(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny boys’ track team knows what it takes to reach the top, and the Hawks are just making sure the pieces are in place to do so.
The defending Class 4A state champion Hawks earned three individual titles while placing fourth overall with 101 points during the CIML Conference meet on Thursday at Ankeny Stadium.
“The biggest thing is we come in and we fine tune throughout the year,” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen. “I know Ankeny doesn’t look pretty on paper because we’re building a roster for this championship season.”
Just a season ago, Ankeny proved that sometimes fine tuning the lineup before state can pay off big time.
The Hawks finished seventh out of the nine teams with just 61 points during the 2024 CIML meet, but proceeded to take home the Class 4A crown with 112 points two weeks later.
Ankeny is following a similar path this season as it looks to make sure the pieces are in place and healthy while the Hawks look to continue improving their times and distances.
Ethan Zuber, Hayden Carlson and Logan Fairchild were among the athletes that stood out for Ankeny during the conference meet as all three ended the night as individual champions.
“I always challenge the kids,” Mullen said. “We’re not here just to run our great big boys in four races every meet, we’re here to challenge our team to reload every year and rise up to the occasion when you get put into those good relays and stuff.”
From the very start of the race, Zuber pulled ahead of the pack in the 3,200 and never looked back. The standout distance runner lapped a good chunk of the other 16 runners and crossed the finish line first with a time of 9:09.10.
Carlson successfully defended his title in the 110 hurdles by posting the fifth-fastest time in the state at 14.04 seconds. Teammate Landon Pote took third in that event at 14.55.
The hurdle tandem, along with Sam Madsen and Gavin Wise, also got a chance to go up against Waukee Northwest in a rematch from the Drake Relays, where the Wolves took home the shuttle hurdle title after Ankeny and Cedar Rapids Kennedy both suffered mishaps going over the hurdles.
In a thrilling race, the Northwest team of Andrew Eastman, Kalarga Muhktar, Griffin Ludwig and Blake Ludwig narrowly beat out Ankeny’s quartet for the conference title. The Wolves posted a time of 56.44 seconds to edge the Hawks by .03.
Both times were fast enough to break the all-time state record that Northwest had set at the Relays.
“We’re here as an actual full unit team, and that’s what I want to keep rolling through the rest of the year,” Mullen said. “Everyone tonight competed. We had the shuttle hurdle team go 56.47 and No. 2 in all time Iowa history, fun race. Everyone as a whole group is firing and firing at the right time. I really like where we’re sitting.”
Pote also went on to finish third in the high jump by being just one of three jumpers out of 13 total to clear 6 feet 2 inches.
Part of also making sure the pieces are set is having the team being fully healthy and competing.
Fairchild and Tyler Sickerson were just two of the Hawks that battled some adversity this season, and both left their marks on the meet as state rapidly approaches.
Fairchild was Ankeny’s third individual champion and set the state’s fastest time in the 200 after crossing the finish line in 21.50 seconds. He narrowly beat Ankeny Centennial’s Robert McGhee, who was the runner-up in 21.54.
Sickerson finished third in 21.74 and also took second in the 100 in 10.63 seconds. Dowling Catholic’s Luke Nevitt won tha race in 10.60.
“It’s been a big year of adversity, not only for (Fairchild and Sickerson), but for the full team,” Mullen said. “To see them compete and smiling, and both be seniors coming back, they’re hungry.”
Ankeny saw a couple of other performances that helped the Hawks leap up to fourth place in the team standings.
Senior Nicholas Robie and junior Isaiah Smith both finished second in their individual events. Robie clocked in at 1:55.63 in the 800, while Smith posted a time of 4:17.77 in the 1,600.
“I challenged Ike all year in that mile because he loves to run it,” Mullen said. “I said that we got to see something faster than his 4:18 and he comes out tonight and pulls a crazy double, but then goes 4:17 and really competes tonight.”
Ryan Tomlinson contributed a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet 9.5 inches. Freshman Carter Follmuth placed ninth in the long jump at 19-2.75.The Hawks will now head to the state qualifying meet on Thursday at Marshalltown.
“One of the biggest things is keeping our eyes off of Bound because there were some really good times ran tonight at our conference meet, but there’s some really good times ran around the state as well,” Mullen said. “The biggest thing is staying focused on us and by us, I mean the Ankeny Hawks team. If we stay a tight knit team like we have been all year and we keep growing tighter and tighter, those tight knit teams are tough to beat.”