many of their guys are back?
I am not for sure how many guys are back, but I want to say two.
Your team scored a record 112 points to win the Class 4A crown a year ago. How are you guys going to top that performance?
Coach (Jordan) Mullen is a nut job when it comes to points and knowing what we are capable of doing at the state meet. We only graduated a few seniors last year, and although they were great people and athletes, we have already put backups in place to replace the points they got last year. Mullen has already told the team that as long as we put in the work and trust in him, the points will come with it. The amount of times coach has reviewed times and points are almost innumerable, so when he says last year was the beginning, I have no choice but to trust him 100 percent.
Speaking of coach Mullen, I know he has praised your bountiful head of hair before, but he has a pretty good flow going too. Have you guys ever debated who has the better hair?
Hahahaha, no we’ve never debated lol. I would probably just give it to him to be honest.
I know you’ve committed to join the track and field program at Central College. Did you look at a lot of schools, and was it a tough decision?
Yes, I had looked at many colleges and, at the beginning, didn’t even know what I should be looking for. The first college I visited was Central and at the time I didn’t think much of it, but the more colleges I visited, the more I realized that Central had the things other colleges didn’t have. It took a lot of thought, but I came to the conclusion that Central had what I wanted in a school academically and athletically. Plus, it’s close enough where I can still come home any weekend or holiday I wanted to.
What did you like about Central?
Central has a beautiful campus, and I could see myself at any number of benches actually being productive on my homework lol. Their track coaches are some of the nicest people I’ve met, and the culture of the students on the team is exactly what I was looking for.
What are you going to study?
I am planning on doing an Environmental Studies major in hopes it would pair well with a drone flying certificate. After college, I hope to be able to fly drones commercially, and I figured getting a degree in Environmental Studies would help that vision.