Tritle settles for 2nd in the shot

DES MOINES — Keegan Tritle had enjoyed the upper hand on Clay Meinders in the shot put.

Until Thursday.

Meinders turned the tables on Tritle, capturing the Drake Relays championship Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

A senior at Ackley AGWSR, Meinders wrapped up the title with an effort of 59 feet, 5 1/2 inches on his final throw.

Tritle, the defending Class 1A state champion at Lisbon, had preceded that with a dandy of his own, but was called for a scratch.

'I had a couple elastic bands around my thumb, to keep my brace in place, and apparently I'm not supposed to do that,' Tritle said afterward. 'Nobody had called that against me all year, and it hadn't been a problem today until my last throw.'

So Tritle settled for second. His best throw (55-10) came on his first throw of the finals.

Tritle was fifth last year.

'It's an improvement,' said Tritle, who will throw next year at the University of Northern Iowa. 'I sprained some ligaments in my right ankle about four weeks ago, so I've been fighting that. Today, it just wasn't enough.'

Tritle had beaten Meinders in their previous meetings throughout the past four years. He predicted a shootout when they meet again here at the state meet in four weeks.

'I think you'll see some 60-footers from both of us,' he said.

Tritle was one of three Gazette-area boys' shot-putters in the top five. Western Dubuque's Tyler Johnson was fourth; Mount Vernon's Tristan Wirfs was fifth.

West Burlington-Notre Dame's Jeff Giannettino and Xavior Williams placed 1-2 in the high jump. Giannettino cleared 7-1, which ranks No. 5 all-time. Williams made it over 6-9.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Willie Rhoads (6-7) and Shaun Beyer (6-5) were sixth and seventh.

Thomas Pollard of Gilbert won the 3,200-meter run in 9:07.50. Tipton's Eric Lenz was the area's top finisher — seventh, in 9:28.40.

DRAKE RELAYS: BOYS RESULTS

High jump — 1. Jeff Giannettino (West Burlington-Notre Dame), 7-1; 2. Xavior Williams (West Burlington-Notre Dame) 6-9; 3. Jared Seay (Johnston), 6-9; 4. Cody Durbin (Ida Grove OA-BCIG), 6-7; 5. Cade Kirkpatrick (Madrid), 6-7; 6. Willie Rhoads (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 6-7; 7. Shaun Beyer (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 6-5; 8. Mitch Martin (Danville), 6-5.

Shot put — 1. Clay Meinders (Ackley AGWSR), 59-5 1/2; Keegan Tritle (Lisbon), 55-10; 3. Nathan Winters (Knoxville), 55-7; 4. Tyler Johnson (Western Dubuque), 54-7 3/4; 5. Tristan Wirfs (Mount Vernon), 53-6 1/4; 6. Hezekiah Applegate (Johnston), 53-4; 7. Nick Phelps (Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central), 52-11 1/4; 8. Levi Duwa (Mid-Prairie), 52-6.

3,200 — 1. Thomas Pollard (Gilbert), 9:07.50; 2. Ryan Schweizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 9:15.01; 3. Daniel Soto (West Des Moines Valley), 9:18.64; 4. Greg Rinn (West Des Moines Valley), 9:23.52; 5. Patrick Bose (Johnston), 9:25.51; 6. Sam Schillinger (Cedar Falls), 9:26.96; 7. Eric Lenz (Tipton), 9:28.40; 8. Karson Sommer (Pleasant Valley), 9:29.39.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com