Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Harrison Rosenberg came to Drake Stadium this week seeking a state title or two in his final appearance at the State Track and Field Meet.

Harrison didn’t get his title but he didn’t leave disappointed.

Far from it actually.

Rosenberg capped a strong career with a pair of medals on Saturday to help Clear Creek Amana to a second consecutive top-10 team finish in Class 3A.

A year after finishing sixth with 32 points the Clippers placed ninth with 24 points on Saturday.

“I’m happy with it,” Rosenberg said. “We’ve done a lot of great things the last two years. I’ve got nothing to complain about the way we’ve competed.”
Rosenberg anchored the Clear Creek Amana shuttle hurdle team that also featured Ben Swails, Marcus Lang and Andrew Schlemme to a sixth-place finish in 1:02.82.

In his final prep event Rosenberg finished third in the 110 hurdles in a career-best time of 14.52.

An Iowa Western football recruit, Rosenberg clocked career-best times in each of his final two attempts at the 110 hurdles.

He ran a 14.69 in Friday’s prelims before his 14.52 in the finals on Saturday that placed him behind 3A champion Jaden Damiano of Iowa Falls and Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Grayson Hartman.

“If I am running my best I can’t complain,” Rosenberg said. “Jaden coming up from 2A, he deserves it, he is super fast. I’m not complaining. I ran my best and that’s all you can do.”
Damiano won the 3A title in 14.23, the 14^th fastest time in program history that was part of an impressive weekend for hurdlers.

Jack Lathan of Spirit Lake ran the fastest time in state history in prelims on Friday at 13.74 and won the 2A title in a time of 13.81 on Saturday.

Eric Lucas of Liberty High followed by clocking the 18^th fastest time in state history at 14.25 to win the 4A title.

“These fans are crazy and there are so many records being broke I just want to go out and run my fastest time and I did,” Rosenberg said. “I can’t be mad about that.”

McKane Caps Career With Medal

West High standout Alex McKane capped a brilliant prep career with his third medal of the weekend finishing fifth in the 1,600 in 4:20.03.

It was the second individual fifth-place finish of the weekend for McKane who was fifth in the 3,200 on Thursday and anchored the Trojan’s distance medley relay team to a runner-up finish on Friday.

The Iowa State recruit won five state medals over the past two seasons placing in both the 3,200 and 1,600 as both a junior and senior.

Bright Future for West High

West High finished 11^th in the Class 4A team race with 26 points on Saturday.

It hard not to notice how much of that production returns next season for the Trojans.

Senior distance standout Alex McKane will certainly be missed but much of the rest of the roster returns intact including a number of standouts.

Sophomore Aidan Jacobsen had a strong state meet debut as did freshman Moustafa Tiea who earned a medal with an eighth-place finish in the 800 on Saturday in 1:57.06.

The 4×100 team of sophomores Todd Rent and Izaiah Loveless, junior Christian Janis and senior Nate Gudenkauf was sixth in a time of 42.79 on Saturday.

The Trojans chould be a factor in the 4A race next season.

Trojans Third in Shuttle Hurdle

The West High girls had their own strong showing on Saturday finishing third in the 4A shuttle hurdle relay.

The team of Hebah War, Erinah Carter, Sophia Olivio and Ella woods was third in a time of 1:04.74.

West Des Moines Dowling ran the best time in state history at 1:00.44 while winning the shuttle hurdle relay while Waukee Northwest was runner-up in 1:02.03.

A Final Medal for Keeney

Liberty High senior Ashlyn Keeney capped an incredible career with one final state meet medal on Saturday.

Keeney finished seventh in the 4A 800 in a time of 2:18.41 to earn the ninth state meet medal of her career.

An Iowa State recruit, Keeney closes her career with four state golds and seven top-two finishes in three appearances at the state meet.

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