Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

DUBUQUE – No matter which quartet steps to the starting line, West High brings it in relay races.

After a rousing district performance, the Trojans’ will get its chance to flash its considerable relay prowess at the state meet.

“It helps to have a group of sprinters who want to work hard together,” West High coach Travis Craig said after the Trojans won five of seven relay races and finished second as a team at a Class 4A state-qualifying meet Thursday at Dubuque Senior High School. “And it always helps when they want to get fast together, so when you are willing to do that and they are willing to work on handoffs, that is good recipe for a lot of success in relays.”

In addition to the automatic state qualifiers (top-two placewinners in each event), 12 at-large bids will be awarded from the remaining performances in the other state-qualifying meets across the state.

West High will send six of its seven relay foursomes to the state meet, which begins May 18 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Only the Trojans’ sprint-medley unit, which was handed a disqualification, will be absent in Des Moines.

Following the DQ, West won the next five relays before finishing the meet with a runner-up performance in the 4×400 relay.

“A meet like this, not everything goes exactly the way you want it or planned,” Craig said. “So what I was really hopeful for and happy about is the things that went wrong we just moved on to the next thing and got after it even more.”

Senior Christian Janis competed in four of the victorious relays – shuttle hurdle, distance medley, 4×200 and 4×100 – while junior Todd Rent ran in three (distance medley, 4×200, 4×100) and sophomore Sam Showers was a part of two winning relays (4×800 and distance medley), plus the second-place 4×400.

“Whatever challenge you throw at us, we can do it,” said junior Izaiah Loveless, who competed in the 4×200 and 4×100 relays. “We can work as hard as we can to earn it and prove ourselves that we can accomplish anything that you throw at us. It doesn’t matter what it is.”

Loveless earned one of three individual victories for West High when he won the 200-meter dash in 21.53 seconds, a full second faster than Waterloo West’s Kyle Elliott.

“I worked on my block starts,” Loveless said. “My top speed and my turn just got way better. I am proud of myself. I worked really hard for this.”

Fellow junior Aidan Jacobsen earned another West High victory in an open event in the 400 hurdles, which he ran in 52.46 seconds.

Sophomore Moustafa Tiea won the 800 in 1:57.36.

All three qualified for state last season in their respective individual events.

“They decided as a team that this was an important stretch of years,” Craig said. “They wanted to make sure that we did our best and they left their mark on the program. There is no doubt about it. They have left their mark and they will continue to leave their mark.”

Senior Kylin Crittenden (long jump), freshman Colin Whitters (discus) and junior Jesus Marungo-Murillo (110 hurdles) also earned automatic state berths state berths with runner-up performances in individual events.

With 140 team points, West fell short of meet champion Cedar Falls (195).

Liberty High was fourth as a team with 91 points, highlighted by a win in the 400 dash from junior Carter Meyers.

“Warming up, I was feeling good,” said Meyers, whose time of 51.38 established a new personal record. “The week before at Kingston, I ran a good race there, PR’d (personal record) there. I knew coming off of that I still had more in me. I knew coming into this I was feeling good, looking for a new PR and I did it.”

Liberty senior Da’Shon Fisher will join Meyers at the state meet after he placed second in the high jump.

Class 4A State Qualifying Meet No. 2

At Dalzell Field in Dubuque

Team scores – 1. Cedar Falls 195, 2. Iowa City West 140, 3. Waterloo West 97, 4. Iowa City Liberty 91, 5. Dubuque Senior 77, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 67, 7. Clinton 49, 8. Waterloo East 16.

Individual events

100 – 1. Ben Frazier (WW) 11.03; 2. Devon Moore (DS) 11.24; 5. Dallas Miller (ICL) 11.45; 8. Carver Grifhorst (ICW) 11.85

200 – 1. Izaiah Loveless (ICW) 21.53; Kyle Elliott (WW) 22.54; 5. Lucas Meyer (ICL) 23.44

400 – 1. Carter Meyers (ICL) 51.38; 2. Tanner Jacobson (CF) 51.87; 4. Carson Teghanemt (ICW) 52.19; 6. Mason Van Waning (ICW) 52.23; 7. Cale Baldwin (ICL) 52.64.

800 – 1. Moustafa Tiea (ICW) 1:57.36; 2. Brennen Hoyer (CF) 1:59.08; 3. Sam Showers (ICW) 2:01.32; 8. Jacob Madsen (ICL) 2:05.82

1,600 – 1. Jaden Merrick (CF) 4:20.72; 2. John Maloney (DH) 4:22.24; 3. Aidan Decker (ICL) 4:27.68; 4. Nathan Kinzer (ICL) 4:29.54

3,200 – 1. Jaden Merrick (CF) 9:27.16

110 hurdles – 1. Tyler Kenaga (CF) 15.06; 2. Jesus Marungo-Murillo (ICW) 15.23; 5. Quinn Abbott (ICW) 15.50.

400 hurdles – 1. Aidan Jacobsen (ICW) 52.46; 2. Morgan Hendrickson (CF) 55.45; 3. Maxwell Thompson (ICL) 55.66.

4×100 – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Daniel Robinson, Christian Janis) 42.14; 2. Cedar Falls, 42.89; 5. Liberty High (Aiden Maher, Carter Meyers, Jalen Wieck, Da’Shon Fisher) 43.22

4×200 – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Christian Janis, Aidan Jacobsen, Izaiah Loveless) 1:26.91; 2. Cedar Falls, 1:29.63; 6. Liberty High (Ben O’Connor, Lucas Meyer, Dallas Miller, Aiden Maher, 1:32.42

4×400 – 1. Cedar Falls 3:19.94; 2. West High (Carson Teghanemt, Mason Van Waning, Sam Showers, Aidan Jacobsen) 3:27.54; 7. Liberty High (Cale Baldwin, Sutton Koller, Francis Mawanda, Maxwell Thompson) 3:39.53

4×800 – 1. West High (Sam Showers, Mason Van Waning, Brice Wahe, Moustafa Tiea) 8:01.95; 2. Cedar Falls, 8:02.55; 3. Liberty High (Noah Gregoire, Nathan Kinzer, Jacob Madsen, Aidan Decker) 8:08.74

Sprint medley – 1. Cedar Falls 1:32.73; 4. Liberty High (Aiden Maher, Jalen Wieck, Da’Shon Fisher, Carter Meyers) 1:35.63

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Todd Rent, Christian Janis, Sam Showers, Moustafa Tiea), 3:34.29; 2. Cedar Falls, 3:34.52; 3. Liberty High (Jalen Wieck, Da’Shon Fisher, Sutton Koller, Aidan Decker) 3:36.20.

Shuttle hurdle – 1. West High (Aidan Jacobsen, Quinn Abbott, Jesus Marungo-Murillo, Christian Janis) 58.75; 2. Cedar Falls, 59.06; 6. Liberty High (Maxwell Thompson, Ethan Duecker, Quinton Logan, Henry Maassen) 1:04.61.

Discus – 1. Ajai Russell (CLI) 161-00 1/2; 2. Colin Whitters (ICW) 155-11; 6. Cael Schramm (ICL) 134-01 1/2.

Shot put – 1. Cohen Pfohl (DS) 56-05 3/4; 2. Kael Martin (CF) 51-01 1/4; 5. Brady Cannon (ICL) 46-01 1/2; 7. Colin Whitters (ICW) 42-03 1/2

Long jump – 1. Torian Doss (WW) 21-01 1/2; 2. Kylin Crittenden (ICW) 20-05 3/4; 3. Ethan Duecker (ICL) 19-09 ¾

High jump – 1. Jacob Kieler (CF) 6-06; 2. Da’Shon Fisher (ICL) 6-04.

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