The Ankeny boys’ track team earned a pair of victories in the Jim Duncan Invitational on Saturday at Drake Stadium, while Ankeny Centennial recorded several top-six finishes.
Ankeny senior Hayden Carlson easily won the 110 hurdles in 13.99 seconds. Blake Ludwig of Waukee Northwest was the runner-up in 14.70.
“It was a very good day for the Hawks!” said Ankeny coach Jordan Mullen. “We continue to build, and the boys showed us they were very hungry to compete! Hayden dipped under 14 in the highs, and he did it into a good headwind.”
The Hawks also won the distance medley relay. The foursome of Owen Fischer, Treyton Grossman, Quin Somers and Isaiah Smith was clocked in 3:29.35.
“That was a big performance with the D-med going sub 3:30!” Mullen said. “Almost everything we ran from relay to individual we had personal bests! It was good to get out and watch the boys get to show off all their hard work they have been putting in! We are starting to put everything together, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team right now as we keep building for championship season!”
Mullen said his team got off to a good start when distance runners Benton Schuchart and Jackson Schulz both set personal bests in the 3,200.
“They set the tone for us by going out and dropping more than 10 seconds off their best times,” Mullen said.
Centennial’s Noah Ross placed second in the 100 in 11.15 seconds, finishing .01 behind Noah Daniel of Fort Dodge. Ankeny’s Finn McClure took sixth in that race in 11.41.
The Jaguars got a fourth-place finish from Brecken Allen in the 400. He posted a time of 50.26 seconds.
Both Allen and teammate Sawyer Goble played for the Centennial boys’ soccer team in Council Bluffs earlier in the day before rushing back to Des Moines. Goble placed 23rd in the 400 hurdles in 1:01.48.
“It’s not easy to juggle those two sports, and I haven’t had a lot of guys do it over the years,” said Centennial boys’ soccer coach Brian Duax. “Brecken has been doing it for three years now.”
Centennial’s Davis Johnson placed fifth in the 3,200 with a time of 9:37.22. Jax Alvarez took sixth in the 800 in 2:00.79, while Heisman Dickinson finished sixth in the 200 in 23.09.
Alvarez also ran on the fourth-place 4×800 relay. He combined with Jack Behrens, Richard Lewis and Cohen Moll to post a time of 8:03.93.
Dickinson and Ross teamed up with Treyce Young and Kyler Jones for a fifth-place finish in the 4×200 relay. The Jaguars posted a time of 1:29.05.
Ankeny will host the Fred Smith Hawk Relays on Tuesday at Northview Stadium. Centennial, meanwhile, will compete in the Dragon Invitational at Johnston.
