Marion proves it can run with 4A teams
The Marion High School boys track team was anxious to see how it would fare against all the Class 4A schools at the 26th Wilkinson Relays on Thursday.
They did quite well, thank-you.
The Indians finished ahead of Kennedy, Jefferson, Prairie and Waterloo East in the team standings. Heck, they even finished ahead of the Linn-Mar Lions, who practically own the city of Marion when it comes to high school sports.
The Indians beat everybody at Kingston Stadium except the Washington Warriors, and they came darn close to getting them as well.
Washington won the meet with 135 points and Marion placed a strong second in the seven-team field with 123 points. Linn-Mar was third with 117.
The Indians have done very well in track this spring, but most of those meets were against fellow Class 3A schools. They faced nothing but 4A competition Thursday and proved they can run with the big dogs.
"We did," said Lukas Mees, Marion's top distance runner. "Coming in our coach told us that people aren't going to be thinking about us. But we have what it takes to really compete, and I believe we showed them that today.
"I feel we're showing them who we are. Our people are stepping up to the plate."
Marion won four events. Zach Bornes doubled in the shot put (48-1) and discus (141-4), Issac Frazier captured the high jump (6-4) and the Indians claimed the 4x800 relay with Mees, Greg Sam, Brennen Kelly and Jordan Garthwaite.
The Indians displayed their depth with four second-place showings and six third-place finishes. That means they finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd a total of 14 times in 18 events.
"I feel like some of the 4A schools thought that we weren't able to stand up to them. But we did," said Sam. "Amazing. I'm proud of everybody."
It's still early, but Mees thinks the Indians have the right stuff to compete for the Class 3A state championship this year. "I think we have a chance to challenge for the title, and that's a huge goal," he said.
The Washington Warriors won six events and got an eye-popping time of 48.70 seconds from Nick Corbett in the 400 meter dash, but they might have to put an asterisk next to that one. The Washington coaches acknowledged that meet officials may have made a mistake and put Corbett in the wrong spot at the start of the race, requiring him to run only 389 meters instead of 400.
Corbett was clocked in 50.78 seconds in the 400 last Saturday at the John Ask Relays at Kingston Stadium, which was a personal best. If he indeed ran a 48.70 on Thursday, it means he would have chopped more than two seconds off his top performance and would have posted the fastest 400 time in the state this year.
Corbett was not aware of the disputed distance when he excitedly talked to reporters after the race. "Honestly tonight, I don't know what happened!" he exclaimed, not realizing he may have inadvertently run a shortened race through no fault of his own.
Jabez Walker of Linn-Mar finished second in the 400 and was given a time of 49.30 seconds, which also was in dispute along with several other times in the race.
Josh Evans and Brandon Ophoff of Linn-Mar submitted sterling times in their specialties, and there was no dispute about those. Evans blazed to victory in the 1600 in 4:25.16 and Ophoff claimed the 110 high hurdles in 14.39 seconds.
Evans set a personal record in the 1600. "I felt pretty strong," he said. "I never felt like I was dying."
Will Griffin of Washington won the 100 meter dash in 10.88 seconds as he continues to round into form. Drake Hickok of Washington trimmed Ophoff in the 400 meter hurdles in 54.52 seconds. The Warriors also won the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Prairie captured the 4x200 and sprint medley relays.
Derek Jacobus of Kennedy won the long jump at 21 feet, 4 inches.
26th Annual Wilkinson Relays
At Kingston Stadium
Team Scores
1. Washington 135, 2. Marion 123, 3. Linn-Mar 117, 4. Kennedy 58, 5. Jefferson 57, 6. Prairie 47, 7. Waterloo East 19.
Long Jump
1. Derek Jacobus (CRK) 21-4, 2. Famiek Cook (CRK) 20-5 1/2, 3. Colton Sanchez (LM) 19-10 1/2, 4. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 19-1, 5. Ethan Herran (MAR) 18-11, 6. Jared Samuelson (MAR) 18-6.
High Jump
1. Issac Frazier (MAR) 6-4, 2. Willie Rhodes (CRK) 6-2, 3. Jacob Shannon (CRK) 5-10, 4. Lance Scallon (CRJ) 5-8, 5. Jason Phelps (CRJ) 5-8, 6. Colton Sanchez (LM) 5-8.
Discus
1. Zach Bornes (MAR) 141-4, 2. Tyler Burrell (CRW) 133-1 1/2, 3. Zach Gillis (CRW) 131-5, 4. Zach Berryman (CRJ) 130-0 1/2, 5. Sam Techau (CRJ) 127-10, 6. Sam Manternach (CRP) 123-6.
Shot Put
1. Zach Bornes (MAR) 48-1, 2. Justin Dolley (MAR) 47-5, 3. Jack Halupnik (LM) 47-3 1/2, 4. Storhm Henry (CRW) 46-2 1/2, 5. Drew Heitland (CRK) 45-9 1/2, 6. Ryan Eivins (CRJ) 45-8.
3200 Meter Run
1. Robert Hogg (CRW) 10:37.55, 2. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 10:37.61, 3. Cole Kuethe (MAR) 10:48.89, 4. Zach Waite (CRP) 10:58.33, 5. Brady Bisgard (LM) 11:05.44, 6. Matt Stevens (CRK) 11:11.76.
4x800 Meter Relay
1. Marion (Lukas Mees, Greg Sam, Brennen Kelly, Jordan Garthwaite) 8:14.89; 2. Prairie (Mitch Pritts, Isaiah Vlasek, Luke Galloway, Jacob Aune) 8:27.00; 3. Washington (Trevor Luebe, Joe Berry, Matt Wittman, Blair Burdt) 8:27.10; 4. Jefferson (Timauntay Jones, Taylor Mueller, Devin Stone, Colton Cortez) 8:27.14; 5. Linn-Mar (Devin Bettmann, Amani
Richardson, Josh Wick, Keegan Cook) 8:44.07; 6. Kennedy (Trevor Oates, Matt Bunnell, Trent Seubert, Chris Blum) 8:54.90.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
1. Linn-Mar (Brandon Ophoff, Mike Keiser, Tristan Freese, Colton Sanchez) 59.42; 2. Kennedy (Tom Kaiser, Famiek Cook, Derek Jacobus, Josh Jahlas) 59.53; 3. Marion (Cedrick Williams, Quinn Cannoy, Issac Frazier, Taylor Rogers) 59.63; 4. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Keagan Pinter, Jarred Edmonds, Haakon Wilz) 1:04.60; 5. Jefferson (Tanner Lund, Savaun Bounds, Dakote Tomkins, Michael Moncivais) 1:05.58.
100 Meter Dash
1. Will Griffin (CRW) 10.88, 2. Aaron Taylor (WE) 10.95, 3. Derrick Williams (MAR) 11.35, 4. Dylan Chittick (CRJ) 11.48, 5. Joseph McBride (CRW) 11.50, 6. Desmond VanArsdale (WE) 11.58.
400 Meter Dash
1. Nick Corbett (CRW) 48.70, 2. Jabez Walker (LM) 49.30, 3. Trevor Luebe (CRW) 50.38, 4. Trevor Hardman (MAR) 51.97, 5. Asim Wallace (CRJ) 53.20, 6. Aaron Gruwell (CRJ) 53.82.
4x200 Meter Relay
1. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune, Demetrius Harper) 1:31.12; 2. Marion (Derrick Williams, Issac Smith, Cale Cannoy, Devin LeBeau) 1:31.27; 3. Linn-Mar (Austin Fleider, Jake Luerkens, Tommy Feller, Tristan Freese) 1:32.60; 4. Jefferson (Dylan Chittick, Chance Tiedtke, Alex Baxter, Nate Karlan) 1:33.10; 5. Kennedy (John Koelling, Famiek Cook, Jacob Shannon, Derek Jacobus) 1:33.62; 6. Washington (Drake Hickok, Braedon Tovey, Mitch Bredeson, Will Griffin) 1:37.41.
110 Meter High Hurdles
1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 14.39, 2. Taylor Rogers (MAR) 14.84, 3. Drake Hickok (CRW) 15.01, 4. Tom Kaiser (CRK) 15.59, 5. Forrest Vega (CRW) 15.64, 6. Mike Keiser (LM) 15.74.
1600 Meter Run
1. Josh Evans (LM) 4:25.16, 2. Chase Grabau (LM) 4:32.45, 3. Lukas Mees (MAR) 4:32.94, 4. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 4:33.87, 5. Robert Hogg (CRW) 4:38.21, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 4:39.53.
200 Meter Dash
1. Aaron Taylor (WE) 22.00, 2. Derrick Williams (MAR) 22.47, 3. Will Griffin (CRW) 22.57, 4. Jake Luerkens (LM) 23.07, 5. Nick Corbett (CRW) 23.12, 6. Jarred Edmonds (CRP) 23.89.
400 Meter Hurdles
1. Drake Hickok (CRW) 54.52, 2. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 54.61, 3. Forrest Vega (CRW) 57.52, 4. Lucas Vanous (CRJ) 58.31, 5. Taylor Rogers (MAR) 58.46, 6. Tanner Rathje (LM) 59.44.
1600 Medley Relay
1. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune) 3:35.20, 2. Jefferson (Nate Karlan, Chance Tiedtke, Alex Baxter, Timauntay Jones) 3:35.90, 3. Marion (Cedrick Williams, Devin LeBeau, Issac Smith, Lukas Mees) 3:45.38, 4. Kennedy (Jacob Shannon, Famiek Cook, John Koelling, Trevor Oates) 3:48.18, 5. Linn-Mar (Mason Renner, Tommy Feller, Ellis McBrayer, Will Fuhrmann) 3:50.690, 6. Washington (Braedon Tovey, David Tann, Morris Williams, Joe Berry) 3:51.59.
800 Meter Run
1. Jabez Walker (LM) 2:00.30, 2. Matt Simon (LM) 2:00.68, 3. Greg Sam (MAR) 2:04.52, 4. Trevor Luebe (CRW) 2:04.62, 5. Brennen Kelly (MAR) 2:06.22, 6. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 2:07.37.
4x100 Meter Relay
1. Washington (Braedon Tovey, Will Griffin, Mitch Bredeson, Joseph McBride) 43.17, 2. Jefferson (Shaquille Harbor, Dylan Chittick, Chance Tiedtke, Nate Karlan) 44.49, 3. Linn-Mar (Austin Fleider, Jake Luerkens, Tommy Feller, Tristan Freese) 44.89, 4. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds, Mitchell Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper) 45.19, 5. Kennedy (Josh
Jahlas, Tom Kaiser, Jacob Shannon, Derek Jacobus) 45.36; 6. Marion (Derrick Williams, Issac Smith, Cale Cannoy, Devin LeBeau) DQ.
4x400 Meter Relay
1. Washington (Drake Hickok, Noah Dostal, Robert Hogg, Nick Corbett) 3:28.90; 2. Linn-Mar (Chase Grabau, Amani Richardson, Brandon Ophoff, Ellis McBrayer) 3:36.69; 3. Jefferson (Aaron Gruwell, William Orr, Ryan Deerberg, Asim Wallace) 3:37.31; 4. Marion (Issac Smith, Trevor Hardman, Cale Cannoy, Cedrick Williams) 3:37.99; 5. Kennedy (John Koelling, Tom Kaiser, Chad Slaymaker, Trevor Oates) 3:38.61; 6. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Alex Nelson, Steven Wallace) 3:43.35; 6. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Alex Nelson, Steven Wallace) 3:43.35.
