Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – In the mind of Moustafa Tiea 800 meters is the perfect race distance.

Not too fast, not too slow.

“It’s slow enough where you can make some moves but it’s fastest enough it’s a quick race,” Tiea said. “Anything is possible during an 800 and I like rolling the dice on that.”

Tiea has the versatility to run any event from the 400 to the 3,200 but the West High sophomore has developed a love for the 800 after placing eighth in the event at the Class 4A state meet last season.

“My favorite is the 800 because anything can happen during an 800,” Tiea said. “You can’t think in a 400, but in the 800 there is some strategy.”

While Tiea loves the 800 what he enjoys even more is winning and he did plenty of that on Saturday after at the Hollingsworth Relays.

Tiea ran on a trio of winning relay teams on Saturday as West High finished third at its own home meet on a sunny afternoon at West High.

“Moustafa is just a guy out there having fun who likes to compete and if you put him in a situation where he can be competitive he’s going to go out and do it,” Craig said. “He trains and reads and lives and breathes track and field and he knows what good is and he wants to be that good and has his mind set on it. Those two things together, having some fun and having your goals pretty high usually leads to a lot of success.

Just a year into his prep career Tiea has already proven to be a unique talent on the track.

He is already a two-time state qualifier in cross country and was a state medalist in the 800 at the 4A meet a year ago placing eighth in 1:57.06.

“His consistency has improved and it’s always hard as a freshman to come in and really reach your full potential while you are going through a learning curve,” Craig said. “This year he’s really coming into his own, he’s guaranteed to win a fast slip in whatever he runs.”

This season Tiea has put his versatility on display.

He won the 1,600 on Thursday at the Clear Creek Amana Invitational and Saturday ran a pair of 400-meter relay legs.

Tiea anchored the West High sprint medley relay team to a win and ran the Trojan’s winning 4×400 team.

“I think that is also speaks to his character he just really wants to be a part of this team and have fun with it he doesn’t care what he does if it’s a 400 or an 800 or a mile or he could do the 3,200,” Craig said. “He realizes this sport is fun but it’s also fun to win so he wants to have fun while winning.”

Tiea ran the 400 anchor leg on the sprint medley teaming with Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless and Christian Janis to post a time of 1:34.05.

He anchored the West High distance medley team of Rent, Loveless and Aidan Jacobsen to a win in 3:33.84 and joined Jacobsen, Julian Manson and Mason Van Waning on the 4×400 team that won in 3:30.06.

“It was super fun running the relays,” Tiea said. “I like how it brings together the sprinters and the mid-distance and distance people. You can’t run the event with one or the other so it makes for a lot of friendship and closeness.”

Loveless was a four-event champion on Saturday running on West High’s winning 4×100 team and adding an individual title in the 200 in 21.69.

The time of 21.69 for Loveless in the 200 is the fourth fastest in West High history and is the fastest in the state this spring.

“We’ve always known that about Izaiah and now he’s putting it out there for others to see,” Craig said. “That’s the fourth fastest in school history and we’ve had some really good 200 runners here so to be put in that conversation this early as a junior puts him in some really elite company.”

Rent won the 100 in a time of 11.11 for West High and Andrew Polgreen won the 3,200 in 10:33.85.

The West High shuttle hurdle relay team of Quinn Abbott, Jesus Marungo-Murrillo, Ely Smock and Seth Overton won in 1:03.4.

Solon won four events and finished runner-up to team champion ADM with 150 team points, one point in front of West High.

Ben Kampman won the discus with a toss of 159-3 and Oaken Foster cleared 6-3 to win the high jump.

Jeremy Bachus won the 400 in 51.56 and Michael Yeomans won the 800 in 2:01.79 for the Spartans.

Hollingsworth Relays

At West High

Team scores – 1. ADM 167; 2. Solon 150; 3. West High 149; 4. Dubuque Hempstead 58; 5. Muscatine 34; 6. Ottumwa 31

Individual results (event winners; area placewinners)

Discus – 1. Ben Kampman (SOL) 159-3; 2. Adam Smith (SOL) 156-9; 5. Colin Whitters (ICW) 135-5 ¾

Shot put – 1. Drew Hickey (ADM) 49-11 ½; 2. Adam Smith (SOL) 47-11 ½; 4. Marcus Richard (SOL) 45-6; 6. Colin Whitters (ICW) 40-5

Long jump – 1. Tyler Gelhaar (ADM) 20-4 ¾; 2. Cole Carney (SOL) 20-0; 6. Julian Manson (ICW) 18-10

High jump – 1. Oaken Foster (SOL) 6-3; 6. Daniel Robinson (ICW) 5-8

100 – 1. Todd Rent (ICW) 11.11; 3. Blake Timmons (SOL) 11.27; 5. Christian Janis (ICW) 11.57; 6. Austin Knight (SOL) 11.71

200 – 1. Izaiah Loveless (ICW) 21.69; 3. Blake Timmons (SOL) 22.64; 6. Harel Gameti (ICW) 23.91

400 – 1. Jeremy Bachus (SOL) 51.56; 2. Carson Teghanemt (ICW) 53.73; 4. Brice Wahe (ICW) 54.51

800 – 1. Michael Yeomans (SOL) 2:01.79; 2. Sam Showers (ICW) 2:02.49; 3. Grant Bumsted (SOL) 2:06.99; 5. Mason Van Waning (ICW) 2:09.19

1,600 – 1. Caleb Kass (DH) 4:39.07; 2. Brick Kabela (SOL) 4:41.75; 4. Michael Lee (ICW) 4:49.8; 5. James Dickens (ICW) 4:55.44

3,200 – 1. Andrew Polgreen (ICW) 10:33.85; 2. Caleb Benson (ICW) 10:36.78; 5. Colin Bumsted (SOL) 11:13.63

110 hurdles – 1. Daniel Adams (MUS) 15.9; 2. Jesus Marungo-Murillo (ICW) 16.22; 3. Quinn Abbott (ICW) 16.87; 6. Charlie Brandt (SOL) 17.83

400 hurdles – 1. Zach Lohmann (ADM) 56.16; 2. Paul Henry (MUS) 58.32; 3. Keenan Kruse (SOL) 58.53; 5. Charlie Brandt (SOL) 1:00.99

Sprint medley relay – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Christian Janis, Moustafa Tiea) 1:34.05; 2. Solon (Milo Ashbacker, Brayden Moore, Grant Knipper, Michael Yeomans) 1:38.56

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen, Moustafa Tiea) 3:33.84; 2. Solon (Brett White, Tyler Bell, Gavin Sieverding, Grant Bumsted) 3:50.52

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. West High (Quinn Abbott, Jesus Marungo-Murrillo, Ely Smock, Seth Overton) 1:03.4; 5. Solon (Charlie Brandt, Jordan Schmidt, Keenan Kruse, Benjamin Duckett) 1:07.89

4×100 – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Christian Janis, Daniel Robinson) 43.41; 3. Solon (Milo Ashbacker, Brayden Moore, Grant Knipper, Rhett Mesch) 46.03

4×200 – 1. Ottumwa 1:31.98; 2. Solon (Brayden Moore, Rhett Mesch, Grant Knipper, Milo Ashbacker) 1:33.98; 3. West High (Carver Grifhorst, Harel Gameti, Bryan Torres, Christian Janis) 1:34.38

4×400 – 1. West High (Aidan Jacobsen, Julian Manson, Moustafa Tiea, Mason Van Waning) 3:30.06; 2. Solon (Austin Knight, Jeremy Bachus, Michael Yeomans, Blake Timmons) 3:30.55

4×800 – 1. Dubuque Hempstead 8:17.87; 3. West High (Mason Van Waning, Sam Showers, Brice Wahe, Anel Vukovic) 8:28.91; 4. Solon (Maddox Shipley, Wyatt Applegarth, Spencer Michels, Brick Kabela) 8:29.96

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