City High Closes in On Breakthrough With Runner-up Finish at Forwald Relays
Photo by Jeff Yoder / Click to view photo gallery
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – Mike Moore has said it a lot during his five years leading the City High boys track and field program.
“We’re coming,” Moore said again on Thursday. “We’re coming.”
After steady improvement each of the past four seasons the Little Hawks have their best team in five seasons under Moore things spring.
The Little Hawks showed on Thursday just how close they are to a breakthrough.
City High posted top-three finishes in 10 events on its way to a runner-up finish at the 47th annual Forwald Relays on a cool and breezy evening at Raffensperger Track.
“All I know is that we asked them to give us their best and we had prs all over the place,” Moore said. “We are coming, we are coming, you’ve seen it the last five years. We’re coming.”
City High got an individual title from Kaleba Jack in the long jump and won the 4×800 relay while finishing four-points behind 4A state runner-up West High in the team standings.
West High won the team title with 134 points while City High finished with 130, five more than two-time defending state champ West Des Moines Valley.
Linn-Mar was fourth with 104 points.
“We wanted to win this tonight but with these teams here I know we are happy with how we competed,” City High senior Daniel Brown said. “West and Valley are great teams, Linn-Mar has some really good runners so it’s definitely a very good measuring stick to see where we are at right now and the potential that we still have to grow as a team.”
The runner-up finish for City High matched the best Forwald Relays finish for the Little Hawks since 2015 and the 130 points are the most in more than five seasons.
“We have some work to do yet but we are coming along pretty nicely,” Moore said. “I love this team, they all care about each, they work hard, they work smart. We have to fix a few things and get a little more focused but we are coming.”
City High finished first and second in the long jump as Jack won with a leap of 21-10 ½ and Dahron Fouch was second with a jump of 21-7 ½.
Brown helped City High get off to a strong start on the track with a win in the 4×800 in a season-best time of 8:09.48.
The lone returning runner from last year’s state championship 4×800 team, Brown ran a season-best split on the leadoff leg on Thursday to give the Little Hawks a lead they would never give up.
Matt Taylor, Owen Jones and Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand closed the deal for City High holding off runner-up West Des Moines Valley by more than a second.
“I think tonight we really kind of showed ourselves that even though we did lose three guys from last year we are still right in it,” Brown said. “I think we are right where we want to be.”
Brown added a runner-up finish in the 800 in 2:02.31 and teamed with freshmen Jovan Harris and Carter Seaton and senior Max DePrenger on City High 4×400 team that finished runner-up in a season-best time of 3:27.81.
“I was happy with the relays (4×800 and 4×400) but I wish my open 800 went a little bit better,” Brown said. “That is the first time this season that I have doubled with the 4×800 and 800 and that will give me a good measuring stick for Drake and state. “
DePrenger was runner-up in the 400 and third in the 100 while Oisin Leopold clocked a career-best time of 14.9 in a runner-up finish in the 110 hurdles.
Forwald Relays
Team scores – 1. West High 134; 2. City High 130; 3. West Des Moines Valley 125; 4. Linn-Mar 104; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie 86; 6. Pleasant Valley 83; 7. Muscatine 43; 8. Marion 30
Individual results (Event winners; area placewinners)
100 – 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW) 11.03; 3. Max DePrenger (ICH) 11.39; 7. Shamar Wyatt (ICW) 11.59
200 – 1. Ryan Kilpatrick (CRP) 22.92; 5. Dahron Fouch (ICH) 23.53; 6. Fabian Brown (ICW) 23.7; 7. Ryan Gudenkauf (ICW) 24.01
400 – 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW) 48.88; 2. Max DePrenger (ICH) 50.18; 8. Grahm Goering (ICW) 53.54
800 – 1. Evan Armitage (WDV) 2:00.87; 2. Daniel Brown (ICH) 2:02.31; 6. Matt Taylor (ICH) 2:08.89; 7. Yousif Salama (ICW) 2:09.15; 8. Ian Prescott (ICW) 2:09.84
1,600 – 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW) 4:28.5; 4. Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand (ICH) 4:36.49; 6. Owen Jones (ICH) 4:40.36; 8. Will Conrad (ICW) 4:43.82
3,200 – 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW) 9:40.06; 4. Nicolo Schianchi (ICW) 10:14.37; 7. Mitchell Wilkes (ICH) 10:30.84; 8. Yasar Hassan (ICH) 10:37.23
110 hurdles – 1. Trent Davis (L-M) 14.64; 2. Oisin Leopold (ICH) 14.9; 6. Cole Mabry (ICW) 15.34
400 hurdles – 1. Ben Wilson (PV) 55.57; 2. Cole Mabry (ICW) 56.52; 5. Jason Lu (ICW) 57.51; 6. Soren Ostby (ICH) 57.97; 8. Noah Kabat (ICH) 58.65
4×100 – 1. Linn-Mar 43.84; 2. West High (Mason Applegate, Fabian Brown, Tyuss Bell, Gabe Caruthers) 44.36; 5. City High (Kaleba Jack, Max DePrenger, Tahj Williamson, Dahron Fouch) 45.25
4×200 – 1. Linn-Mar 1:32.53; 3. City High (Kaleba Jack, Giovanni Housson, Jovan Harris, Sila Lulinda) 1:34.1; 5. West High (Mason Applegate, Nick Johnson, Ryan Gudenkauf, Fabian Brown) 1:35.0
4×400 – 1. Linn-Mar 3:26.71; 2. City High (Daniel Brown, Jovan Harris, Carter Seaton, Max DePrenger) 3:27.81; 4. West High (Grahm Goering, Jason Lu, Tyuss Bell, Gabe Caruthers) 3:32.93
4×800 – 1. City High (Daniel Brown, Matt Taylor, Owen Jones, Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand) 8:09.48; 4. West High (Ian Prescott, Will Conrad, Osman Salama, Yousif Salama) 8:17.99
Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. Linn-Mar 59.23; 5. City High (Griffen Vogelgesang, John Aschenbrenner, Tevon Williamson, Oisin Leopold) 1:01.31; 6. West High (Jason Lu, Cole Mabry, Anuj Jani, Ryan Gudenkauf) 1:04.19
Sprint medley relay – 1. West Des Moines Valley 1:36.32; 3. City High (Sila Lulinda, Giovanni Housson, Jovan Harris, Carter Seaton) 1:38.85; 5. West High (Shamar Wyatt, Fabian Brown, Nick Johnson, Tyuss Bell) 1:39.7
Distance medley relay – 1. Linn-Mar 3:36.74; 4. West High (Nate Gudenkauf, Nick Johnson, Thayer Abu-Hiljeh, Caden Noeller) 3:51.29
Discus – 1. Landon Green (ICW) 154-5; 3. Levi Sherod (ICH) 150-8; 5. Raph Hamilton (ICH) 133-4
Shot put – 1. Jake Remsburg (WDV) 57-9; 2. Landon Green (ICW) 56-6; 6. Raph Hamilton (ICH) 44-7
Long jump – 1. Kaleba Jack (ICH) 21-10 ½; 2. Dahron Fouch (ICH) 21-7 ¼; 7. Ryan Gudenkauf (ICW) 20-1 3/4
High jump – 1. Aguek Deng (WDV) 6-3 ¼; 2. Marcus Morgan (ICW) 6-3 ¼; 4. Tevon Williamson (ICH) 5-10; 6. Doug Burtch (ICH) 5-
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