Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The big meet circled on the West High track and field calendar is next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Thursday’s Class 4A state qualifying meet was just the next meet on the Trojan’s slate.

After the way West High performed on Thursday next week’s Class 4A state meet gets even a little more exciting.

West High flexed its muscle on its home field on Thursday winning eight events and posting 15 automatic state qualifiers at the Class 4A state qualifying meet at Trojan Field in Iowa City.

“Tonight is a meet that determines next week and how well that could go,” West High coach TJ Craig said. “Having it at home was very helpful. It was another moment on our calendar that we checked and said ‘lets get this done and move on to the next stage’.”

West High got two individual titles each from junior Colin Whitters and senior Moustafa Tiea and won four relay titles on its way to racking up 176 points and claiming the team crown at the eight-team qualifier.

Whitters swept the throwing events and Tiea won titles in the 400 and 800 and ran on a pair of West High relay teams that logged top-two finishes.

“We came in and as we have done all season we knew we had a pretty good team and had 19 events that not only go to state but also place well to help us score as many points as we could,” Craig said. “That was one our big goals.”

Tiea woke up earlier this morning with cold-like symptoms but it didn’t show on the track.

Tiae won the 400 in a time of 49.02 and added a title in the 800 in 1:59.37.

He anchored the West High 4×800 relay team to a win in 8:07.78 and was on the Trojan 4×400 squad that finished runner-up in 3:22.21.

“I woke up at about one in the morning with a headache and a sore throat,” Tiea said. “It’s a head thing it’s not a body thing, my legs aren’t sick my head is sick so I had cure my head not my legs and keep my head in the game and reset after every race.”

Whitters headlined a huge day for the West High field events.

The junior Iowa football commit won the shot put with a toss of 57-5 ¾ and claimed the discus crown with a career-best mark of 186-9.

“I was consistent the whole night,” Whitters said. “I had four throws over 180 and my lowest throw with 169 and if that’s my lowest throw every meet I’ll be fine with that. I liked seeing that consistency. I am yet to pop one off and next week is the perfect time to do it.”

Freshman James Barnett was runner-up in the shot put with a mark of 56-10 ½ and senior Mason Woods secured a spot at state with a runner-up finish in the long jump with a leap of 22-9.

Sam Showers, Waleed Ibrahim and Ely Smock all earned spots at state with runner-up finishes.

Smock was runner-up in the 400 hurdles in 54.72, Ibrahim was runner-up in the 110 hurdles in 15.12 and Showers was runner-up to Tiea in the 800 in a time of 2:00.54.

“They have worked really, really hard and that’s what makes it really cool,” Craig said. “All the way around we have people that are invested in being the best team and that’s exciting.”

West High won the distance and sprint medley relays and also added a title in the shuttle hurdle relay.

The Trojans were runner-up in the 4×400 and 4×200.

“Honestly tonight it’s just run the event one at a time,” Tiea said. “I just had to focus on getting through each event as they came.”

Class 4A State Qualifying Meet

At West High School

Team scores – 1. West High 176; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 168; 3. City High 93; 4. Southeast Polk 88.5; 5. Dubuque Senior 80; 6. Liberty High 69.5; 7. Dubuque Hempstead 40; 8. Cedar Rapids Washington 22

Individual results (event winners; area placewinners)

High jump – 1. Bernard Grant (ICH) 6-3; 2. Colt Hobson (CRP) 6-2; 3. Victor Nakihinga (ICL) 6-0; 4. Mason Middleton (ICW) 6-0; 5. Adams Kane (ICH) 5-10; 6. Charles Roberts (ICL) 5-8

Long jump – 1. T.Y Pour (CRP) 23-0 ¾; 2. Mason Woods (ICW) 22-9; 4. Bernoli Luvandu (ICW) 22-0 ½; 5. Damari Lacy (ICH) 21-10 ¼; 8. Abe Bidanis (ICH) 20-3 ¾

Shot put – 1. Colin Whitters (ICW) 57-5 ¾; 2. James Barnett (ICW) 56-10 ½; 3. Tyler Rindels (ICH) 50-8; 4. Raphael Etuma (ICH) 50-2

Discus – 1. Colin Whitters (ICW) 186-9; 2. Raphael Etuma (ICH) 173-2; 3. Elite Mbulekoya (ICW) 167-0

100 – 1. Emmanuel Gaye (SEP) 11.26; 2. Fredr Tarasid-Tarawally (SEP) 11.36; 4. Leo Rozz (ICL) 11.51; 5. Harel Gameti (ICW) 11.53; 6. Jermaine Holmes (ICH) 11.68

200 – 1. Emmanuel Gaye (SEP) 22.46; 2. Mereweneza Byishimo (CRP) 22.73; 5. Atari Brown (ICW) 23.28; 7. Davon Sanders (ICH) 23.62 1

400 – 1. Moustafa Tiea (ICW) 49.02; 2. Drew Bennis (CRP) 49.05; 4. Cale Baldwin (ICL) 50.08; 6. KingSton Swayzer (ICW) 51.2; 7. Sutton Koller (ICL) 52.65

800 – 1. Moustafa Tiea (ICW) 1:59.37; 2. Sam Showers (ICW) 2:00.54; 4. Maxwell McDowell (ICH) 2:01.49; 5. Emmett Palmberg (ICH) 2:01.85

1,600 – 1. Keegan Decker (ICL) 4:19.69; 2. Nicholaus Lee (CRP) 4:19.91; 3. George Karr (ICH) 4:26.66; 4. Noah Gregoire (ICL) 4:26.9; 8. Leif Eastlund (ICH) 4:35.73

3,200 – 1. Keegan Decker (ICL) 9:33.51; 2. Nicholaus Lee (CRP) 9:33.85; 4. Noah Gregoire (ICL) 9:47.82; 6. David Randall (ICH) 10:03.73; 7. Jake Weiler (ICW) 10:15.09; 8. Jasper McRoberts 10:19

110 hurdles – 1. Quinton Alexander (CRP) 14.57; 2. Waleed Ibrahim (ICW) 15.12; 3. Ely Smock (ICW) 15.4; 7. Dominic Roe (ICH) 16.12; 8. Isaac Washpun (ICH) 16.59 Waleed Ibrahim (ICW) 15.12

400 hurdles – 1. Garrett Schumacher (DS) 54.09; 2. Ely Smock (ICW) 54.72; 4. Quinton Logan (ICL) 56.01; 7. Waleed Ibrahim (ICW) 58.27

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. West High (E. Smock, Ibrahim, Towler, Gorsh) 58.51; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 59.49; 3. City High (Carbajal, Washpun, Grant, Roe) 1:01.02

Sprint medley relay – 1. West High (Woods, Gameti, Manson, Goering) 1:33.28; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie 1:33.48; 4. Liberty High (Miller, Beaver, Wyldon, Baldwin) 1:34.23; 8. City High (Pufall, Sanders, Luckett, Sheldon) 1:37

Distance medley relay – 1. West High (Woods, Manson, Dunham, Showers) 3:37.88; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie (Cooling, Peterka, Krambeer, Carrizales) 3:39.69; 5. City High (Luckett, Pufall, Turnbough, Schaefer) 3:47.67

4×100 – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 41.89; 2. Southeast Polk 42.36; 3. City High (Holmes, Lacy, Luckett, Washpun) 43.05; 6. West High (Gameti, Goering, Manson, James) 43.66; 7. Liberty High (Dixon, Wyldon, Miller, Beaver) 43.69

4×200 – 1. Southeast Polk 1:28.24; 2. West High (Woods, Manson, Goering, Gameti) 1:28.54; 7. City High (Holmes, Sheldon, Washpun, Halter) 1:33.33

4×400 – 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 3:18.92; 2. West High (Goering, Swayzer, Dunham, Tiea) 3:22.21; 4. Liberty High (Idowu, Koller, Wyldon, Baldwin) 3:23.64; 6. City High (Sheldon, Halter, Turnbough, McDowell) 3:26.89

4×800 – 1. West High (Olaleye, Gopinah, Bruss, Tiea) 8:07.78; 2. Dubuque Senior 8:09.13; 4. City High (Karr, McDowell, Beerends, Palmberg) 8:09.95; 7. Liberty High (Hildebrand, Squires, Schepanski, Schepanski) 8:51.8

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating