Ankeny Centennial sprinter Noah Ross closed out his high school track career in style.
A member of the Jaguars’ state champion 4×200 and 4×100 relays a year ago, Ross raced to a third-place finish in the 100 on Saturday at the boys’ Class 4A state meet. He posted a time of 10.68 seconds.
“It’s my first time running an open event at state so to go from not making it to the podium, it means the world,” said Ross.
Ross helped Centennial to a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay on Thursday. He was then held out of the 4×200 and 4×100 on Friday as the Jaguars took 15th and 13th, respectively, in those two relays.
“I was having some quad issues so I had to pull out of a couple of races I didn’t want to pull out of,” Ross said. “So to come out here and this is my second time running a sub-10.7, and I would assume legal wind conditions. I’m so proud that I made it on this podium.”
Ross thought at one point that he had the lead. But in the end, Norwalk’s Kaiden Kunze crossed the finish line in 10.63 to win the race.
Detzin McMurrin of Waterloo West, who ran the fastest qualifying time on Thursday, placed second in 10.67.
“It felt good,” Ross said. “I just barely lost to some really good athletes. This just proves that I can hang with the best. I’m truly happy.”
Kunze, a South Dakota recruit, capped off his high school career by sweeping the sprint triple and adding another title in the long jump. He placed sixth in the Class 4A team race all by himself, accounting for all 40 of the Warriors’ points.
Centennial, meanwhile, placed 17th with 18 points. The Jaguars scored points in four events.
Centennial closed out the meet with a seventh-place finish in the 4×400 relay. The team of Brecken Allen, Ryne Adams, Kyler Jones and Sawyer Goble posted a time of 3:22.37.
Cedar Rapids Prairie won the race in an all-time Iowa best of 3:13.17, finishing more than a second ahead of Cedar Falls. However, the Tigers still claimed the Class 4A crown with 75 points–eight more than Bettendorf.
In other events on Saturday, Centennial’s Cohen Moll placed 11th in the 800 with a time of 1:55.22. He later took 20th in the 1,600 in 4:23.97.
Moll was joined in the 1,600 by teammate Jax Alvarez. Alvarez placed 16th in 4:18.43.
Perhaps nobody had a busier day for the Jaguars, though, than freshman Logan Shwery, who competed in four wheelchair events. He recorded personal bests in three of them.
Shwery placed fifth in the 100 (21.02), fifth in the 200 (39.74) and fourth in the 400 (1:17.67). He also took third in the shot put (10-1).
Centennial placed seventh in the boys’ paralympic division with 19 points.
