Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – When Gavin Zillyette finished runner-up in his first ever attempt at the 400 hurdles last month he figured there was a path to success in the event.

“I knew I had the potential to do well and initially I thought maybe I had the potential to qualify for state,” Zillyette said. “I thought I could be one of those guys that squeezes in.”

Zillyette did a lot more than just squeeze into the state meet.

Just 43 days after running the 400 hurdles for the first time Zillyette finished runner-up in the event at the Class 3A state meet on Friday on an overcast morning at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Zillyette clocked a career-best 55.88 on Friday finishing runner-up to Boone senior Tegan Bock who won with a 53.38.

“I didn’t know what to expect going into it and throughout the season I was able to progressively drop more time,” Zillyette said. “I have blown out my own expectations completely and I’m just glad I’ve found a new race I can compete in.”

A standout cross country runner in the fall Zillyette spent most of his track career focused on races 800 meters or longer.

A few days before the Clear Creek Amana Invitational on April 8 head coach Ben Robison approached Zillyette with his plan to try the 400 hurdles.

In his first crack at the 400 hurdles Zillyette finished runner-up in a time of 59.08 at the Clippers’ home race and has been a staple in the race ever since.

“I started about three meets into the season and up to that point I had never been over a hurdle on a track before,” Zillyette said. “With some work just being more confident getting over hurdles helped me significantly.”

As Robison expected, Zillyette picked up the event quickly.

He won WAMAC Conference and state qualifying meet titles in the event, running a 56.23 at the state qualifier last week good for third fastest in 3A entering the state meet.

On Friday Zillyette showed exactly how far he has come in a short period of time with his runner-up finish surging past several runners in the final 50 meters.

“Obviously I don’t have the best hurdle form of everyone out there,” Zillyette said. “There are a lot of kids who have hurdled their entire running career and I just started so for me I know it’s going to come down to who has the better finish.”

Zillyette who opts for a standing start rather than running out of blocks didn’t get off to the best start on Friday.

He more than made up for it with a blistering final 200 meters including a strong close after the final hurdle.

“I just had a little bit of a hesitation at the start, I got a little bit off balance, I got a little anxious but I knew it was going to come down to coming off the hurdle hard and gaining as much ground as I could,” Zillyette said. ““For me that’s where I know I have to win the race, the last 200 is the key part for most of my races especially in this one, that’s where I can make up most of my ground.”

The runner-up finish from Zillyette was part of another strong day for Clear Creek Amana.

He ran the 400-meter leg on the Clipper distance medley relay team that finished sixth in a school-record time of 3:33.21.

Gage Freeman and Ben Swails ran the 200-meter legs for the Clippers while Tom Johnson clocked a 1:55 split on the 800-meter anchor leg.

Harrison Rosenberg advanced to the finals of the 110 hurdles, clocking a career-best 15.16 for the second fastest time from the prelims.

Class 2A Boys State Track and Field Meet 

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores – 1. Underwood 30; 2. Treynor 29; 3. Bellevue 25; 4. Tipton 22; 5. Jesup 21; 6. Unity Christian 16; 7. Clarinda 14; 7. South Hamilton 14; 7. Roland-Story 14; 10. Cardinal 12; 39. Regina 2

Individual results (event winners; area competitors)

Discus – 1. Carson Lienau (Jesup)

High jump – 1. Isaac Jones (Clarinda) 6-6

400 hurdles – 1. Sid Schaaf (Treynor) 54.3

4×200 – 1. Unity Christian 1:28.58

Distance medley – 1. Bellevue 3:36

Class 3A Boys State Track and Field Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores – 1. Pella 45.5; 2. ADM 30; 3. Charles City 24; 4. Dallas Center-Grimes 22; 5. North Polk 18; 6. Clear Creek Amana 17; 7. Carlisle 16; 7. LeMars 16; 7. Washington 16; 7. Boone 16; 7. Humboldt 16; 34. Solon 2

Individual results (event winners; area competitors)

Shot put – 1. Kody Huisman (Pella) 59-4 ¾

Long jump – 1. Ian Collins (Charles City) 23-0 ¾

400 hurdles – 1. Tegan Bock (Boone) 53.38; 2. Gavin Zillyette (Clear Creek Amana) 55.88; 13. Keyan Gisleson (Clear Creek Amana) 57.75

4×200 – 1. Carlisle 1:30.56; 22. Clear Creek Amana (Nick Johnson, Gage Freeman, Ben Swails, Reece Hoffman) 1:34.56

Distance medley – 1. Humboldt 3:30.11; 6. Clear Creek Amana (Gage Freeman, Ben Swails, Gavin Zillyette, Tom Johnson) 3:33.21; 23. Solon (Michael Pipolo, Grant Gerdin, Bo Janssen, Tyler Bilskie) 3:47.61

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