Liberty High Junior Decker Finishes Third at MVC Super Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – The boys race at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet was billed as a showdown of three of the best individuals in the state.
It more than lived up to the pre-race hype.
Defending 3A state champion Quentin Nauman pulled away from Cedar Falls senior Jaden Merrick and Liberty High junior Keegan Decker late to win the individual title in a time of 14:43.6 on a sunny afternoon at Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City.
Merrick was runner-up in 14:48.9 while Decker was third in a career-best time of 14:49.3.
“It was pretty much an exact replica of how I thought it would go,” Decker said. “My plan with Quentin has always been just hang on for dear life and that’s what I did and Jaden and I just battled it out to the finish, it was pretty much exactly how I thought it would play out.”
Nauman, an Oregon recruit, Merrick, last year’s 4A runner-up and Decker who was third at the 4A state meet last season battled last month at the Jim Boughton Invitational in Dubuque.
Nauman won that meet in a state-record time of 14:39.4 followed by Decker and Merrick.
The rematch on Thursday was a thrilling, three-man duel from the opening gun.
Decker, Nauman and Merrick quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field but staying within strides of one another.
Merrick led at the two-mile mark but Nauman surged down the stretch.
“It’s great having some of the best guys in the nation right here in this state,” Decker said. “Racing with Quentin and Jaden it’s always a great and I know it’s going to be fantastic competition every time I’m with them.”
The time of 14:49.3 for Decker bested his previous career-best time of 19:49.9 set at the Jim Boughton Invite last month.
Decker’s third-place finish helped Liberty High place eighth as a team with 164 points.
Class 4A second-ranked Cedar Falls won the team title with 46 points and third-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie was runner-up with 95 points.
“I never really thought I’d be running these times,” Decker said. “I never really imaged I would actually be here.”
Ninth-ranked City High had four runners in the top 25 and and finished third with 103 points.
Dubuque Senior was fourth with 107 and Cedar Rapids Kennedy was fifth with 140.
West High placed ninth with 195 points.
Senior Linus McRoberts led City High placing ninth in 15:54.2 and junior Emmett Palmberg was 19th in 16:11.1.
“We didn’t have bad races, there were no bad races, other teams had good races,” City High coach Jayme Skay said. “We are still not healthy and that’s alright. We are trying to focus on the process and not worry about the outcomes because they will just happen themselves.”
Junior David Randall placed 22nd in 16:14.4 for City High and sophomore Leif Eastlund was 24th in a time of 16:193.
“We had time drops, we had a couple of prs, we ran faster than last year,” Skay said. “The ship hasn’t sunk the wheels aren’t off the cart they just need to relax and enjoy the process and we want to keep them focused on that and hopefully we will all get healthy.”
West High was led by sophomore Michael Hanna who placed 17th in a time of 16:09.2 while sophomore Jake Weiler finished 30th in 16:26.5.
Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet
At Kickers Soccer Complex
Team scores – 1. Cedar Falls 46; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 95; 3. City High 103; 4. Dubuque Senior 107; 5. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 140; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 148; 7. Linn-Mar 158; 8. Liberty High 164; 9. West High 195; 10. Western Dubuque 267; 11. Cedar Rapids Xavier 366; 12. Dubuque Wahlert 371; 13. Waterloo West 380; 14. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 429; 15. Cedar Rapids Washington 429
Individual leaders – 1. Quentin Nauman (WD) 14:43.6; 2. Jaden Merrick (CF) 14:48.9; 3. Keegan Decker (ICL) 14:49.3; 4. Slader Buckheister (CRK) 15:32.4; 5. Adam Gray (CRK) 15:32.9; 6. Dominic Williams (CF) 15:35.1; 7. Ethan Cheney (L-M) 15:36.2; 8. Kyle Johnson (CRP) 15:36.3; 9. Linus McRoberts (ICH) 15:54.2; 10. Porter Myers (CF) 15:54.4; 11. Owen Miller (CRP) 15:55.3; 12. Cole Carrizales (CRP) 15:56.2; 13. Brennen Hoyer (CF) 15:58.6; 14. Liam Kroger (DS) 16:04.1; 15. Jeremy Gall (CF) 16:05.4
City High (103) – 9. Linus McRoberts 15:54.2; 19. Emmett Palmberg 16:11.1; 22. David Randall 16:14.4; 24. Leif Eastlund 16:19.3; 29. Jack Leman 16:26; 31. Jarris Prottsman 16:27; 42. Max McDowell 16:56.2
Liberty High (164) – 3. Keegan Decker 14:49.3; 26. Lars Hildebrand 16:22.9; 33. Tayson Cho 16:30.7; 46. Colin Finch 17:07.4; 56. Julius Vidal 17:20; 61. Yuma Squiers 17:26.5; 64. Jens Strand 17:29.9
West High (195) – 17. Michael Hanna 16:09.2; 30. Jake Weiler 16:26.5; 45. Eli Dunham 17:00.2; 47. Evan Merrill 17:09; 55. Jack Eastvold 17:19.3; 68. Thomas Tong 17:37.1; 71. Asif Ali 17:39.3
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