Relay win vaults Decorah into the lead

DES MOINES -- Parker Beard was suffering.

"It kind of showed," he said. "I didn't think I was going to make it."

Beard got the baton to Kyle Kregel, barely. And Kregel did the rest, anchoring Decorah to victory in the Class 3A boys' 3,200-meter relay at the state track Thursday at Drake Stadium.

Gavin Nimrod, Kyle Hosting, Beard and Kregel were clocked in 7:56.34, propelling the Vikings to a big first day.

Decorah leads the 3A boys' team race with 29 points. MOC-Floyd Valley is second (17), followed by Waverly-Shell Rock (13).

The Vikings scored in all five events that were contested Thursday. The 3,200 relay, obviously, was the biggie.

"My teammates gave the the baton in good shape, and I just wanted to push myself," Kregel said.

Decorah was in the hunt the whole race. Beard had the lead for a while, but started to tie up down the stretch.

"He was pushing himself to the limit, and he was really leaning over," said Kregel, who turned 180 degrees and took the baton from his teammate with both hands. "I wanted to play it safe and make sure I got it."

Kregel added a fourth-place finish in the 400 a while later. The Vikings also got substantial points from Jacob Drost (third in the high jump), Patrick Larson (fourth in the 3,200) and Jake Humpal (sixth in the discus).

Marion stands in sixth place with 11 points. Lukas Mees was the 3,200 runner-up, finishing in 9:31.34. Pella's Zach Buchheit was the winner in 9:26.03.

"He had a kick. I didn't," Mees said.

Buchheit, Mees and Waverly-Shell Rock's Daniel Huff ran at the front for the majority of the race.

"Those guys are my friends," Mees said. "I knew it would be a three-man race."

Oelwein's Stephen Meyer narrowly missed his third straight high jump title. Meyer and Sergeant Bluff-Luton's Austin Krohn both cleared 6-foot-6, with Krohn earning the title on fewer misses.

"It's been good, it's been an experience. But it's done now," Meyer said. "It was a good run, and I'm proud of it."

Meyer cleared 6-4 and 6-6 on his final jump, and almost did the same at 6-7.

"I just tell myself, it's the last jump, go for it," he said.