Prairie Boys Track

Aune claims 2 crowns at MVC Valley Meet

Shaquille Harbor did not win any races at the Mississippi Valley Conference track meet at Kingston Stadium Friday, but he was a winner nonetheless.

Harbor has experienced quite a bit during the past nine months, enough to make most teenagers dizzy and confused. Instead, Shaq sounds level-headed and determined to make a success of himself in sports and the classroom at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Harbor moved from Louisiana to Cedar Rapids in September, was adopted by his biological cousin and her husband in October, began the school year as an eighth grader at McKinley Middle School and was promoted to the freshman class at Jefferson in January.

He joined the Jefferson track team after the season began and has already developed into one of the top young sprinters that Ron Tower has tutored during his 16 years as head coach.

"Good story," Tower said Friday during the MVC Valley Division meet. "He does want to do well."

Tower entered Harbor in the frosh/soph 100-meter dash Friday, but the coach was laughing at himself for not putting Harbor in the varsity 100 after Harbor was clocked in 11.58 seconds. That easily won the frosh/soph race and would have been good enough to place third in the varsity 100.

"Smart coaching, huh?" joked Tower.

Tower said Harbor has been a little inconsistent in his workouts and races, which is understandable considering his youth and inexperience, but he ran a strong opening leg on the varsity 4x100 relay Friday that finished third. It was only the third time all season that Tower let Harbor run on the 4x100 relay.

Tower said Harbor struggled with his workouts when he joined the team, but there was a reason. Tower makes all of his 100 and 200 sprinters train with the 400-meter guys at the beginning of the year and Harbor wasn't too fond of that.

"Coach, Coach," Tower said, laughing as he recalled Harbor's reaction to running longer distances, "I just run the 100!"

Tower said Harbor wasn't ready for varsity competition at the beginning, but he's making up for lost time. "Over the last month he's matured quite a bit," the coach said. "He does want to do well. He's grown up a lot in a month. It's amazing the maturity I've seen."

For his part, Harbor said he's happy to be here and living with his new parents, Chris and LaSheila Yates, and making new friends.

"It feels good. A lot of good people," he said. "I'm focused more on school. And track."

Harbor attended the eighth grade in Alexandria, La., during the 2010-11 school year, but the Cedar Rapids school district decided to have him begin the 2011-12 school year here in the eighth grade again since he arrived a few weeks after the fall semester began.

"No, it didn't make me mad," he said. "It made me get motivated. Like, 'I have to do this, I have to get out of this school.'"

Harbor said his favorite sports have been football and basketball, but he's developed a fondness for track. "I like track," he said. "It gets me fit and ready for football."

Harbor is a running back, with good speed and a strong body. Brian Webb, Jefferson's new football coach, might have a pleasant surprise this fall. The new coach and new J-Hawk have not met yet, but they undoubtedly will soon.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but I'm anxious to talk to him," said Harbor.

As you might expect since he's from Louisiana, Shaquille Harbor was named after former Louisiana State and NBA basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. "My grandmother told my mom that she likes Shaquille O'Neal, so they decided to name me Shaquille," he said. "No. Never met him."

Harbor served notice Friday that he could be a force for Jefferson sports teams in the coming years. Meanwhile, the powerful track teams from Iowa City West and Cedar Falls dominated the Valley Division meet at Kingston on a warm day.

Iowa City West won the team championship with 169 points and Cedar Falls finished second at 118.

The Xavier Saints won four events and placed third in the team standings. Craig Murtha claimed the shot put and discus for Xavier, Alec Clasen won the high jump and the quartet of Nick Ball, Jordan Weber, Zach Stovie and Brandon Gradoville captured the sprint medley.

Jacob Aune was a double champion in the 3200 and 1600 meter runs for the Prairie Hawks.

Timauntay Jones won the 800 for Jefferson in a swift time of 1:55.84.

BOYS MVC VALLEY DIVISION MEET
At Kingston Stadium

Team Standings
1. Iowa City West 169, 2. Cedar Falls 118, 3. Xavier 94, 4. Prairie 82, 5. Jefferson 56, 6. Hempstead 35, 7. Waterloo East 4.

High Jump
1. Alec Clasen (CRX) 6-2, 2. Kalund Brown (CF) 6-0, 3. Marquis Busch (CF) 6-0, 4. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 5-10, 5. Nathan Sims (DH) 5-8, 6. Jon Hermsen (DH) 5-8.

Long Jump
1. Tavian Smith (ICW) 21-6 1/2, 2. Charlie Rogers (ICW) 21-5, 3. Haakon Wilz (CRP) 20-5, 4. Brad Hennen (DH) 19-9, 5. Jarred Edmonds (CRP) 19-7 1/2, 6. Andrew Sorenson (CF) 19-2.

Shot Put
1. Craig Murtha (CRX) 49-11, 2. Ross Pierschbacher (CF) 49-10, 3. Josh Williams (CRP) 47-11, 4. Brady Waskow (CF) 47-8 1/2, 5. Ryan Eivins (CRJ) 46-0 1/2, 6. Kevin Sandhu (DH) 44-11.

Discus
1. Craig Murtha (CRX) 149-4, 2. Joseph Weiner (DH) 140-8, 3. Sam Techau (CRJ) 130-8, 4. Robbie Hanson (ICW) 130-3, 5. Kevin Sandhu (DH) 124-2, 6. Colton Spicer (CRJ) 123-6.

3200 Meter Run
1. Jacob Aune (CRP) 9:45.73, 2. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW) 9:47.31, 3. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 9:54.93, 4. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 9:55.99, 5. Adam Streicher (CF) 10:02.53, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 10:15.56.

4x800 Relay
1. Iowa City West 8:10.64, 2. Hempstead 8:23.14, 3. Cedar Falls 8:23.52, 4. Xavier (Patrick Mullin, Zach Stovie, Evan Gradoville, Ben Schueler) 8:38.61, 5. Jefferson (Devin Stone, Aaron Carter, Colton Cortez, Tim MacDonald) 8:44.03, 6. Prairie (Luke Gradoville, Isaiah Vlasek, Steven Wallace, Connor Neuhaus) 8:47.50.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
1. Iowa City West 59.38, 2. Cedar Falls 1:01.22, 3. Prairie (Mitch Dellamuth, Keagan Pinter, Jarred Edmonds, Haakon Wilz) 1:02.17, 4. Jefferson (Savaun Bounds, Tanner Lund, Michael Moncivais, Dakote Tomkins) 1:04.21, 5. Xavier (Noah Clasen, Josh Nelson, Nick Lang, Joe Pape) 1:06.03, 6. Hempstead 1:06.44.

100 Meter Dash
1. Armando Williams (ICW) 11.40, 2. Nick Steingreaber (CRX) 11.44, 3. Luke Toyosi (CF) 11.59, 4. (tie) Nate Karlan (CRJ) 11.62; Richard Bryant (ICW) 11.62, 6. Mitch Dowell (CF) 11.67.

400 Meter Dash
1. Charlie Rogers (ICW) 50.17, 2. Austin Dellamuth (CRP) 50.22, 3. Shane Shaddox (CF) 50.52, 4. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 50.83, 5. Ahmed Noureldaim (ICW) 50.85, 6. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 52.29.

4x200 Relay
1. Iowa City West 1:29.20, 2. Xavier (Nick Ball, Brandon Gradoville, Cal Stovie, Jordan Weber) 1:30.77, 3. Jefferson (Nate Karlan, Chance Tiedtke, Alex Baxter, Dylan Chittick) 1:31.56, 4. Cedar Falls 1:31.62, 5. Waterloo East 1:37.35, 6. Prairie (Marquan Wilder, Alex Nelson, Dylan Becker, Mitch Dellamuth) 1:37.53.

110 Meter Hurdles
1. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 15.72, 2. Haakon Wilz (CRP) 15.79, 3. Josh Nelson (CRX) 15.92, 4. Kalund Brown (CF) 16.09, 5. Carter Valentine (CRX) 16.27, 6. Kalehl Brown (CF) 16.34.

1600 Meter Run
1. Jacob Aune (CRP) 4:29.47, 2. Bailey Wetherell (ICW) 4:30.16, 3. Lincoln Rozeboom (ICW) 4:37.28, 4. Matthew Adrian (CF) 4:38.27, 5. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 4:40.79, 6. Andrew Halloran (CF) 4:52.11.

200 Meter Dash
1. James Harrington (CF) 22.17, 2. Armando Williams (ICW) 22.59, 3. Nick Ball (CRX) 22.95, 4. Mitch Dowell (CF) 23.04, 5. Nick Steingreaber (CRX) 23.30, 6. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 23.38.

400 Meter Hurdles
1. Charlie Rogers (ICW) 54.96, 2. Austin Cuvelier (CF) 56.03, 3. Noah Clasen (CRX) 56.04, 4. Matt Feeley (ICW) 56.23, 5. Lucas Vanous (CRJ) 56.83, 6. Jarred Edmonds (CRP) 59.86.

Sprint Medley Relay
1. Xavier (Nick Ball, Jordan Weber, Zach Stovie, Brandon Gradoville) 3:42.54, 2. Cedar Falls 3:42.86, 3. Iowa City West 3:44.93, 4. Jefferson (Aaron Gruwell, Ryan Deerberg, Jordan Selby, Taylor Mueller) 3:46.19, 5. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Alex Nelson, Mitch Dellamuth, Isaiah Vlasek) 3:52.08, 6. Hempstead 4:04.03.

800 Meter Run
1. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 1:55.84, 2. Bailey Wetherell (ICW) 2:02.50, 3. Kaleb Greiner (ICW) 2:05.65, 4. Bryan Case (DH) 2:07.99, 5. Jared Failor (CF) 2:09.01, 6. Nick Klein (DH) 2:09.62.

4x100 Relay
1. Cedar Falls 42.56, 2. Xavier (Nick Ball, Jordan Weber, Cal Stovie, Nick Steingreaber) 42.78, 3. Jefferson (Shaquille Harbor, Dylan Chittick, Chance Tiedtke, Nate Karlan) 43.46, 4. Iowa City West 43.60, 5. Waterloo East 46.20, 6. Hempstead 47.05.

4x400 Relay
1. Iowa City West 3:23.67, 2. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds, Jacob Aune, Demetrius Harper) 3:25.09, 3. Cedar Falls 3:25.28, 4. Jefferson (Ryan Deerberg, Alex Baxter, Asim Wallace, William Orr) 3:27.51, 5. Xavier (Trey Sampson, Noah Clasen, Brandon Gradoville, Zach Stovie) 3:41.24, 6. Hempstead 3:43.89.

Prairie celebrates 4x400 relay at Drake

DES MOINES - Jacob Aune has been through hell and back this year.

He battled a severe breathing problem at the district cross country meet, suffered a nasty concussion during the basketball season and has been plagued by legs cramps during the track campaign.

But Aune was feeling no pain Saturday after Cedar Rapids Prairie captured the 4x400 relay with a sterling performance at the 103rd Annual Drake Relays in Des Moines.

"It's been difficult, to say the least," said Aune, a reed-thin senior. "As an athlete, I've had an unlucky stretch, but it looks like it's lightening up a little bit."

Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds, Aune and Demetrius Harper toured the 1600 meters in 3 minutes, 21.15 seconds, nipping Clinton by 39-hundredths of a second in a race that was tight from start to finish for a half-dozen teams. Clinton finished second in 3:21.64 and Cedar Washington was third in 3:22.06.

Harper got the baton from Aune for the anchor leg in a bunched field. The Prairie coaches have been telling Harper to save a little for the home stretch and not spend all his energy at the start, so Harper paced himself before kicking it home for the victory.

"I decided to do that today and it paid off," said Harper. "It means so much."

Dellamuth, Aune and Harper have been running the relay all season and running it well, but Edmonds was a recent addition to the quartet after Tristan Beyer suffered a hamstring injury. On top of that, Edmonds ran Saturday on a sore ankle after getting hurt in practice.

"I'm proud of this kid," said Dellamuth, putting his arm around Edmonds. "His first year of track, he got thrown into the 4x4 at Drake. He stepped up."

They all did.

"We couldn't ask for a better team and better coaches," said Aune. "We all won it as a team. That's what's great about the 3:21. It was a big team effort."

The Hawks interrupted their victory lap to call Beyer out of the stands to join them as a fifth member of the unit. Beyer is recovering from his leg injury and the Prairie coaches hope he'll be healthy enough to run at the state meet in three weeks.

Aune helped Prairie win the state cross country title in 2010, but said the state title takes a backseat to winning at Drake.

"This is the best," he said. "It beats the state championship and everything. This is the best moment of my life right here. It's unbelievable.

"At state cross country, we were stacked with loaded runners. I mean, we're good runners on the 4x4, but we're not winning all the individual events. We just really buy into the team concept. We do everything together as a team. That's what makes it so much fun."

Prairie's victory in the final prep event of the day was the highlight for Metro athletes on the last day of the Drake Relays. Washington won the sprint medley on Thursday to give Metro teams a pair of victories at the 103-year-old meet.

The Linn-Mar Lions placed second in the 4x800 relay Saturday in a tight race that went down to the wire. Indianola won the event in 7:50.68, with the Lions a shade behind in 7:50.96 with Chase Grabau, Duggan Trenary, Jabez Walker and Matt Simon doing the honors.

Linn-Mar senior Brandon Ophoff finished second in the 400 meter hurdles Saturday behind Raheem Black of Fort Madison, giving Ophoff two silver medals at the Drake Relays this year. He also placed second in the 110 meter high hurdles on Friday.

Ophoff was seeded No. 1 in both events, but ran into stiff competition both times. He wanted gold medals, but was happy with silver, for the most part.

"I really wanted it. I did what I could," he said. "I left it on the track. You have to feel good about second when you do that."

Cedar Rapids Kennedy finished third in the shuttle hurdle relay in 57.87 seconds with Tom Kaiser, Derek Jacobus, Famiek Cook and Josh Jahlas running in style. Iowa City High won the race in 56.75.

Jacobus came home with a silver medal for finishing second in the long jump on Friday and a bronze medal for placing third in the shuttle hurdle relay.

Linn-Mar had the fifth-fastest time in the shuttle hurdle relay prelims and the Marion Indians had the sixth-best time, but only four teams advanced to the finals.

Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans placed third in the 1600 meter run in 4:17.14, chopping three seconds off his personal best. Jason Thomas of Dowling won the race in 4:15.21 and Matt Butler of Bettendorf was second in 4:15.98. Evans also placed third in the 3200 meter run on Friday for two bronze medals.

The Washington girls placed sixth in the 4x100 relay in 49.48 seconds behind the record-setting sprinters from Des Moines Roosevelt, who captured the race in 47.55 seconds.

Drake Hickok of Washington finished seventh in the 400 hurdles in 55.30.

Former Linn-Mar star Kyle Dunn, now a freshman at Arkansas, finished fifth in the men's 400 meter hurdles in 51.26 seconds Saturday.

Saturday's complete prep results

Harper wins 200 at South Tama

TAMA - The Xavier High School boys track team won six events at the South Tama Invitational on Tuesday.

The Saints looked particularly strong in the relays and captured the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 events. Nick Steingreaber won the 100 meter dash and Alec Clasen claimed the high jump at 6-foot-6, matching his best jump of the season.

Brandon Gradoville ran on three of the triumphant relay teams for Xavier. Ben Valentine, Nick Ball, Cal Stovie and Jordan Weber ran on two of the winning relays.

Demetrius Harper captured the 200 meter dash for Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Pella won the team championship with 178 points. South Tama placed second in the 11-team field with 148 points and Xavier was third with 145. Prairie finished sixth.

SOUTH TAMA INVITATIONAL
Team Standings

1. Pella 178, 2. South Tama 148, 3. Xavier 145, 4. Benton Community 136, 5. BCLUW 96.5, 6. Prairie 83, 7. (tie) Williamsburg 65; Grinnell 65; 9. Iowa Valley 55, 10. Clear Creek Amana 51, 11. Grundy Center 41.5.

Winners

3200 - Nate Carr, Grinnell, 9:57.32.
4x800 relay - Xavier 8:28.00.
Shuttle hurdle relay - Clear Creek Amana 1:01.05.
100 - Nick Steingreaber, Xavier, 11.20.
400 - Joe Nowasell, Grinnell, 50.69.
4x200 relay - Xavier 1:31.63.
110 hurdles - Conrad Thompson, Benton, 14.75.
1600 - Zach Buchheit, Pella, 4:25.01.
200 - Demetrius Harper, Prairie, 22.72.
400 hurdles - Conrad Thompson, Benton, 55.95.
Sprint medley - Pella 3:42.00.
800 - Joe Nowasell, Grinnell, 2:04.95.
4x100 - Xavier 43.62.
4x400 - Xavier 3:33.18.
Shot put - Robert Rathje, Benton, 47-3.
Long jump - Kyle Stephenson, South Tama, 21-3 1/4.
Discus - Austin Lowe, South Tama, 110-3.
High jump - Alec Clasen, Xavier, 6-6.

Xavier Placewinners
(Top 6)

1st - 4x800 relay (Patrick Mullin, Ben Valentine, Evan Gradoville, Brandon Gradoville) 8:28.00.
1st - Nick Steingreaber, 100, 11.20.
1st - 4x200 relay (Nick Ball, Brandon Gradoville, Cal Stovie, Jordan Weber) 1:31.63.
1st - 4x100 relay (Nick Ball, Nick Steingreaber, Cal Stovie, Jordan Weber) 43.62.
1st - 4x400 relay (Ben Valentine, Trey Sampson, Zach Stovie, Brandon Gradoville) 3:33.18.
1st - Alec Clasen, high jump, 6-6.
2nd - Nick Ball, 200, 22.78.
2nd - Noah Clasen, 400 hurdles, 56.08.
2nd - Ben Sagers, high jump, 5-8.
4th - Zach Stovie, 400, 51.96.
4th - Josh Nelson, 110 hurdles, 15.83.
4th - Sprint medley (Josh Nelson, Jim Moore, Ben Valentine, Zach Stovie) 3:52.00.
5th - Shuttle hurdle relay (Noah Clasen, David Kirpes, Nick Lang, Josh Nelson) 1:06.57.
5th - Jordan Weber, 100, 11.58.
5th - Noah Clasen, 400, 52.39.
6th - Ben Schueler, 3200, 10:35.08.
6th - Seth Fahnle, shot put, 42-8 1/2.

Prairie Placewinners
(Top 6)

1st - Demetrius Harper, 200, 22.72.
3rd - Austin Dellamuth, 200, 23.17.
3rd - Sprint medley (Jarred Edmons, Jacob Aune, Jace Hanna, Luke Galloway) 3:50.00.
3rd - Sam Manternach, discus, 125-1.
4th - 4x200 relay (Mitch Peters, Dylan Becker, Jace Hanna, Cam Rathje) 1:37.92.
4th - Josh Williams, shot put, 43-8.
5th - Haakon Wilz, 110 hurdles, 16.10.
6th - 4x100 relay (Austin Dellamuth, Alex Nelson, Haakon Wilz, Steve Wallace) 47.18.
6th - Haakon Wilz, long jump, 18-10 1/2.

Prairie boys capture Burlington Relays

BURLINGTON - The Prairie Hawks won eight events and ran away with the team championship at the Burlington Relays Friday night.

Sam Manternach (discus), Demetrius Harper (200), Mitch Pritts (800) and Haakon Wilz (400 hurdles) won individual titles for Prairie. The Hawks also won the 4x200 relay, 4x800 relay, distance medley and shuttle hurdle relay.

Prairie finished with 171 points in the seven-team field. Fairfield placed a distance second with 85 points.

BURLINGTON RELAYS
Team Standings

1. Prairie 171, 2. Fairfield 85, 3. Keokuk 77, 4. Burlington 72, 5. Fort Madison 68, 6. Central Lee 38, 7. Davenport North 35.

Winners

Shot put - Wes Bradley, Keokuk, 46-4.
Discus - Sam Manternach, Prairie, 136-10.
Long jump - Jerry Westerfield, Davenport North, 21-2 1/2.
High jump - Corbin Harwood, Fairfield, 6-0.
100 - Darrion Sanders, Keokuk, 11.21.
200 - Demetrius Harper, Prairie, 23.14.
400 - Brendan Thompson, Fort Madison, 51.66.
800 - Mitch Pritts, Prairie, 2:05.06.
1600 - Isaac Steffensmeier, Fort Madison, 4:43.99.
3200 - Colin Ensminger, Burlington, 10:16.01.
110 hurdles - Corbin Harwood, Fairfield, 15.47.
400 hurdles - Haakon Wilz, Prairie, 1:00.28.
4x100 relay - Keokuk 46.05.
4x200 relay - Prairie 1:35.84.
4x400 relay - Fort Madison 3:34.45.
4x800 relay - Prairie 8:45.72.
Distance medley - Prairie 3:46.97.
Shuttle hurdle relay - Prairie 1:03.36.

Prairie Placewinners
(Top 3)

1st - Sam Manternach, discus, 136-10.
1st - Demetrius Harper, 200, 23.14.
1st - Mitch Pritts, 800, 2:05.06.
1st - Haakon Wilz, 400 hurdles, 1:00.28.
1st - 4x200 relay (Austin Dellamuth, Alex Nelson, Jacob Aune, Demetrius Harper) 1:35.84.
1st - 4x800 relay (Luke Galloway, Connor Neuhaus, Mitch Pritts, Jacob Aune) 8:45.72.
1st - Distance medley (Austin Dellamuth, Mitch Dellamuth, Jacob Aune, Connor Neuhaus) 3:46.97.
1st - Shuttle hurdle relay (Mitch Dellamuth, Keagan Pinter, Jarred Edmonds, Haakon Wilz) 1:03.36.
2nd - Josh Williams, shot put, 44-10.
2nd - Demetrius Harper, high jump, 6-0.
2nd - Austin Dellamuth, 100, 11.43.
2nd - 4x100 relay (Mitch Dellamuth, Alex Nelson, Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds) 46.13.
3rd - Jarred Edmonds, long jump, 19-1 1/4.
3rd - Jarred Edmonds, 400, 54.13.
3rd - Isaiah Vlasek, 800, 2:09.66.
3rd - Isaiah Vlasek, 3200, 10:30.54.
3rd - Haakon Wilz, 110 hurdles, 15.62.