Jalen Rima is convinced that racing from one sport to another at Cedar Rapids Prairie makes him even faster on a track.

There's no arguing with the results.

Rima ran the fastest time in the state in the 400-meter dash Friday when he was clocked in 48.78 seconds at the Wilkinson Relays at Kingston Stadium.

He also captured the 200-meter dash in 22.26 seconds, which is the fourth-best mark in the state this year.

Rima, just a junior, competes in football, basketball, track and baseball at Prairie. He thinks being a multi-sport athlete pays dividends.

"Definitely. A lot," he said after winning the 400. "Because you're always doing something. If you just sit down all the time, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now."

Rima plans to participate in sports in college, but is not sure which one.

"Hopefully football, but if I don't have any offers in football I'll probably go to track," he remarked.

Rima already owned the fastest time in the state in the 400 at 49.2 seconds, so he clipped 42-hundredths of a second off that mark. He finished sixth in the 400 at the state meet last year in 49.59 seconds and has chopped nearly a second off that time.

"I've been feeling great running it," he said. "I've improved so much from last year."

Rima would like to break 48 seconds this year, perhaps at the state meet in three weeks. "I think I can," he said.

The Kennedy Cougars edged Linn-Mar for the team championship, 125-119, in the seven-team meet.

Dalles Jacobus and Willie Rhoads led Kennedy with a pair of victories. Jacobus captured the shot put and discus, while Rhoads claimed the long jump and high jump.

The Lions won six events. Daniel Gorsich took the 110 hurdles and Greyson Dolezal won the 800 meter run. The Lions also captured the 4x800 relay, shuttle hurdle relay, sprint medley and 4x100 relay.

Prairie won four events with Rima in the 200 and 400, Trevor Northrup in the 100 and Tysen VanDraska in the 1600.

The Washington Warriors captured the 4x200 relay and the 4x400 relay. Isaiah Nimmers won the 400 hurdles and ran on both successful relays.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Kennedy 125, 2. Linn-Mar 119, 3. Prairie 92, 4. Washington 77, 5. Iowa City West 52.5, 6. Iowa City High 46.5, 7. Jefferson 45.

WINNERS

Shot put - Dalles Jacobus, Kennedy, 53-1
Discus - Dalles Jacobus, Kennedy, 156-3
Long jump - Willie Rhoads, Kennedy, 20-11 1/4
High jump - Willie Rhoads, Kennedy, 6-6
3200 - Akash Borde, Iowa City West, 9:56.19
4x800 relay - Linn-Mar 8:16.90 (Joe A'Hearn, Andrew Schnuring   Bryan Fogerty, Ethan Schmidt)
Shuttle hurdle relay - Linn-Mar 59.49 (Isaac Baumhoefener, Nick House, Gavern Dochterman, Zeal Baker)
4x200 relay - Washington 1:30.71 (Isaiah Nimmers, Mason Taylor, Robert Boulder, Alex Herzog)
100 - Trevor Northrup, Prairie, 11:51
400 - Jalen Rima, Prairie, 48.78
110 hurdles - Daniel Gorsich, Linn-Mar, 15.09
1600 - Tysen VanDraska, Prairie, 4:28.40
400 hurdles - Isaiah Nimmers, Washington, 55.44
Sprint medley - Linn-Mar 3:40.80 (Zeal Baker, Derek Randklev, Andrew Schuring, Dalton Gosch)
800 - Greyson Dolezal, Linn-Mar, 1:58.30
4x100 - Linn-Mar 43.38 (Sean Zimmerman, Tristan Freese, Griffin Freese, Daniel Gorsich)
200 - Jalen Rima, Prairie, 22.26
4x400 - Washington 3:26.57 (Andrew Dostal, Braedon Heald, Isaiah Nimmers, Landen Akers)