City High 4×800 Comes up Short of Repeat Title
Photo by Jeff Yoder | City High state track photo gallery
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
DES MOINES – City High made a valiant run at a repeat title in the Class 4A 4×800.
The Little Hawks just came up a few meters shy.
City High was within striking distance of a second consecutive state title until the final 50 meters but settled for a fifth-place finish on Thursday at the 4A state track and field meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
“Of course its disappointing not to get first but you can’t really be upset with any of our efforts,” Threlkeld-Wiegand said. “We gave it our all every single leg and we pushed it every single leg and we will live with the results.”
City High won its first 4×800 title since 2013 last season in the second fastest time in program history but returned just one member of that team.
On Thursday the Little Hawks nearly pulled off the repeat.
Seniors Daniel Brown, Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand and Max DePrenger and junior Matt Taylor clocked a season-best time of 7:55.33 but it wasn’t quite enough on a warm and sunny afternoon.
The 7:55.33 was more than 10 seconds faster than the previous season best for City High posted last week at the district meet.
“It’s a season-best and just watching my three teammates fight and give everything they had I’m not disappointed,” Brown said. “We came out here knowing it was possible to win again and we were right in it to the very end we can’t really ask anything more than that.”
City High spent much of the race in the lead or just strides back of the leaders in a wild race that saw each of the top five finishers hold a lead.
Brown had City High just a tick off the lead with an opening-leg 1:55 split.
“The first thing is I always want to hand the baton off in first, that’s always my personal goal and my job as a lead off,” Brown said. “I came up a little bit short of that but I gave everything I had to try to get the baton to Ry in the best position possible.”
Threlkeld-Wiegand and Taylor kept City High in a lead pack of four heading into the final 800.
DePrenger surged to the lead at one point and had City High just a stride off the leader but couldn’t hold off a late charge led by Ames sophomore anchor Aniey Akok.
“Max is one of the toughest most fierce competitors that I have either gone against or competed with and we knew that he just has that it factor that you can’t really teach,” Brown said. “He does everything he can to try to win and that’s what he did tonight. You can’t ask any more from him.”
Only two teams, Johnston and Waukee, had cracked the eight-minute mark and no team had bene faster than 7:58 before Thursday when seven teams ran 7:57.3 or faster.
Ames won the title in 7:51.95 followed by Cedar Falls in 7:53.04 and Southeast Polk in 7:54.72.
Waukee was fourth in 7:54.88.
“We were thinking that 7:55 would get us in a can and we are going to do everything we can and live with the result,” Threlkeld-Wiegand. “We definitely ran how we wanted to.”
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