The Ankeny boys’ quest for a second consecutive Class 4A track championship got off to a good start Thursday at Drake Stadium.
The Hawks defended their title in the 4×800 relay, scored points in three other events and set a meet record in the preliminaries of the shuttle hurdle relay on the opening day of the coed state meet.
Those efforts allowed Ankeny to take the early lead in the team race with 28 points. Cedar Falls is in second place with 21 points, followed by Dowling Catholic with 20.5.
“This is going to pave the way,” said Ankeny senior Landon Pote, who ran on the shuttle hurdle and also placed second in the high jump.
Ankeny Centennial, meanwhile, has yet to score a point. But the Jaguars set themselves up for what could be a big Saturday on the blue oval as Braeden Jackson qualified for the finals in both the 100 and 200–and he’ll be joined in the 200 by teammate Robert McGhee.
“I just had to come out and handle business,” said Jackson. “Take care of the little things and just perform.”
Pote set the tone for the Hawks with his runner-up finish in the high jump. He cleared the bar at 6 feet 5 inches on his first attempt, much to the delight of Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen.
Pote was one of five jumpers who cleared 6-5. Bernard Grant of Iowa City High won the event based on the fewest misses.
“I just had to do as well as I needed to,” said Pote, who spends most of his time focusing on the hurdles. “I was fine jumping iffy (for the last month) because I don’t get a lot of practice. Usually the meets are my practice, but God’s got my back.”
After Pote cleared 6-3 on his second attempt, he moved over to the track for the prelims of the shuttle hurdle. He then teamed up with Sam Madsen, Hayden Carlson and Gavin Wise to post the fastest qualifying time of 56.63 seconds, which broke the 4A record.
“We kind of wanted the state record,” said Wise. “Today was a better day to do it than Saturday, but we’re out here to compete. We want to win state. That’s what we want to do. We’re hoping to get the record in the finals, but we’ll see. We’ll have some better competition there so that will push the race pace up.”
Cedar Rapids Kennedy ran 56.73 and eclipsed the previous 4A mark, too. The Hawks will also be challenged in the final by Waukee Northwest, which set the all-time best at the Drake Relays.
“Making finals was our goal, so you can’t complain,” Pote said. “The weather probably isn’t going to be the best on Saturday, so we were hoping for a state record today. But the weather won’t change what we’re going to do.”
Ankeny later won the 4×800 relay in thrilling fashion. The foursome of Nicholas Robie, Isaiah Smith, Justice Rathje and Ethan Zuber posted a time of 7:39.94 to edge Cedar Falls by .31 seconds.
Zuber outdueled the Tigers’ Brennen Hoyer on the anchor leg, running the final two laps in 1:51.
“It feels amazing,” said Zuber. “When you’ve got three guys behind you that really work their butts off every day in practice, when they give me the baton I’m going to perform, but it’s for them. It’s for them who show up every day and push me. They’re the reason I’m here, and it’s a blessing to have such a deep and talented team to be put in that opportunity.”
Zuber also anchored last year’s winning unit. Robie and Smith ran on that squad as well.
“It feels better than the last time for sure, because it’s one thing to have such a special team to do it once and be in the record books forever, but then to come back the next year and do it again–and honestly do it better–I felt that was a much better race,” said Robie. “We just raced smart and did a really great job all around.”
Zuber was coming off a fifth-place finish in the 3,200 about two hours earlier, but Robie had no doubts that his teammate would bring home the victory.
“I knew if we gave him the baton in first, he wouldn’t let it go,” Robie said. “He raced smart. Even when Hoyer passed him, I had no doubts that Ethan would find another gear and show what he can do.”
Zuber was also hoping to defend his title in the 3,200, but it wasn’t meant to be. He attempted to pass Owen Marett of Des Moines Roosevelt on the final lap, but Marett fought him off and went on to win the race in a time of 9:00.17.
Zuber faded a bit down the stretch and crossed the finish line in 9:05.74.
“I had to completely forget about it,” Zuber said. “You know, there’s going to be races–especially next year in college–where you go out and you get beat. You underperform, and you’re angry. But there’s no time for regret or anger when you’ve got other performances you’ve got to put on for your team. So as much as I let down my team in that race, I know they won’t say that to me, but I’ll say it to them. I had to put it behind me and forget about it. I told them I had one more race today, and I was going to show up for my boys.
“And then I saw (Hoyer) was there and he had a lead on me,” Zuber said of the 4×800. “I just had to grind it out and give everything I’ve got because I didn’t want to let these guys down. They’ve never let me down.”
Ankeny later picked up some more points in the 400, where Logan Fairchild came out of Section 2 to place third in 48.28 seconds. Jashua Anglo of Johnston won the final section and the title in 47.60.
“I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to at districts (in order to get into the fast heat), but in the end I don’t think it really mattered,” said Fairchild. “I still ran a good time.”
Fairchild and fellow senior Tyler Sickerson have both recovered from serious injuries to make an impact at the state meet. Fairchild was out with a torn hamstring in his left leg.
“Dealing with that has been hard,” he said. “I think I’m as happy as I can be considering I missed two months of training midseason. The 400 is a lot of endurance training, so to come out third is pretty good.”
Fairchild and Sickerson combined with Jackson and McGhee to post the four fastest qualifying times in the 200. Fairchild led the way with a clocking of 21.52.
“I’m pretty confident going into that final,” he said. “I think my speed and endurance are top-notch for that type of race.”
Jackson posted a time of 21.53, followed by McGhee at 21.61 and Sickerson at 21.70.
“I know I have a lot more in me,” said McGhee. “I can’t say I’m happy because it’s not done yet. What really matters is what I run in the finals, but I’m really happy that I made it into the finals.”
McGhee is looking forward to running against his teammate–and his crosstown rivals–one last time.
“That’s exciting. It’s going to be great,” he said. “It really pushes me when Braeden is there. I want to be the best at our school, and with him being there I really have to strive to be the best I can be. I know if I don’t give it my all, he’s going to catch me. That is a big motivator for me.”
Jackson later posted the fifth-fastest qualifying time in the 100. He was clocked in 10.75 seconds.
“I had to sweat that one out a little bit,” Jackson said after running in the first heat. “I was definitely proud of my 200. The 100 obviously is more about the start and coming out of the blocks, and I’ll make sure that I get that cleaned up for the final. But I’m proud of the way I ran.”
Jackson ran in the same heat with Sickerson, who blazed his way to the fastest qualifying time of 10.57. He will now try to win the crown that Fairchild claimed a year ago.
“I’ve been missing my start,” said Sickerson. “That’s what has been missing from my races, but I got a good start there. When I do that, I can show what I can do.”
Sickerson, who missed last year’s state meet due to an injury, didn’t expect to be running this weekend either.
“Two months ago, I texted my coach and told him I was done for the year,” he said. “Six weeks ago, I couldn’t put my shoes on by myself because I had so much pain. There’s no explanation for this. But praise God. I just can’t wait for the next couple of days.”
Sickerson credited Mullen for helping with his recovery.
“I don’t know if it was mental or not,” he said. “I got a new PT this year, and I have the most positive coach in the whole state who helps me mentally. Everything is really falling into place.”
Here are the rest of Centennial’s results from Thursday:
Shuttle hurdle relay: Gavin Matheny, Nic Ryan, Devin Boyle and Mark Nelson, 1:01.36 (11th).
Discus: Caleb Larson, 136-2 (19th).
3,200: Sean Thomas, 9:33.06 (17th).
4×800 relay: Cohen Moll, Jack Behrens, Brayden Vander Wilt and Corbin Vander Weerdt, 7:54.60 (9th).
400: Jackson Reed, 50.31 (15th).
