By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The scoreboard at Frank Bates Field wasn’t displaying team scores at the Forwald/Coleman Relays on Thursday evening.

That didn’t stop Derek Nugent and his West High teammates from knowing what was at stake heading into the final event of the evening.   

“We knew the score,” Nugent said. “We knew it would come down to us and Valley and that we had to run our best to not only improve our time for Drake but to win a team title.”

Nugent and the Trojans did both of those things in the 4×400 relay.

The West High foursome of Nugent, Austin West, Gabe Caruthers and Jeff Garbutt won the 4×400 in a season-best time of 3:22.57 to hold off West Des Moines Valley for the team title.

West High finished with 162 points, six more than West Des Moines Valley to win the Forward/Coleman title for the second straight season.

Last year the Forwald/Coleman team title was the only invite crown of the season for the Trojans.

Thursday marked the fifth meet victory of the season for a surging West High squad.  

“I think the biggest difference is the guys are starting to understand what it takes to be successful in this sport,” West High coach T.J. Craig said. “We talk a lot about it’s in there, they have the ability, it’s just a matter of finding that place in them to be successful and a lot of them are finding that.”

West High showed its depth on Thursday, posting a top-eight finish in all 19 events and having double placers in six of 12 individual events.

“I definitely think it’s our depth,” Nugent said. “Being able to double score in the mile, we double scored in the 800, we double scored in at least half our individual events. That definitely helps and we’ve put together some strong relays.”

The Trojans also put their top-end talent on display, winning seven events including individual four individual titles.

West won the 400 hurdles in 54.5 and anchored the Trojan’s sprint medley relay team to a win in 1:35.29.

Nugent anchored the distance medley team to a win in 3:48.54 and sprinted away from the field in the final 300 meters to win the 800 in 1:57.18.  

“That was our big emphasis, last week I ran two 400s and the emphasis was speed so I was really trying to show that off in the last 100 and 200,” Nugent said. “Hopefully I can transition that into Drake next week.”

West High also got a title from Kolby Greiner who won the 3,200 in a season-best time of 9:30.95 and Caruthers won the 200 in 22.12.

The Trojans had three runner-up finishes and three more third-place finishes.

 “It’s all about team,” Caruthers said. “You can will all the events you are in but if you are by yourself you can only win four and never win a meet. It’s all about the team, if everybody is working hard, everybody is placing, everybody is doing their thing it’s going to come out right. Everybody is going to win.”

The West High girls won four events and finished second to team champion Waukee.

Waukee won nine events and rolled up 192 points to finish 40 points in front of West High. Valerie Welch set a meet-record winning the 100 hurdles in 14.53 and won the long jump with a leap of 17-4.

Bailey Nock won the 3,000 in 10:25.76 and Leah Dusterhoft won the discus with a toss of 129-10.

Forwald/Coleman Relays

GIRLS

Team scores – 1. Waukee 192; 2. West High 152; 3. Pleasant Valley 105; 4. City High 85; 5. Linn-Mar 72; 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 55.3; 7. West Des Moines Valley 44.33; 8. Muscatine 30.3.

Individual Results

(Event winners; area placewinners)

100 – 1. Jill Bennett (LM) 12.45; 4. Emma Clark (ICH) 12.94; 6. Katie Severt (ICW) 13.2; 8. Tiara Green (ICH) 13.43.

200 – 1. Payton Wensel (LM) 25.52; 4. Peyton Steva (ICW) 27.49; 7. Azzura Sartini-Rideout (ICH) 28.1.

400 – 1. Payton Wensel (LM) 56.81; 5. Azzura Sartini-Rideout (ICH) 1:07.17; 6. Elizabeth Davis (ICW) 1:07.27.

800 – 1. Lily Campbell (WAU) 2:17.42; 3. Baily Nock (ICW) 2:21.97; 5. Olivia Moore (ICW) 2:26.46; 7. Mary Arch (ICH) 2:29.04.

1,500 – 1. Logan Akason (WAU) 4:53.44; 4. Gabby Skopec (ICW) 5:02.94; 5. Anna Lindower (ICH) 5:10.25; 8. Deniz Ince (ICW) 5:13.93.

3,000 – 1. Bailey Nock (ICW) 10:25.76; 2. Gabby Skopec (ICW) 10:35.66; 4. Emily Bywater (ICH) 10:54.71; 8. Mollie Hansen (ICH) 11:33.5.

100 hurdles – 1. Valerie Welch (ICW) 14.53; 5. Kitra Bell (ICW) 15.96.

400 hurdles – 1. Addie Swanson (PV) 1:04.76; 2. Valerie Welch (ICW) 1:05.56; 6. Micaela Gravelin (ICW) 1:09.14; 8. Merryl Green (ICH) 1:11.89.

Sprint medley – 1. Waukee 1:50.43; 2. City High (Emma Clark, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Emma Cooper, Tiara Green) 1:52.37; 3. West High (Taylor Cannon, Ally Bauer, Katie Severt, Micaela Gravelin) 1:54.87.

Distance medley – 1. Waukee 4:21.1; 2. West High (Taylor Cannon, Micaela Gravelin, Simone Willis, Deniz Ince) 4:28.22; 3. City High (Sydney Fellows, Merryl Green, Izzy Jones, Gabriel McCormick) 4:37.15.

Shuttle hurdle – 1. Waukee 1:04.2; 2. West High (Peyton Steva, Kia Noibum Kitra Bell, Valerie Welch) 1:07.2; 6. City High (Kate Swenning, Brooke Bormann, Merryl Green, Michelle Jennings) 1:16.25.

4×100 – 1. Waukee 49.41; 3. West High (Kitra Bell, Peyton Steva, Katie Severt, Ally Bauer) 51.27; 6. City High (Brooke Bormann, Azzura Sartini-Rideout, Kate Swenning, Isabel Hansen) 53.54.

4×200 – 1. Pleasant Valley 1:44.41; 3. City High (Emma Clark, Tiara Green, Sydney DePrenger, Emma Cooper) 1:47.33; 6. West High (Katie Severt, Natalie Young, Ally Bauer, Peyton Steva) 1:49.33.

4×400 – 1. Waukee 4:06.64; 3. City High (Tiara Green, Sydney DePrenger, Emma Cooper, Emma Clark) 4:16.37; 8. West High (Natalie Young, Olivia Moore, Claire Ronnebaum, Simone Willis) 4:27.38.

4×800 – 1. Waukee 9:45.36; 3. City High (Naomi Meurice, Anna Lindower, Mary Arch, Kinsee Brands) 9:53.02; 7. West High (Emma Durian, Ellie Gretter, Annika Jensen, Claire Ronnebaum) 11:02.04.

High jump – 1. Skyler Presler (LM) 5-2; 4. Cyan Vanderhoef (ICH) 4-10.

Long jump – 1. Valerie Welch (ICW) 17-4; 2. Kitra Bell (ICW) 16-10.

Shot put – 1. Kat Moody (WAU) 47-0 ¾; 2. Chandler Haight (ICW) 44-0 ¾; 4. Luci Murphy (ICH) 38-11 ½; 5. Leah Dusterhoft (ICW) 34-9 ½.

Discus – 1. Leah Dusterhoft (ICW) 129-10; 2. Chandler Haight (ICW) 120-0; 3. Luci Murphy (ICH) 117-3; 6. Michelle Jennings (ICH) 98-7.

BOYS

Team scores – 1. West High 162; 2. West Des Moines Valley 156; 3. Pleasant Valley 115; 4. Linn-Mar 99; 5. City High 81; 6. Southeast Polk 60; 7. Des Moines East 38; 8. Muscatine 26.

Individual Results

(Event winners; area placewinners)

100 – 1. Alphonso Soko (MUS) 11.04; 4. Vance Dillon (ICH) 11.39; 8. Trumell Roberts (ICW) 11.5.

200 – 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW) 22.12; 6. Vance Dillon (ICH) 23.42.

400 – 1. KeShawn Baker (PV) 49.37; 2. Zach Jones (ICH) 49.93; 4. Chris Low (ICW) 52.34; 6. Jack Roggeveen (ICH) 53.57.

800 – 1. Derek Nugent (ICW) 1:57.18; 2. Jim McMillan (ICH) 1:59.86; 3. Jeff Garbutt (ICW) 2:00.87; 8. James Momberg (ICH) 2:07.74.

1,600 – 1. Ryan Murphy (LM) 4:19.73; 2. Kolby Greiner (ICW) 4:25.87; 6. Ali Ali (ICW) 4:33.31; 7. Matthew Dodge (ICH) 4:35.84.

3,200 – 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW) 9:30.95; 2. Ali Ali (ICW) 9:39.34; 5. Matthew Dodge (ICH) 9:57.53.

110 hurdles – 1. Wade Barclay (SEP) 14.57; 4. Max Hill (ICW) 15.34; 6. Rex Thompson (ICH) 15.62.

400 hurdles – 1. Austin West (ICW) 54.5; 3. Max Hill (ICW) 56.49.

Sprint medley – 1. West High (Devlin Lockman, Trumell Roberts, Gabe Caruthers, Austin West) 1:35.29; 6. City High (Cole Milder, Rex Thompson, Max DePrenger, Noah Kabat) 1:42.02.

Distance medley – 1. West High (Austin West, Kaleb Williams, Gabe Caruthers, Derek Nugent) 3:34.76; 4. City High (Malik Kimber, James Momberg, Lucas Firmstone, Jarren Lucas) 3:48.54.

Shuttle hurdle – 1. Southeast Polk 58.63; 4. City High (Zach Jones, Oisin Leopold, Malik Kimber, Rex Thompson) 1:00.36; 5. West High (Javonte Williams, Caden Fedeler, Max Hill, Cole Mabry) 1:00.95.

4×100 – 1. West Des Moines Valley 43.88; 4. City High (Zach Jones, Jack Roggeveen, Rex Thompson, Vance Dillon) 44.19; 7. West High (Kimball Henstrom, Trumell Roberts, Devlin Lockman, Matthew Huff) 45.58.

4×200 – 1. Linn-Mar 1:31.78; 4. West High (Caden Fedeler, Dillon Doyle, Ryan Kadenge, Jared Sams-Merriwether) 1:34.02; 7. City High (Dillon Africa, Cole Milder, Riley Moore, Griffin Moore) 1:39.23.

4×400 – 1. West High (Derek Nugent, Austin West, Gabe Caruthers, Jeff Garbutt) 3:22.57; 3. City High (Daniel Brown, Zach Jones, Lucas Firmstone, Jack Roggeveen) 3:25.26.

4×800 – 1. Pleasant Valley 8:08.32; 2. City High (Daniel Brown, Jim McMillan, Lucas Firmstone, James Momberg) 8:10.83; 4. West High (Jeff Garbutt, Ethan McAreavy, Ethan Goers, Nate Jelinek) 8:19.03.

High jump – 1. Trayvon Williams (WDV) 6-4 ½; 2. Jared Sams-Merriwether (ICW) 6-2; 4. Ryan Kadenge (ICW) 6-0.

Long jump – 1. Treveon Fugate (WDV) 22-1; 5. Kaleb Williams (ICW) 19-2; 6. Cole Milder (ICH) 18-9.

Shot put – 1. Bedale Naba (WDV) 56-3 ½; 3. Alex Kleinow (ICW) 51-10; 4. Landon Green (ICW) 49-8 ½.

Discus – 1. Bedale Naba (WDV) 176-10; 4. Jonathan Gannon (ICW) 157-1.