Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Show time for the Clear Creek Amana track team is one week away.

Judging by Thursday’s dress rehearsal the Clippers are ready for center stage.

In its final tune up before the postseason opens with the WAMAC Meet next Thursday Clear Creek Amana won 11 events and pulled away from Solon to win the team title at its own 12-team Pacha Relays in Tiffin.

“Tonight, is the dress rehearsal for championship season,” Clear Creek Amana coach Ben Robison said. “From here on out it’s all about points.”

Alex Figueroa swept the short sprints and ran on a pair of winning relay teams as Clear Creek Amana racked up 156 points to finish 10.5 in front of runner-up Solon.

Figueroa won the 100 and 200 and ran on the winning 4×100 and sprint medley relay teams as the Clippers closed the regular season on a high note while showing they are capable of making noise over the next three weeks.

“Coach said starting tonight he doesn’t care about the prs or the times just go score some points,” Figueroa said. “Now that we are hitting the championship phase our times are going to start getting faster and we’ve got a pretty good lineup and we are humming. I think we are in a really good spot going into conference and districts and then going to the state championships.”

To prep for the postseason Robison set the lineup on Thursday with the intent to rack up points.

Clear Creek Amana did just that, winning six or seven relays and getting five individual titles from four different athletes.

Ben Swails won the long jump, Harrison Rosenberg the 110 hurdles and Gavin Zillyette the 400 hurdles to pace the Clippers.

Clear Creek Amana did much of its damage in the relays, winning six and finishing third in the 4×200.

“We just have to score points and we have to do it however we can,” Robison said. “In some areas we are going to have to nickel and dime but in our relays we are going to clean house so it’s going to be really important from here out that in our individual events we putting ourselves in there to be competitive.”

Figueroa, who has battled compartment syndrome for the entirety of the season, showed Thursday he was ready to handle a full workload in the postseason.

The senior sprinter was impressive in winning a title in the 100 in an event that later had the times of all runners wiped away after it was determined the raced was shortened by an error that had runners start in an incorrect spot.

Figueroa added a title in the 200 in 22.92.

“I was in lane three so I knew that two guys were seeded faster and I like that because it’s pushing me,” Figueroa said. “I had guys to run with and today I felt good.”

Figueroa ran a 100-meter leg on the Clipper sprint medley team that won in 1:37.45 and anchored the Clear Creek Amana 4×100 relay team to a win in 43.95.

“He just had no speed endurance that was the deal,” Robison said of Figueroa. “He is really starting to come along and he’s in about the best spot he could be right now.”

The Clear Creek Amana 4×400 team of Zillyette, Cash Jensen, Keyan Gisleson and Tom Johnson won in 3:31.91 and Zillyette, Johnson and Jensen joined Brandon Barker on the 4×800 team that win in 8:34.96.

Johnson anchored the distance medley team that also featured Swails, Gage Freeman and Zillyette to a win in 3:47.72.

“We are in a much better spot than I anticipated we would be right now, back way early in the season,” Robison said. “I am really excited about where we are at and the potential for a couple of big weeks here.”

Brayden Rickertsen won the 400 for Solon in a time of 52.12 and the Spartan 4×200 relay team of Trin Eidahl, Blake Timmons, Grant Gerdin and Colton Hoffman won in 1:35.14.

Pacha Relays

At Tiffin

Team scores – 1. Clear Creek Amana 156; 2. Solon 145.5; 3. Tipton 86; 4. Monticello 83; 5. Mount Vernon 61.5; 6. Anamosa 54; 7. Williamsburg 51; 8. Davenport Assumption 47; 9. Durant 31; 10. Benton Community 18; 11. Clear Creek Amana JV 4; 11. Regina 4

Individual event winners; area placers

Long jump – 1. Ben Swails (CCA) 20-10 ½; 7. Josuha Loren (CCA) 19-8 3/4; 8. Parker Pentico (SOL) 19-8 ¾

High jump – 1. Caden Ungs (MON) 6-2; 2. Colton Hoffman (SOL) 6-0; 4. Joshua Loren (CCA) 5-8; 5. Oaken Foster (SOL) 5-8; 7. Jackson Schmidt (CCA) 5-6

Discus – 1. Tyler Maro (DA) 146-5; 2. Zach Harp (SOL) 143-9; 8. Adam Smith (SOL) 121-9 ½

Shot put – 1. Luke Peters (WIL) 49-0; 3. Zach Harp (SOL) 45-9; 4. Nash Altman (SOL) 45-0; 8. Josh Gaffey (ICR) 43-4

100 – 1. Alex Figueroa (CCA); 2. Colton Hoffman (SOL)

200 – 1. Alex Figueroa (CCA) 22.92; 3. Brayden Rickertsen (SOL) 23.14; 4. Blake Timmons (SOL) 23.23; 6. Gage Freeman (CCA) 23.6; 8. Carson Jensen (ICR) 23.78

400 – 1. Brayden Rickertsen (SOL) 52.12; 2. Cash Jensen (CCA) 53.42; 3. Keyan Gisleson (CCA) 53.53; 5. Rhyse Wear (SOL) 55.49

800 – 1. Carter Kurt (MON) 2:04.79; 2. Ben DeValk (SOL) 2:05.85; 7. Tyler Bilskie (SOL) 2:09.75

1,600 – 1. Caleb Shumaker (TIP) 4:39.77; 2. Ben DeValk (SOL) 4:40.54; 3. Brandon Barker (CCA) 4:46.75; 8. Michael Yeomans (SOL) 4:59.58

3,2000 – 1. Caleb Shumaker (TIP) 9:54.14; 2. Brandon Barker (CCA) 10:26.86; 8. Brick Kabela (SOL) 11:30.74

110 hurdles – 1. Harrison Rosenberg (CCA) 15.24; 3. Brady Mullen (SOL) 15.77; 4. Brady Jeworrek (SOL) 16.15

400 hurdles – 1. Gavin Zillyette (CCA) 56.97; 7. Bo Janssen (SOL) 1:01.99

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Ben Swails, Andrew Schlemme, Zaid Rachman, Harrison Rosenberg) 1:04.74; 2. Solon (Jackson Ryan, Brady Mullen, Nash Kotar, Brady Jeworrek) 1:04.78

Sprint medley relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Harrison Rosenberg, Alex Figueroa, Gage Freeman, Tom Johnson) 1:37.45; 2. Solon (Trin Eidahl, Colton Hoffman, Bryaden Rickertsen, Blake Timmons) 1:37.49; 8. Regina (Olney, Meyer, Keating, Boblenz) 1:47. 2

Distance medley relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Ben Swails, Gage Freeman, Gavin Zillyette, Tom Johnson) 3:47.72; 4. Solon (Sean Stahle, Michael Pipolo, Jeremy Bachus, Michael Yeomans) 4:00.57

4×100 relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Harrison Rosenberg, Ben Swails, Gage Freeman, Alex Figueroa) 43.95; 3. Solon (Trin Eidahl, Grant Gerdin, Brady Jeworrek, Danny Knezevich) 45.18

4×200 relay – 1. Solon (Trin Eidahl, Blake Timmons, Grant Gerdin, Colton Hoffman) 1:35.14; 3. Clear Creek Amana (Nick Johnson, Thomas Dunn, Jackson Schmidt, Reece Hoffman) 1:37.75

4×400 relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Gavin Zillyette, Cash Jensen, Keyan Gisleson, Tom Johnson) 3:31.91; 4. Solon (Blake Timmons, Brayden Rickertsen, Bo Janssen, Jeremy Bachus) 3:33.55

4×800 relay – 1. Clear Creek Amana (Gavin Zillyette, Cash Jensen, Brandon Barker, Tom Johnson) 8:34.96; 4. Solon (Ben DeValk, Michael Yeomans, Ty Becicka, Tyler Bilskie) 8:58.72

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