Linn-Mar Boys Track

Dunn wins 400 at Iowa State meet

AMES -- Linn-Mar senior Kyle Dunn won the 400-meter dash at the Iowa State High School Boys Classic Tuesday in Ames.

Dunn was clocked in 48.79 seconds, beating Kenny Gilmore of Davenport Central (49.35).

Cedar Rapids Prairie captured the sprint medley in 3:39.49, clipping Storm Lake (3:40.08).

Dunn and his Linn-Mar teammate, Brandon Ophoff, tied for second in the 60-meter high hurdles in 8.28 seconds. Tyler Donels of Southeast Polk won the race in 8.22.

The Xavier Saints claimed third place in the 4x100 relay in 44.53 seconds. Des Moines Roosevelt won the event in 44.18. Linn-Mar placed eighth in 45.61.

Kyle Stocker of Prairie finished seventh in the 1600-meter run in 4:28.59. Kevin Lewis of Ottumwa won the race in 4:20.93.

Prairie took third place in the 4x800 relay in 8:22.01. Glenwood won the relay in 8:11.62. Linn-Mar finished fourth in 8:27.04.

Alec Clasen of Xavier finished seventh in the high jump by clearing 6-foot-2. Donels of Southeast Polk was the champion at 6-foot-9

Dunn wins twice at Demon indoor

IOWA CITY -- Jake Redlinger of Cedar Rapids Washington and Alec Clasen of Xavier both cleared 6-foot-6 in the high jump at the Demon Indoor track meet Saturday at the Iowa City Rec Center.

Redlinger was awarded first place in the event on fewer misses.

Kyle Dunn of Linn-Mar won the 60-meter high hurdles in 7.75 seconds and also helped the Lions win the 1600 relay. Brandon Ophoff of Linn-Mar placed third in the 60 hurdles in 7.9 seconds and ran the anchor leg on the 1600 relay.

Lions win shuttle hurdle relay at MVC indoor

CEDAR FALLS -- Caleb Mere tweaked his right hamstring muscle in practice last month, so the Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior didn't know what to expect at the Mississippi Valley Conference indoor track meet Monday in the UNI-Dome.

He surprised himself.

Mere sailed 22 feet, 1/2 inch to win the long jump on his only jump of the day and his first attempt of the season.

"Really cool," he said. "The first meet of the year, and I haven't jumped that often (in practice). I'm definitely really happy with it."

Mere placed third at the Class 4A state meet last year in the long jump at 21-8 1/2 and also placed third at the Drake Relays at 21-9 3/4, which until Monday was his personal best.

He credited a rigorous workout schedule during the winter for getting him ready for the track season, with intense weightlifting and power squats, although the hamstring injury set him back a little.

"I pulled it about three to four weeks ago," he said. "It pretty much feels stretched out now."

Mere jumped 22-0 1/2 on his first try Monday. He barely scratched on his second attempt, negating a longer effort, then elected to pass on his third and fourth tries, knowing he'd already won the event and to avoid the possibility of injury.

In between, Mere placed third in the 60-meter dash in 6.95 seconds. Luke Toyosi of Cedar Falls won that race in 6.75 seconds.

Metro athletes won four events at the MVC indoor meet. Washington claimed the 4x800 relay in 8:25.75, Linn-Mar captured the shuttle hurdle relay in 35.19 seconds and Matt Stocker of Prairie won the 800 in 1:58.76.

Kyle Stocker, Matt's twin brother, finished second in the 800 in 1:59.51, three-fourths of a second behind Matt. The Stockers helped Prairie win the state cross country title last fall.

Robert Hogg, Etienne Nzoyisaba, Saromo Mugisha and Trevor Luebe ran the 4x800 relay for the Warriors and beat Dubuque Hempstead by nearly two seconds.

Brandon Ophoff, Colton Sanchez, Rami Amr and Mike Keiser ran the shuttle relay for the Lions in 35.19 seconds, clipping Washington's quartet by 18-hundredths of a second.

Mere, 5-foot-9, 155 pounds, plans to run the 100, 200, shuttle hurdle relay and possibly the 400 during the outdoor track season, and has high hopes in the long jump.

"I'd like to get 23 (feet)," he said. "That would be a really good mark. It's out there, but it definitely would be a possibility."

He's been competing in the long jump since the seventh grade at Harding Middle School, where he said his primitive technique at the time was "kind of run and jump."

He's refined his technique at Kennedy and greatly enjoys the event.

"I like the combination of athletic ability (that it takes)," he said. "It's speed and jumping and agility."

Kenny Gilmore of Davenport Central won the Class 4A long jump at 22-3 3/4 last year, which was 5 1/2 inches better than Mere.

No team scores were kept Monday. Some of the Metro's top track athletes, including Linn-Mar state champion Kyle Dunn, skipped the MVC indoor meet in order to concentrate on a major meet -- the ISU Indoor Classic -- in Ames on Tuesday.

BOYS MVC INDOOR TRACK MEET
 At UNI-Dome

 Long Jump -- 1. Caleb Mere (CRK) 22-0 1/2; 2. Dequayvious Martin (WW) 21-9; 3. Jason Millett (WW) 20-3.
 High Jump -- 1. Tylor White (WE) 6-0; 2. Shane Hodges (WE) 5-10; 3. Nate Sims (DH) 5-10.
 Shot Put -- 1. Derek Norland (ICW) 47-8 1/2; 2. Ross Pierschbacher (CF) 46-6 1/2; 3. Jacob Coble Frakes (CRP) 45-4.
 3,200 -- 1. Jakob Stoner (CF) 10:03.30; 2. Jaime Zanate (CF) 10:05.53; 3. Jeremy Kurth (ICW) 10:35.55.
 4x800 Relay -- 1. Washington (Robert Hogg, Etienne Nzoyisaba, Saromo Mugisha, Trevor Luebe) 8:25.75; 2. Hempstead 8:27.68; 3. Cedar Falls 8:30.89.
 Shuttle Hurdle Relay -- 1. Linn-Mar (Brandon Ophoff, Colton Sanchez, Rami Amr, Mike Keiser) 35.19; 2. Washington 35.37; 3. Dubuque Senior 37.30.
 60 -- 1. Luke Toyosi (CF) 6.75; 2. Will Griffin (CRW) 6.88; 3. Caleb Mere (CRK) 6.95.
 400 -- 1. Sterling Harris (ICH) 52.08; 2. Anthony Crawley (CRK) 52.30; 3. Rob Hogg (CRW) 53.08.
 4x200 Relay -- 1. Waterloo East 1:34.31; 2. Waterloo West 1:34.60; 3. Jefferson 1:35.07.
 1,600 -- 1. Tanner Reyhons (CF) 4:39.64; 2. Andrew Halloran (CF) 4:43.16; 3. Adam Streicher (CF) 4:46.11.
 60 Hurdles -- 1. Aaron Taylor (WE) 8.56; 2. Jake Losch (CRK) 8.57; 3. Mike Keiser (LM) 8.70.
 200 -- 1. Marshall Hill (CF) 22.84; 2. Luke Toyosi (CF) 22.96; 3. Shane Hodges (WE) 23.91.
 Medley Relay -- 1. Hempstead 3:50.79; 2. Wahlert 3:51.80; 3. Dubuque Senior 3:56.77.
 800 -- 1. Matt Stocker (CRP) 1:58.76; 2. Kyle Stocker (CRP) 1:59.51; 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 2:02.94.
 4x100 Relay -- 1. Waterloo East 45.07; 2. Cedar Falls 45.66; 3. Prairie 45.96.
 4x400 Relay -- 1. Hempstead 3:37.60; 2. Kennedy 3:37.99; 3. Iowa City High 3:38.10.
 NOTE: No team standings were kept.

Dunn chooses Hogs over Hawks

Kyle Dunn had a choice to make.

Dunn, a two-time Iowa state champion in the 400 meter hurdles for Linn-Mar, was being courted by Iowa and national track power Arkansas.

On the one hand you had Iowa and former national champion 400 meter hurdler Joey Woody, a Hawkeye assistant coach.

On the other, you had the irrepressible Chris Bucknam, who built Northern Iowa into a national contender with Iowans such as Woody before being wooed away to Arkansas three years ago.

"I know Joey's a great coach, but to have the coaches that made Joey so great, I knew that could definitely be advantageous for me," Dunn said of his choosing the Razorbacks, who have won 11 outdoor and 19 indoor NCAA team championships since 1984.

"Arkansas is perenially a good track program," Dunn said. "I knew the track coaches were previously at UNI and I heard great things about Coach Bucknam, coach (Doug) Case and coach (Travis) Geopfert."

But Arkansas was a long shot when the recruiting process started. 

"I hadn't sent them back a letter or anything, but it was a little bit after they could start calling me that they contacted one of my coaches and saw if they could get my phone number," Dunn said. "They just called me one night and we hit it off. I wasn't really thinking about them. They were one of my last visits I set up."

Dunn visited Arkansas the weekend the football team, which ended up playing Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, was playing Alabama.

"It was amazing. I had no idea," Dunn  said. "The coolest thing about it was that they are really centered on track. They have great facilities. The coaches are real down to earth."

Dunn said it was hard to turn down Woody and the Hawkeyes.

"They have a great track program, it was just mainly academics," Dunn said. "Iowa didn't have my major."

Dunn said he will major in computer science engineering at Arkansas.

And he will run.

Dunn said his goals at Arkansas are to compete in the 400 hurdles and the open 400, possibly running a leg on the 4x400 relay. Beyond that, he is aware that the Razorbacks have a tradition of developing Olympians. A total of 27 Arkansas track athletes have competed in the Olympics, including gold medal triple jumper Mike Conley. Calvin Davis won a bronze in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympic Games.

"It (Olympics) are kind of on the backburner right now," Dunn said. "I haven't even made it to college yet, so to talk about the Olympics ... But that's always a track athlete's goal, to get as big as you can."