It was the first meet of the season for many of the teams at the John Ask Relays on Friday (April 1) at Kingston Stadium and one thing was on the runners minds.

"It's cold, its very cold," said Washington junior sprinter Will Griffin.

But Griffin was able to put that out of his mind as he had a terrific night, winning the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the 4x200 relay. In his final event, the 4x100, Griffin seemed to get Washington out of the gates with a bit of a lead, but a slow hand-off between the second and third legs slowed down the relay and the Warriors ended up second.

But for all his success, Griffin still was not satisfied.

"I've been pretty decent," he said. "I feel like the 4x200, I could have run a little harder, I guess I got a little nervous about dying at the end because that was my big problem last year."

He definitely didn't show any signs of that fatigue on Friday running four events.

"That is something that we really train for at Wash," Griffin said. "When it comes down to it and the team really needs you to step up, you do it. You may be tired now but as soon as you start going you're fine and then once it is over it comes back."

But, Griffin was more focused on the team than how he did individually. The Warriors are coming off back-to-back state championships and are trying to stay hungry for a third straight title.

"Getting on top isn't the hard part, the hard part is staying on top," senior sprinter Alex Carr said. "You can't get complacent, you can't get big headed, because once you take your foot off the gas pedal that's when everyone catches you."

Linn-Mar had the highest team total out of the Metro schools, finishing two points behind Iowa City West's winning total of 284.

The Lions were almost able to pass the Trojans in the last race, winning the 4x400 easily with a time of 3:31.127. If West had finished last in the race, Linn-Mar would have won. But the Trojans passed Washington on the final stretch to get sixth out of seven and hold on to the win.

Linn-Mar did most of their damage in the hurdles, with Brandon Ophoff winning the 110 hurdles (14.713 seconds) and then coming in second to teammate Nick Lucas in the 400 meter hurdles. Lucas won with a time of 56.339 seconds.

Linn-Mar also won the shuttle hurdle relay in what may have been the most hotly contested race of the night. Kennedy and Washington both finished within .33 seconds of the Lions.

Kennedy's Caleb Mere set another personal record in winning the long jump.  He went 22 feet, one-half inch in his first effort during an indoor meet, went 22-0.75 his second jump last night, then 22-2.25 in his final effort, winning the event by two inches.

"It was a good jump and I didn't reach for the board at all, but I didn't get enough pop in my jump. It was a little bit shorter than I was hoping for," Mere said. "I am happy with it, but I definitely want to improve on it."

Prairie overcomes injury for 4x800 relay victory

The Hawks were a man down for the first relay of the day, with one of their top distance runners, Matt Stocker out with an injury.

His twin brother Kyle picked up the slack, however, making up about 30 meters on the leader on the first of his two laps and won the race pulling away.

"I just don't like having people ahead of me as the race goes on," Stocker said. "I'm kind of impatient, obviously. I went out a little too fast."

Other Metro winners

Jefferson sophomore Timauntay Jones brought home a victory for the host J-Hawks in the 800 meters with a time of 2:02.636.

Prairie's Sam Joens claimed the discus title with a toss of 163 feet, 8 feet further than the next closest thrower.

JOHN ASK RELAYS
At Kingston Stadium

Team Standings
1. Iowa City West 284, 2. Linn-Mar 282, 3. Bettendorf 277, 4. Washington 262, 5. Jefferson 238, 6. Kennedy 214.5, 7. Prairie 195.5.

 Shot Put - 1. Grant Anderson (Bett) 50-5; 2. J.P. Flynn (Bett) 46-10; 3. Derek Norland (ICW) 46-4 1/2; 4. Jack Halupnik (LM) 44-11 1/2; 5. Jacob Coble-Frakes (CRP) 44-10 1/2; 6. Ryan Eivins (CRJ) 43-1.
 Long Jump - 1. Caleb Mere (CRK) 22-2 1/4; 2. Colton Sanchez (LM) 20-0; 3. Richard Bryant (ICW) 19-2 3/4; 4. Tom Kaiser (CRK) 19-1 1/2; 6. David Soukthavone (CRJ) 18-2 1/2.
 High Jump - 1. Keith Clay (ICW) 6-0; 2. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 5-10; 3. Jason Phelps (CRJ) 5-8; 5. Miles Barton (CRW) 5-6.
 Discus - 1. Sam Joens (CRP) 163-0; 2. Derek Norland (ICW) 155-0; 3. Jacob Hayes (BETT) 143-6; 5. Colin Hennessey (CRW) 135-9.
 3200 - 1. Matt Butler (BETT) 9:52.759; 2. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 10:10.160; 3. Thomas Singer (CRK) 10:14.864; 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 10:16.232; 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 10:19.119.
 4x800 - 1. Prairie (Burns, Burns, Smith, K. Stocker) 8:22.831; 2. Linn-Mar 8:27.169; 3. Jefferson 8:33.208; 4. Washington 8:45.788.
 Shuttle Hurdle Relay - 1. Linn-Mar (Ophoff, Lucas, Sanchez, Kaiser) 1:00.570; 2. Kennedy 1:00.603; 3. Washington 1:00.737; 5. Jefferson 1:04.813; 6. Prairie 1:04.947.
 100 - 1. William Griffin (CRW) 11.102; 2. Tamrick Atwood (BETT) 11.212; 3. Tyler Youker (BETT) 11.279; 5. Alex Carr (CRW) 11.335; 6. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 11.379.
 400 - 1. Devon Clarke (BETT) 51.899; 2. Robert Hoff (CRW) 52.883; 3. Triston Beyer (CRP) 53.083; 5. Ryan Deerberg (CRJ) 54.548; 6. Dylan Chittick (CRJ) 54.681.
 4x200 - 1. Washington (Hickok, Alonzo Carr, Griffin, Alex Carr) 1:33.386; 2. Jefferson 1:34.637; 3. Linn-Mar 1:36.055; 4. Kennedy 1:36.990; 6. Prairie 1:40.160.
 110 Hurdles - 1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 14.713; 2. Jake Losch (CRK) 15.430; 3. Drake Hickok (CRK) 15.580; 5. Antonio Johnson (CRW) 15.764.
 1600 - 1. Daniel Gordarsson (ICW) 4:41.321; 2. Josh Evans (LM) 4:43.356; 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 4:45.375; 4. Thomas Singer (CRK) 4:46.276; 5. Travis Mueller (CRK) 4:48.078.
 200 - 1. William Griffin (CRW) 22.807; 2. Devin Clark (BETT) 23.107; 3. Armando Williams (ICW) 23.241; 4. Sam Otis (CRJ) 23.256; 5. Jordan Kremer (LM) 24.107; 6. Aaron Hunter (LM) 24.141.
 400 Hurdles - 1. Nick Lucas (LM) 56.339; 2. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 57.724; 3. Drake Hickok (CRW) 58.959; 4. Josh Jahlas (CRK) 59.104; 5. Tom Frieden (CRP) 59.175.
 1600 Medley - 1. Bettendorf (T. Younkin, B. Younkin, Clarke, Butler) 3:39.686; 2. Kennedy 3:45.909; 3. Iowa City West 3:50.063; 4. Prairie 3:51.882; 5. Jefferson 3:55.936; 6. Linn-Mar 3:59.173.
 800 - 1. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 2:02.636; 2. Robert Hogg (CRW) 2:03.337; 3. Jordan Burns (CRP) 2:04.338; 4. Duggan Trenary (LM) 2:06.506; 5. Tanner Rathje (LM) 2:06.540; 6. Peter Thullen (CRJ) 2:07.207.
 4x100 - 1. Bettendorf (T. Younkin, B. Younkin, Hudson, Atwood) 44.167; 2. Washington 44.567; 3. Jefferson 44.851; 4. Linn-Mar 45.551; 6. Prairie 46.185.
 4x400 - 1. Linn-Mar (Razo, Kramer, Simon, Dunn) 3:31.127; 2. Kennedy 3:37.215; 3. Prairie 3:38.766; 5. Jefferson 3:42.370.