Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The sport is track AND field.

However, often times there is more attention paid from more spectators on the track element of a high school track and field meet.

At West High there is no ignoring the production that comes from the sometimes overshadowed field events.

West High scored 43 points in the field events, including 29 in the throwing events while winning the team title at the 52^nd Forwald/Coleman Relays on Wednesday at Raffensperger Track at City High.

“It is a luxury as a coach to have those guys scoring those points in the field events, if they don’t score those points tonight we probably don’t win,” West High coach TJ Craig said. “That is absolutely important to the overall team to have that dynamic in a team and they are doing a great job.”

West High won a pair of field events and had a top five finisher in all four as 43 of the Trojans’ 164.5 points came in the four events off the track.

Freshman James Barnett and Collin Whitters finished first and second in the shot put and sophomore Bernoli Luvandu won the long jump as West High finished 11.5 points clear of runner-up Cedar Rapids Prairie.

“Bernoli won long jump, Mason Woods tried something new and was amazing in the high jump and are throwers have been great,” Craig said. “We have a lot of good coaches that are event specific and they do a great job with those kids and give them the attention they need.”

The field events were just part of an all-around impressive performance from West High on Wednesday.

Six different Trojans won individual titles and West High set a meet record on its way to a win in the distance medley relay.

Harel Gameti won the 100, Mason Woods won the 200, Sam Showers won the 800 and Ely Smock won the 400 hurdles to join Luvandu and Barnett as individual champs.

“Our team is looking way better than we thought it would at the start of the season,” Showers said. “Our throwers are a big part of that, we’ve added some good jumpers, and our sprints have rebounded way better than we thought they would so I think team-wise we are looking possibly even better than last year.”

It all starts for West High with the field events.

Luvandu won the long jump with a leap of 21-7.

Barnett won the shot put with a mark of 55-2 and Whitters was right behind with a toss of 55-1 ½.

“It’s going pretty well,” Barnett said. “I have Collin pushing me every day so I am just trying to stay as consistent as I can be.”

Whitters, who ranks second in the state in the discus and fourth in the shot put this season, finished third in the discus on Wednesday with a toss of 151-6

Barnett was fourth with a throw of 148-9.

“You can see from our numbers today that we didn’t throw our best which is o.k.,” Whitters said. “We just want to be doing our best at the end of the season. We don’t want to peak too early but we still have a lot to work on but we are getting there and we are going to keep this thing rolling.”

West High was just as impressive on the track.

Gameti won the 100 in 11.45 while Woods won the 200 title in 22.87.

Showers won the 800 in 1:57.99 and Smock won the 400 hurdles in 55.89.

“Our depth is amazing this year,” Showers said. “We’ve brought in a lot of freshmen that have been really been key components.”

The West High distance medley team of Woods, Julian Manson, KingSton Swayzer and Moustafa Tiea won in 3:30.29, the second fastest time in the state this season.

West High finished runner-up in the shuttle hurdle, sprint medley and 4×100 relays.

“We’ve had some really young guys step up in places that have surprised us,” Craig said. “To have those sorts of guys step into places where we were already deep has been a real treat.”

City High got an individual title from Bernard Grant in the high jump and finished fourth in the team standings with 90.5 points.
Grant cleared 6-5 ¼ to win the high jump title and Emmett Palmberg was runner-up in the 800 in 2:00.31.

Noah Gregoire won the 3,000 in 9:39.88 to lead Liberty High to a fifth-place finish with 78 points.

The Lightning distance medley relay team of Brody Beaver, Keshawn Wyldon, Cale Baldwin and Keegan Decker was runner-up in 3:31.88.

Forwald/Coleman Relays

At Raffensperger Track in Iowa City

Team scores – 1. West High 164.5; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 153; 3. Pleasant Valley 101; 4. City High 90.5; 5. Liberty High 78; 6. West Des Moines Valley 77; 7. Linn-Mar 63; 8. City High 10

Individual results (event winners; area placewinners)

High jump – 1. Bernard Grant (ICH) 6-5 ¼; 2. Victor Nakihinga (ICL) 6-1 ¼; 5. Mason Woods (ICW) 6-1 ¼; 6. Adams Kane (ICH) 6-1 ¼

Long jump – 1. Bernoli Luvandu (ICW) 21-7; 6. Damari Lacy (ICH) 20-7; 7. Abe Bidanis (ICH) 19-5; 8. Keyshun Fletcher (ICL) 19-2 ¾

Shot put – 1. James Barnett (ICW) 55-2; 2. Colin Whitters (ICW) 55-1 ½; 4. Raphael Etuma (ICH) 50-4 ¼; 8. Preston Mensah (ICH) 46-6 ½

Discus – 1. Kian Gilmore (WDV) 167-3; 3. Colin Whitters (ICW) 151-6; 4. James Barnett (ICW) 148-9; 5. Ivan Shinkunas (ICH) 148-4; 6. Tyler Rindels (ICH) 147-0;

100 – 1. Harel Gameti (ICW) 11.45; 5. Terrence Thames (ICL) 11.87; 8. Clarence Coakley (ICH) 12.01

200 – 1. Mason Woods (ICW) 22.87; 3. Jermaine Holmes (ICH) 23.22; 4. Rylen Schweitzer (ICL) 23.28; 6. Gavin Washpun (ICH) 23.76; 8. Jaylen McDowell (ICL) 24.22

400 – 1. Drew Bennis (CRP) 49.91; 4. Brice Wahe (ICW) 52.63; 5. Cael Dunham (ICW) 52.64; 7. Jordan Idowu (ICL) 54.25

800 – 1. Sam Showers (ICW) 1:57.99; 2. Emmett Palmberg (ICH) 2:00.31; 3. Aadi Gopinath (ICW) 2:02.32

1,600 – 1. Cameron Gotto (PV) 4:19.05; 3. Moustafa Tiea (ICW) 4:20.23; 4. Jacob Madsen (ICL) 4:22.76; 5. George Karr (ICH) 4:25.7

3,200 – 1. Noah Gregoire (ICL) 9:39.88; 5. Jasper McRoberts (ICH) 10:03.73; 6. Jake Weiler (ICW) 10:04.1; 8. David Randall (ICH) 10:12.89

110 hurdles – 1. Quinton Alexander (CRP) 14.09; 2. Victor Nakihinga (ICL) 15.88; 5. Dominic Roe (ICH) 16.21; 5. Ryder Gorsh (ICW) 16.21; 8. Cade Towler (ICW) 16.56

400 hurdles – 1. Ely Smock (ICW) 55.89; 2. Quinton Logan (ICL) 56.53; 3. Waleed Ibrahim (ICW) 57.18; 7. Zach Falk (ICH) 1:00.32; 8. Ephram Byler (ICH) 1:00.69

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. West Des Moines Valley 58.99; 2. West High (Ely Smock, Waleed Ibrahim, Cade Towler, Ryder Gorsh) 59.49; 3. City High (Adan Carbajal, Bernard Grant, Dominic Roe, Gavin Washpun) 59.92; 7. City High JV (Kyle Hartwig, David Whitaker, Seth McLean, Joseph Napoli) 1:09.89

Sprint medley relay – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:36.77; 2. West High (Harel Gameti, Mason Goering, Atari Brown, Brice Wahe) 1:37.76; 6. Liberty High (DaiavionBurrell, Jaylen McDowell, Jordan Idowu, Sutton Koller) 1:40.57; 7. City High JV (Alex Maass, Tanner Krause, Seth Barnett, Arrow Westerdahl) 1:47.27

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Mason Woods, Julian Manson, KingSton Swayzer, Moustafa Tiea) 3:30.29; 2. Liberty High (Brody Beaver, Keshawn Wyldon, Cale Baldwin, Keegan Decker) 3:31.88; 4. City High (Jermaine Holmes, Logan Halter, Carter Turnbough, Maxwell McDowell) 3:44.77; 8. City High JV (Seth Barnett, Arrow Westerdahl, Jasper McRoberts, Zachary Howard) 4:01.42

4×100 – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 42.73; 2. West High (Mason Woods, Julian Manson, Neil James, Harel Gameti) 42.85; 3. City High (Jermaine Holmes, Peter Pufall, Davion Luckett, Logan Halter) 43.78; 5. Liberty High (Jackson Burnes, Terrence Thames, Victor Nakihinga, Brody Beaver) 44.57

4×200 – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:30.16; 4. West High (Harel Gameti, Mason Goering, Neil James, Atari Brown) 1:31.78; 6. City High (Gavin Washpun, Peter Pufall, Damari Lacy, Adan Carbajal) 1:33.04; 7. Liberty High (Jackson Burnes, Keyshaun Fletcher, Jacob Karstens, Daiavion Burrell) 1:36.69

4×400 – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 3:23.73; 2. Liberty High (Keshawn Wyldon, Sutton Koller, Keegan Decker, Cale Baldwin) 3:26.11; 5. West High (KingSton Swayzer, Mason Goering, Brice Wahe, Atari Brown) 3:29.55

4×800 – 1. Pleasant Valley 8:03.36; 5. West High (Maxwell Bruss, Dara Olaleye, Aadi Gopinath, Mohamed Musa) 8:13.87; 6. City High (Dylan Beerends, Jarris Prottsman, Adam Schaefer, Henry Vande Berg) 8:20.07; 7. Liberty High (Trevor Schepanski, Hayden Johnsen, Riley Dorman, Tyler Schepanski) 9:09.54

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