The disappointment from last year’s Drake Relays is now just a distant memory for standout Ankeny hurdler Hayden Carlson.
The senior raced to a victory in the boys’ 110 hurdles on Friday at this year’s edition of America’s Athletic Classic. He broke his own school record by posting a time of 13.80 seconds.
“It was my coaches and teammates,” said Carlson. “They just taught me how to stay the course and stay in my lane. Last year was a big lesson learned, falling in the prelims of the highs and falling in the shuttle hurdle in the finals. Coach (Jordan) Mullen and my dad (Brandt), who is also a coach, told me to put the blinders on. Go, and if you listen to your coaches and have your teammates behind your back, anything can happen.”
Carlson survived a chaotic race that saw both of the competitors running next to him take a tumble. One of them, Blake Ludwig of Waukee Northwest, was disqualified after falling out of his lane.
The other one, Tay Seals of Clear Creek-Amana, had posted the fastest qualifying time of 13.80 earlier on Friday. He was running alongside Carlson when he stumbled over the last hurdle and faded to a seventh-place finish in 16.34.
Carlson was so focused on his own race that he wasn’t even aware that Seals had fallen.
“He went down?” Carlson asked afterwards. “I didn’t even see that. I saw him stumble and go into my lane, and I kind of freaked out a little bit. But my blinders were on. I didn’t even see it.”
Carlson became Ankeny’s first individual Relays champion since Logan Fairchild won the 100 in 2024. The Hawks captured back-to-back crowns in the 4×800 relay in 2024-25, but did not qualify in that event this year.
“It’s amazing to just continue the legacy (of this program),” Carlson said. “This is for all the guys who came before me, not for me. It’s a really high high (to win), and I’m going to enjoy it. Until I run the 4×200 later, and then it’s back to work.”
About two hours later, Carlson teamed up with Finn McClure, Treyton Grossman and Owen Fischer for a fifth-place finish in the 4×200 relay. Ankeny was clocked in 1:27.90.
Valley tied the Relays record in that event by winning the race in 1:26.55. Ankeny Centennial placed 19th in the 4×200 as the foursome of Brecken Allen, Heisman Dickinson, Kyler Jones and James Cole posted a time of 1:29.47.
Earlier, the Hawks earned a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay. The quartet of Fischer, Grossman, Quin Somers and Isaiah Smith posted a time of 3:27.25.
Smith ran the 800-meter anchor leg in 1:52.5, but was unable to hold off Western Dubuque of Epworth star Quentin Nauman, who had won the 3,200 on Thursday. Western Dubuque crossed the finish line in 3:26.84.
“I knew I could do it,” Smith said of his split. “I’m grateful that I had Nauman in there to push me. But I’m not really thinking about that. We still got second, and I got outkicked. I just didn’t have it that last 50 meters.”
Centennial placed fifth in that event. The team of Dickinson, Jones, Allen and Cohen Moll posted a time of 3:29.52.
“We definitely had a shot at it,” said Moll. “In the end it comes down to how good I can anchor it. I think I did my work, but Nauman is just a great runner. I knew what type of fitness he was in after watching his race on Thursday.”
Smith later contributed a third-place finish in the 800. He was clocked in 1:52.48.
The Jaguars got a sixth-place finish from Noah Ross in the 100. He turned in a time of 10.77 seconds.
McClure also competed in the 100. He took 25th overall in 10.98.
Ankeny closed out the day by running a time of 3:26.45 in the preliminaries of the 4×400 relay. The team of Somers, Isaiah Swanson, Logan Peterson and Caden McDowell placed 18th overall.
Centennial’s Logan Shwery competed in the wheelchair 400, but was disqualified in the event.
