Jacob Aune of Cedar Rapids Prairie did well in the Washington Relays on Monday in Washington, Iowa. He wore one blue shoe and one green shoe. (Photo by Ken Gilchrist)WASHINGTON, Iowa - Cedar Rapids Prairie senior Jacob Aune is a talented distance runner who drew interest from the track and cross country coaches at Nebraska, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, but even though he likes running and enjoys the sport, he absolutely loves basketball.

That's why he's decided to pass on the opportunity to run in the Big Ten, Big 12 or Missouri Valley Conference in order to play basketball at Coe College in the Iowa Conference. He'll skip the glamour of being an NCAA Division I athlete and compete at the D-3 level instead.

He's entirely comfortable with his decision.

"Both sports take a huge level of commitment, whether it's the D-3, D-2 or D-1 level," Aune said Monday between races at the 53rd Annual Washington Relays. "My passion is in basketball. Running has been good to me, but I've always loved playing basketball.

"I love going to practice every day, I love shooting. I mean, I just love the game."

Aune was flattered that several of the premier Division I track and cross country programs in the Midwest were interested in his services, but he had to decline the opportunity.

"It's tough," he said. "When you have the University of Nebraska and Iowa State talking to you for track in college, you go 'Whoa, that sounds really nice.' But I really like Coe and I like what they're about and I like the basketball program and I like the coaches. I just know it's agood fit for me."

Aune canceled his official visits to Nebraska, Iowa State and Northern Iowa after he committed to Coe in January.

Aune has been a big success as a student/athlete at Prairie High School. He carries a 3.7 GPA and posted a 26 on the ACT college entrance exam. He's not sure what he'll study at Coe, but he's interested in communications (possibly sports broadcasting) and might want to coach.

Aune has excelled as both a runner and basketball player at Prairie. He helped the Hawks win the Class 4A state cross country title as a juniorin 2010 and placed fourth individually as a senior this past fall. Once the cross country season ended, he turned his attention to basketball and was named second team all-Metro, averaging 10 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Aune is a wisp of a fellow at 6-foot-1 and 148 pounds, all arms and legs and heart. He weighed 155 pounds during the basketball season, but cut to 148 for track.

"When track is done this year I'll be beefing up as best I can," he said, smiling at his choice of words. "I don't know what that means for me quite yet."

Aune turned in several good performances at the Washington Relays on Monday in cold, windy conditions. He finished second overall in the 1600 meter run in 4:36.65 behind Bennett Moser of Wapello, who is one of the top distance runners in the state. Moser won the race in 4:36.44, holding off Aune at the wire.

Aune was credited with the Class A 1600 title and Moser won the Class C crown, but they ran in the same race and Moser won. Moser led by about 30 meters coming down the stretch, but Aune displayed a strong kick and nearly pulled it out.

Mitch Pritts of Cedar Rapids Prairie won the 3200 at the Washington Relays in Washington, Iowa, on Monday. (Photo by Ken Gilchrist)"Honestly, I was thinking I had another lap," he admitted. "And then all of a sudden I saw him go and I was like, 'I better get going.' So I started kicking, and then I remembered hearing the bell (for the gun lap) and I was like, 'I've got to make this close.'

"He was running a heck of a race and I knew I could run better than that, so I just started going for him."

Aune suffered a painful cramp in his left thigh shortly after the 1600 race ended, but was able to get up and walk it off.

Aune is a member of Prairie's 4x400 relay that ran an excellent 3:27.79 at the Dickinson Relays in the UNI-Dome last week. The Hawks captured the 4x400 Monday in 3:29.57, another excellent time considering the cold conditions.

Aune is running in a colorful pair of new shoes this season. The right shoe is blue and the left one is light green. At first, he thought it was a mismatched pair when he saw them at the store.

"They opened up the box and I was like, 'You have it wrong,'" he said. "And they're like, 'No, that's how it goes,' and I said, 'All right!'

"I showed the coach the next morning and he said, 'Are you trying to confuse people? What are you doing?' I said, 'Hey, I'm just as confused as you are.' But I like them. They're great."

Mitch Pritts won the 3200 for Prairie on Monday in 10:00.72. The Hawks also claimed the Class A 4x800 relay.

Iowa City High won the overall team championship with 179 points. Prairie finished fourth out of 17 teams with 121 points.

Team Standings

1. Iowa City High 179, 2. Mediapolis 154, 3. Iowa City High JV 146, 4. Prairie 121, 5. West Burlington/Notre Dame 107, 6. Columbus 103, 7. South Tama 101, 8. Mount Pleasant 99.5, 9. Monticello 96, 10. Wapello 74, 11.
Eddyville-Blakesburg 71, 12. Washington (Iowa) 68, 13. Fort Madison 55, 14. Burlington 53.5, 15. Keota 47, 16. Mid-Prairie 42, 17. Washington (Iowa) JV 17.

Class A Winners

Discus - Kody Dailey, Iowa City High, 138-9.
High jump - Justin Randall, Burlington, 6-2.
Long jump - Washington, Iowa City High, 20-9.
Shot put - Matt Lee, Iowa City High, 46-2 1/4.
3200 - Mitch Pritts, Prairie, 10:00.72.
4x800 relay - Prairie (Zach Waite, Isaiah Vlasek, Jacob Aune, Conner Neuhaus)   8:46.15.
Shuttle hurdle relay - Iowa City High 1:00.17.
100 - Desmond McCalla, Iowa City High, 11.35.
400 - Ryan Dorman, Iowa City High, 51.52.
4x200 relay - Iowa City High 1:33.50.
110 hurdles - Moorman, Mount Pleasant, 14.73.
1600 - Jacob Aune, Prairie, 4:36.65.
200 - Moorman, Mount Pleasant, 22.44.
400 hurdles - John Law, Iowa City High, 1:00.32.
Sprint medley - Iowa City High 3:45.45.
800 - Dwight Donahue, Iowa City High, 2:06.61.
4x100 relay - Iowa City High 45.27.
4x100.25 Weight Man's relay - Washington 52.25.
4x400 relay - Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune,  Demetrius Harper) 3:29.57.

Prairie Class A Place Winners

1st - Mitch Pritts, 3200, 10:00.72.
1st - 4x800 relay (Zach Waite, Isaiah Vlasek, Jacob Aune, Conner Neuhaus)
  8:46.15.
1st - 4x400 relay (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune, Demetrius   Harper) 3:29.57.
1st - Jacob Aune, 1600, 4:36.65.
2nd - Tristan Beyer, 400, 51.75.
2nd - Sprint medley (Jarred Edmonds, Alec Windenberg, Jace Hanna, Isaiah Vlasek) 3;54.88.
2nd - 4x100 relay (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Mitch Dellamuth,  Demetrius Harper) 45.38.
3rd - Austin Dellamuth, 400, 52.26.
3rd - 4x200 relay (Alex Nelson, Alec Windenberg, Jace Hanna, Jarred   Edmonds) 1:39.22.
3rd - Luke Galloway, 1600, 4:57.21.
3rd - Demetrius Harper, 200, 22.90.
3rd - Mitch Pritts, 800, 2:07.66.
3rd - 4x100.25 Weight Man relay (Josh Williams, Bryce Meeker, Sam   Manternach, Matt Hilligas) 53.87.
4th - Shuttle hurdle relay (Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmons, Keagan  Pinter, Haakon Wilz) 1:08.01.
4th - Haakon Wilz, 400 hurdles, 1:02.74.
4th - Steven Wallace, 800, 2:17.96.
5th - Sam Manternach, discus, 126-5 1/2.
5th - Jacob Aune, high jump, 5-4.
5th - Demetrius Harper, long jump, 18-10.
5th - Ross Adams, 3200, 11:11.33.
5th - Haakon Wilz, 110 hurdles, 16.54.
5th - Zach Waite, 1600, 5:06.34.
6th - Josh Williams, shot put, 42-1 3/4.