Landon Pote proudly held on to the Class 4A championship trophy as his teammates on the Ankeny boys’ track squad crowded around him on the infield turf at Drake Stadium.
The Hawks had just won a second consecutive state title on Saturday in emphatic fashion.
“I asked God for three things: for high jump to go better than last year, for shuttle hurdle to win a state title, and for me to make enough difference in the highs to get our team in first,” said Pote. “All three happened without a fail.”
Ankeny relied on a team effort to easily defend its crown. The Hawks scored points in eight different events on the final day of the meet and finished with an even 100 points, 22 more than runner-up Cedar Falls.
“This one is really amazing,” said Ankeny distance star Ethan Zuber. “It feels especially special to me just knowing how well my team performed through the adversity. I had some races where I didn’t score as many points as expected, and all the other guys around me stepped up. The hurdlers came through with amazing performances, and Pote with the high jump. All the sprinters with the injuries they’ve faced this year. So to come together at the end of the year and have those guys show up for me when I personally feel like I was letting them down, it warms my heart and is truly amazing and I love these guys to death.”
Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen called his team’s victory a storybook ending.
“Words can’t explain how proud of these boys I am! I want to thank them for letting me be their coach,” he said. “These boys showed us how bad they wanted it, and they went and took control of the meet on championship Saturday! It’s all still setting in what they truly accomplished–scoring 100-plus points in back-to-back years has never been done! Hat’s off to my boys!
“I love each and every one of them!” he added.
The Hawks overcame a slew of injuries to some of their top runners in the last 12 months. They also used the doubts from a variety of observers outside the program to provide even more motivation.
Prior to the state meet, Ankeny assistant coach Jon Lindaman printed out the predictions from a staff of local experts. None of them picked Ankeny to win the meet.
“I decided to bring it to state just to keep a chip on my shoulder,” said Ankeny sprinter Tyler Sickerson. “Knowing that everyone at iatrack was sleeping on us just added to the fire to win for sure.”
Ankeny’s only win on Saturday came in the shuttle hurdle relay, where the foursome of Pote, Sam Madsen, Hayden Carlson and Gavin Wise ran an all-time Iowa best of 56.06 seconds to edge runner-up Waukee Northwest, which was clocked in 56.16.
“I feel like all of us–iron sharpens iron,” said Madsen. “Having (Northwest) by our sides just pushed every single one of us. That’s how we run so fast. That’s why times are getting faster and faster–all of this competition.”
The Hawks had been disqualified in the shuttle hurdle relay at last month’s Drake Relays. Carlson and Pote were also DQ’d in the 110 hurdles at that meet, giving them some mental hurdles to overcome on the blue oval.
“There’s always going to be doubts along the way, but again, you always believe in God….he’s got your back,” Pote said.
Ankeny held a slight lead midway through the race. A strong third leg by Carlson gave the Hawks some breathing room.
“We knew we were going to get here,” said Carlson. “We just had to buy our time. We’ve been talking about it since three years ago. It just all wrapped up real nicely.”
Wise held off a late charge from Northwest’s Blake Ludwig to seal the victory.
“It really was up to them,” Wise said of his teammates. “I didn’t run the best leg I’ve ever ran. I was moving, but I hit a lot of hurdles. So without them, I could not have done it. I give all of my respects to my 1-2-3 legs. They’re huge.”
Carlson and Pote later placed second and third, respectively, in the 110 hurdles. Carlson posted a time of 13.91 seconds, while Pote was clocked in 14.14.
Quinton Alexander of Cedar Rapids Prairie successfully defended his title in 13.65, which set a meet record.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” Carlson said. “I’ve been wanting to go sub-14 all year, so this was a good time to do it.”
Pote was also thrilled with his race.
“Coming from seventh place last year and not knowing what I could do and running 14.1, it’s beyond what I could ask for,” he said.
The 14 points in that event pushed Ankeny ahead of Cedar Falls and into the lead for good.
“Our motto is to kind of just ride the high,” Carlson said. “Us winning the shuttle really kicked us into the highs. It helped a lot.”
The Hawks picked up some additional points in the sprint events. Sickerson placed second in the 100 in 10.95 seconds.
Ben Frazier of Waterloo West won the race in 10.83.
“I’m happy with it. I feel blessed to be here. I’ve said that many times so far this year,” Sickerson said. “I wanted to win, especially after my prelim, but I lost that race when I tightened up and did it to myself. (Frazier) got out fast and did what he needed to do. He always gets out good and he did in the prelim too, but I just stayed more relaxed in the prelim. The pressure got to me in this race.”
Sickerson later placed fourth in the 200 in 21.91. Teammate Logan Fairchild was the runner-up in that race in 21.68, finishing .04 seconds behind Braeden Jackson of Ankeny Centennial.
“I knew it was going to be a stretch at the end. I ran as hard as I could,” said Fairchild. “I’m not really satisfied, but we’ve pretty much locked in the team championship so that’s exciting.”
Zuber closed out his incredible career with a pair of runner-up finishes. He posted times of 1:52.53 in the 800 and 4:12.59 in the 1,600.
Dowling Catholic’s Owen Wolfe won both of those races in 1:50.51 and 4:09.21. The Maroons placed third in the team standings with 66.5 points.
“He ran amazing,” Zuber said of Wolfe. “He’s a great competitor. We started battling it out at Iowa State earlier this year when he was throwing down some good times. That’s just the reality of high school track right now in Iowa. Everyone is ready to go and healthy, and it can be anyone’s day. You have to be ready and show up.”
Zuber was joined in those races by one of his Ankeny teammates. Nicholas Robie placed 12th in the 800 in 1:55.17, and Isaiah Smith took 13th in the 1,600 in 4:16.74.
Prior to both of his races, Zuber watched from the edge of the track as Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman swept the Class 3A titles at those distances in earth-shattering fashion.
Nauman won the 1,600 in 3:59.60, becoming the first Iowa runner to ever go under 4 minutes. The Oregon recruit also became the first high school junior in the U.S. to ever run under 4:00 in the 1,600 and under 1:50 in the 800 at the same meet, let alone in the same day.
“You’ve just got to focus on what you can control,” Zuber said of not being distracted by Nauman’s historic efforts. “He’s obviously a phenomenal athlete and a phenomenal person–he’s great to talk to as well. Hat’s off to him for what he’s done.”
Ankeny scored points in two other events on Saturday. The Hawks opened the day with a fifth-place finish in the sprint medley relay.
The quartet of Caden Henkes, Alexander Zuber, Treyton Grossman and Fairchild posted a time of 1:31.45. Cedar Falls won the event in 1:30.19.
Henkes, Zuber and Grossman later combined with Sickerson for a sixth-place finish in the 4×100 relay. The Hawks were clocked in 42.07 seconds.
Ankeny Centennial won that race in 41.29.
