West track goes down to the wire, and then some

DUBUQUE - Qualification is the key. But in a meet in which team scores are secondary, the races went down to the wire.

And then some.

The girls' outcome was overturned after the meet was complete, with Iowa City West edging Iowa City High, 148-147, for the title at Thursday's Class 4A state-qualifying track and field meet at a drizzled Dalzell Field.

The boys' race, that was even closer. West and Cedar Rapids Kennedy shared the crown with 107 points apiece, edging Cedar Rapids Prairie (105.5) and Dubuque Senior (104).

'We knew coming in that it was going to be crappy weather,” said Kennedy's Derek Jacobus, who earned three titles - winning the long jump despite taking just one shot and it and running on the triumphant shuttle hurdle and 800-meter relays. 'There's nothing you can do about it. You can just control what you can control. And we did that.”

The meet was accompanied by a steady rain throughout.

City High was announced as the girls' winner, before officials noted a scoring error in the high jump. That turned a 149-148 City High advantage to a 148-147 West triumph.

The Little Hawks took a victory lap before the error was found. After the score was corrected, the Women of Troy let out a scream in a corner of the stadium.

The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the state meet next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The remainder of the field will be released Friday.

City High amassed 13 automatic qualifiers, with more surely to come. West collected eight.

'We had an awesome day,” said City junior Sarah Plock, the champion of the open 400 and the 400 hurdles. 'Now we want to get down (to state) and see what we can do.”

The Drake Relays 400 hurdles champion, Plock was somewhat slow out of the gate in that event Thursday, then picked it up and won it in 1:04.21.

'I was running against the other girls, not against the clock or myself,” she said. 'The last 200, I just had to give everything I had.”

The balance of the boys' field could be reflected by more than the standings. Kennedy and West compiled automatic qualifiers in seven events, Prairie and Clinton six.

As always, Kennedy scored big in the field events, led by wins from Jacobus (long jump) and Willie Rhoads (high jump).

The reigning state champion, Jacobus took one run through the long jump, leaped 21-7 1/4 and settled for that.

West's Daniel Gardarsson captured the 3,200 and anchored the Trojans from behind in the 1,600-meter medley relay.

'I was kind of mad (after getting edged in the 1,600), and the last 100 of the medley, I just gave it everything I had,” Gardarsson said. 'I'm not really known for my kick, but I could really feel the crowd there at the end.”

BOYS TRACK & FIELD: 4A District at Dubuque

(Top 2 in each event automatically qualify for state, plus top 12 at-large statewide)

Teams - 1. (tie) C.R. Kennedy and Iowa City West 107, 3. C.R. Prairie 105.5, 4. Dubuque Senior 104, 5. Clinton 81, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 67.5, 7. C.R. Washington 67, 8. Iowa City High 62.

Shot put - 1. Nathan Harden (Clin), 52-6; 2. Drew Heitland (CRK), 51-11 1/2; 3. Royal Silver (CRW), 49-11; Discus - 1. Nathan Harden (Clin), 145-3 1/2; 2. Lucas Legrand (DS), 145-1; 3. Michael Lamparek (CRP), 143-1; High jump - 1. Willie Rhoads (CRK), 6-4 1/4; 2. Brady Ernst (Clin), 6-2 3/4; 3. Shaun Beyer (CRK), 6-1 1/2; Long jump - 1. Derek Jacobus (CRK), 21-7 1/4; 2. Anfernee Frazier (ICW), 21-2 1/4; 3. Famiek Cook (CRK), 20-10 1/2.

3,200 relay - 1. Iowa City West (Karanja, Brase, McGillicuddy, Greiner), 8:03.78; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:07.39; 3. Iowa City High, 8:07.60; 3,200 - 1. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW), 9:24.68; 2. Mitch Pritts (CRP), 9:31.81; 3. Mark Fairley (DS), 9:40.74; Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. C.R. Kennedy (Cook, Jacobus, Perkins, Beyer), 57.42; 2. Iowa City West, 58.40; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:00.33; 100 - 1. Bryson Runge (ICH), 11.11; 2. Trevor Northrup (CRP), 11.21; 3. Alex Herzog (CRW), 11.47; 400 - 1. Jase Grant (DS), 49.90; 2. Deshond Robinson (Clin), 48.91; 3. Landen Akers (CRW), 48.93; 800 relay - 1. C.R. Kennedy (Shannon, Jacobus, Perkins, Gaffey), 1:30.83; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 1:31.13; 3. Iowa City West, 1:31.17; 110 hurdles - 1. Kole Butler (ICH), 15.23; 2. Joah Wallace (CRP), 15.46; 3. Keagan Pinter (CRP), 15.77; 1,600 - 1. Mark Fairley (DS), 4:27.35; 2. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW), 4:27.57; 3. Mitch Pritts (CRP), 4:28.72; 200 - 1. Deshond Robinson (Clin), 22.20; 2. Bryson Runge (ICH), 22.20; 3. Landen Akers (CRW), 22.30; 400 hurdles - 1. Marcus Perkins (CRK), 56.68; 2. Keagan Pinter (CRP), 56.94; 3. John Milani (ICW), 57.22; 1,600 medley relay - 1. Iowa City West (Gilbaugh, Parks, Baller, Gardarsson), 3:35.71; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:35.85; 3. Dubuque Senior, 3:37.23; 800 - 1. Tysen Van Draska (CRP), 1:58.90; 2. Kaleb Greiner (ICW), 1:58.91; 3. Ryan Dorman (ICH), 2:00.32; 400 relay - 1. C.R. Washington (Snitker, Akers, Taylor, Herzog), 43.72; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 44.01; 3. Iowa City High, 44.11; 1,600 relay - 1. Dubuque Senior (Ware, Manternach, Giesemann, Grant), 3:26.19; 2. Clinton, 3:27.46; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:28.23.

GIRLS TRACK & FIELD: 4A Regional at Dubuque

(Top 2 in each event automatically qualify for state, plus top 12 at-large statewide)

Teams - 1. Iowa City West 148, 2. Iowa City High 147, 3. C.R. Kennedy 91, 4. C.R. Prairie 89, 5. Dubuque Hempstead 77, 6. Dubuque Senior 71, 7. C.R. Washington 68, 8. Clinton 48.

Shot put - 1. Hope Koerperich (DH), 38-2 1/4; 2. Erica Hammond (Clin), 38-0 3/4; 3. Abby Brayton (ICH), 37-7 3/4; Discus - 1. Hope Koerperich (DH), 136-9 1/2; 2. Amara Lehman (ICH), 115-11 1/2; 3. Abby Brayton (ICW), 111-8 1/2; High jump - 1. Kenzie Soeken (CRP), 5-0; 2. Grace Gudenkauf (DS), 5-0; 3. Courtney Joens (ICH), 5-0; Long jump - 1. Kiera Washpun (ICH), 18-0 3/4; 2. Halle Lueck (CRP), 17-10 1/4; 3. Nakiah Kimble (DH), 17-4 1/4.

3,000 - 1. Ellen Carman (ICH), 10:27.29; 2. Alyssa Averhoff (CRK), 10:34.72; 3. Emmie Skopec (ICW), 10:38.42; 3,200 relay - 1. Iowa City High (Shepherd, Sammons, Verdick, Traore), 9:51.86; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 9:56.21; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 9:58.07; Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Iowa City West (Young, Bowman, Bauer, Welch), 1:06.59; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:07.78; 3. Dubuque Senior, 1:09.63; 100 - 1. Amarri Waller (CRK), 12.78; 2. Kadejah Sanders (CRW), 12.83; 3. Mariah Ward (CRW), 13.12; Distance medley relay - 1. C.R. Washington (Sanders, Muller, Taylor, Gorman), 4:20.40; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 4:27.31; 3. C.R. Prairie, 4:28.39; 400 - 1. Sarah Plock (ICH), 57.40; 2. Tia Saunders (ICW), 58.67; 3. Erin Wenzel (Clin), 1:00.42; 800 relay - 1. Iowa City High (Johnson, Crew, Deprenger, Washpun), 1:48.31; 2. Dubuque Senior, 1:49.07; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:49.90; 100 hurdles - 1. Valerie Welch (ICW), 16.05; 2. Hailee Montgomery (CRP), 16.36; 3. Grace Young (ICW), 16.42; 800 - 1. Erin Wenzel (Clin), 2:26.87; 2. Soumba Traore (ICH), 2:28.91; 3. Kate Nus (CRK), 2:31.20; 200 - 1. Taleah Smith (ICW), 26.61; 2. Hazel Crew (ICH), 27.10; 3. Amarri Waller (CRK), 27.36; 400 hurdles - 1. Sarah Plock (ICH), 1:04.21; 2. Valerie Welch (ICW), 1:07.50; 3. Amara Taylor (CRW), 1:10.19; Sprint medley relay - 1. Iowa City West (Mukumbilwa, Smith, Bauer, Saunders), 1:53.23; 2. Iowa City High, 1:54.77; 3. Clinton, 1:54.84; 1,500 - 1. Ellen Carman (ICH), 4:53.08; 2. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW), 4:58.40; 3. Emmie Skopec (ICW), 5:01.62; 400 relay - 1. C.R. Washington (Ward, Jones, Muller, Sanders), 50.85; 2. Iowa City High, 51.24; 3. Iowa City West, 51.82; 1,600 relay - 1. Iowa City West (Collins, Saunders, Gravelin, Welch), 4:07.14; 2. Iowa City High, 4:10.69; 3. Dubuque Senior, 4:13.29.

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