Click here for more photos from Iowa City West at the state track meet. 

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – When T.J. Craig took over the West High track program after the 2015 season the Trojans were coming off a 29th place finish at the state meet in which they scored five points.

No one had West High pegged as a state title contender just three seasons into Craig’s coaching tenure.

Well, almost no one.

“Honestly I thought we could be in this position,” Craig said. “One of the reason I took this job is there are so many athletes at our school, there are so many kids that are gifted that want to win and knowing that I wanted to get them on the track and field events and see what we could do.”

Craig got the athletes he wanted on the track and West High responded by showing the state what it could do this weekend at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

West High closed a strong weekend at the Class 4A state track and field meet with a runner-up finish in a 4A race that came down to the final event.

West Des Moines Valley won the 4×400 relay to secure its second consecutive 4A title with 60 points, three in front of West High.

The Trojans earned their first state team trophy since 2013 and surpassed its state meet point output from the past three seasons combined with 57 points.

“We’ve come so far both in the way that we run and the way that we compete but just the attitude,” Craig said. “We didn’t win but from where we were in the past this is a huge step in the right direction and gives hope for future teams going forward.”

West High entered Saturday with 51 points and a 19-point cushion on the defending champion Tigers.

West High got eighth-place finishes from senior Jeff Garbutt in the 800 and junior Kolby Greiner in the 1,600 but it wasn’t enough to hold off Valley.

The Tigers trailed West High 53 to 50 entering the final event before winning the 4×400 title in 3:16.55.

West High had a chance to secure the win in the final event but the 4×400 team of Ethan McAreavy, Jeff Garbutt, Gabe Caruthers and Austin West was fifth in 3:18.98.

“We just didn’t convert when we needed to,” West said. “We had a great first two days and just didn’t get it done.”

It appeared as if West High might have enough to hold on when Garbutt placed eighth out of the first heat in the 800 in a time of 1:56.81 and Greiner made a late surge to finish eighth in the 1,600 in 4:24.97.

“Those guys that gone one point really showed that they care and that’s the biggest difference with us,” Craig said. “They care about the squad and the face they are upset about second place shows they care.”

Valley got a fifth-place finish from its 4×100 team to set up the winner-take-all 4×400.

West High entered the meet seeded 10th in the 4×400 but reached the finals without West on Friday.

Craig debated using West on the 400-meter anchor leg of the sprint medley relay on Saturday afternoon but wanted to have a chance to seal the meet in the final event.

“We discussed several times the sprint med or the 4×400 and we wanted to put our best team out there in the last event and had a say in who wins,” Craig said. “That’s what we wanted to do and that’s why we made the switch.”

The 400 meter and 400 hurdle champion West took the Trojans from seventh to fifth on his 4×400 anchor leg but could get no closer to the champion Tigers.

“The guys stepped up and got us in a position to put us in contention in the last event and that was good,” West said. “I’m happy with the position we were in we just couldn’t get that top spot in the 4×4 that we needed but we fought pretty hard.”

Class 4A State Track and Field Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores – 1. West Des Moines Valley 60; 2. West High 57; 3. Ames 52; 4. Waukee 51; 5. Ankeny Centennial 43; 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 42; 7. Urbandale 38; 8. Johnston 35; 9. Bettendorf 34; 10. West Des Moines Dowling 30; 18. City High 17

Individual results

(Champion; Area Participants)

100 – 1. Bernard Bell Jr. (Ames) 10.6

200 – 1. Bernard Bell Jr. (Ames) 21.64

800 – 1. Grant Lair (Johnston) 1:53.54; 8. Jeff Garbutt (West High) 1:56.81; 24. Jimmy Momberg (City High) 2:06.73

1,600 – 1. Camden Cox (Ankeny Centennial) 4:18.36; 8. Kolby Greiner (West High) 4:24.97; 20. Ethan Goers (West High) 4:36.71

110 Hurdles – 1. Riley Moss (Ankeny Centennial) 14.02

Sprint Medley Relay – 1. West Des Moines Dowling 1:31.3; 13. West High (Jackson Steburg, Dante Eldridge, Andre White, Gabe Caruthers) 1:34.72

Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 1. Waukee 57.17

4×100 – 1. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 41.894

4×400 – 1. West Des Moines Valley 3:16.55; 4. City High (Daniel Brown, Lucas Firmstone, Max DePrenger, Zach Jones) 3:17.48; 5. West High (Ethan McAreavy, Jeff Garbutt, Gabe Caruthers, Austin West) 3:19.98